Category: The Office Interviews

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From Shorecrest loser to The Office poser

Terry Estudillo of The Seattle Times delves into the life and career of Rainn Wilson (“Dwight”).

An excerpt:

Wilson says Dwight is inspired in part by his counterpart, Mackenzie Crook’s equally officious Gareth Keenan, in the original British series.

“I used the central aspect of Mackenzie’s character — that pompousness, self-superior-ness, the love of hierarchy, the way his mind could be so mind-bogglingly dull in some ways and brilliant in others — and I just ran with it.”

Read the full article here.

Thanks to Brian for the tip!

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STLToday.com interviews Phyllis Smith

the office phyllis lapin

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an excellent profile on Phyllis Smith (“Phyllis”). An excerpt:

‘To look at Phyllis, an “Office” drone best-known for her deadpan double-takes, you might never suspect that Smith was a dancer with professional companies in St. Louis, a football Cardinals cheerleader, and a burlesque performer with Will B. Able and his Baggy Pants Revue at the Chase-Park Plaza in the 1970s.’

WOW. For the full story, click here. This article is no longer available.

Icon courtesy of bananastand.

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Maureen Ryan chats with John Krasinski

Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune, an Office fan and friend of OfficeTally, got to have an in-depth conversation this week with John Krasinski (“Jim”).

For the full interview, click here. A few details about Casino Night are included, but nothing earth-shattering. (As expected.)

This is the last article I am posting before the season finale airs tonight.

I shall now enter a self-imposed cone of silence. (Hey, if James over at Northern Attack can take a vow of abstinence for a week, I can certainly do it for a few hours. Right?)

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OSU chats with Greg Daniels and B. J. Novak

Ohio State University’s The Lantern scores an interview with Greg Daniels, executive producer of The Office, and B. J. Novak.

Casino Night is discussed; proceed with caution.

Read the official article here, and the rough transcript here (recorded by the reporter’s sister, Becca, who also happens to be an Office fan vid creator — check out her videos in the video playlist under “Becca Productions”).

The transcript includes Greg Daniels’ first public mention of the supersizedoffice.com petition!

Alicia: Well I guess I should ask about the finale, you’re probably not allowed to give away too much, but I heard it’s supersized, which is exciting.

Greg: And that by the way came about because a Chicago newspaper had printed something that I said in an interview about, I was just kind of being a little facetious and saying Jeff Zucker oughta supersize it because I don’t want to have to edit it, and these fans started a website called supersizedoffice.com…

Alicia: Yeah, I signed that petition.

Greg: Oh, did you? Good for you! Yeah, anyway, well they really listened to that. And that’s why we have a supersized office.

Nice!

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John Krasinski Hails Office Romance

TVGuide.com’s Insider column features an interview with John Krasinski (“Jim”).

An excerpt:

TVGuide.com: You always hear stories about how Office cast members pass the time on the set, blogging or playing games on their characters’ computers. What do you tend to do?

Krasinski: I check e-mail here and there, and maybe read some articles online, but I’m in an awkward position because when they shoot outside of Michael’s office or from any angle, because of where my desk is located, you can always see my screen. [Laughs] Right before every shot, it’s like, “John, [put up] something we can use, buddy!”

Read the full article here. (Some spoilerish Casino Night details; proceed with caution.)

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Steve Carell talks about writing ‘Casino Night’

Steve Carell talks to Lisa Rosen of the L.A. Times about what it was like to write the upcoming season finale, Casino Night.

For one thing, he tried to get out of writing the episode at one point:

He had essentially one weekend to write the script, and his parents were coming to town for that weekend. So he went into Daniels’ office to try to get out of it. “I said I don’t know if I can give it my full attention, and I don’t want to do a half-baked job of it,” said Carell by phone from the set of “Evan Almighty” in Virginia. “But he is a very persuasive gentleman, and I walked out of the meeting not only still writing the episode, but filled with all sorts of hope and excitement about the episode.”

Read the full article here — which validates what the rest of the cast has always said — that Steve is the nicest, most normal kind of guy.

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WKLH interviews John Krasinski

Milwaukee’s WKLH 96.5 radio interviewed John Krasinski (“Jim”) on Thursday.

John once and for all confirms that he is, indeed, the voice behind the Ask.com commercials!

Thanks to Andrea for the tip, who, by the way, is the same Andrea whose questions got asked at the beginning of the interview. Way to go!

Listen to the clip here. (no longer available)