How absolutely precious is this — The Office’s Rainn Wilson posted this audition sign-in sheet on his Facebook page yesterday.
Rainn explains: “This is the original sign-in sheet for the first day of casting for The Office given to me by Allison Jones, our incredible casting agent. I was the very first person to audition for the series, 11/06/03. Notice all the amazing talent on the sheet, including the amazing #13! This is perhaps the greatest Office keepsake I have. So grateful for the best job I will ever have.”
The cast hopefuls included Adam Scott (“Ben” in ‘Parks and Recreation’), Mary Lynn Rajskub (“Chloe” in ’24’), Ever Carradine (“Erika” in ’24’), Hamish Linklater (‘Matthew’ in “The New Adventures of Old Christine”), Ben Falcone (Melissa McCarthy’s real-life husband and her love interest in “Bridesmaids”), Alan Tudyk (“Noah” in ‘Suburgatory’), Matt Besser (a founder of the Upright Citizens Brigade), Matt Price (“Evan” in The Office Season 3 episode, ‘The Convention’), Jarrett Grode (“Perry” in ‘Undeclared’), Bill Chott (Second City), and Ann Dudek (“Amber” in ‘House’).
And, of course, Rainn Wilson and Jenna Fischer. :)
So touching! It never fails to amaze me how genuine this cast is and how grateful for the show <3
That is an amazing document. I think we had heard about Mary Lynn Rajskub before, but the other names on the list are pretty incredible.
I’m glad they picked Steve for Michael, but I’m really curious how Ben Falcone would have portrayed him. Interesting…..
John & Jenna = PERFECTION!!!
I think what this proves to me is how perfect they got the casting in the end up. These are all very talented people on this list, but I can’t imagine any of them as these characters. At least, it wouldn’t have been quite the same show if any of them had been cast instead. And I’m not familiar with all of the male actors listed but none of the other actresses, with all due respect to them, could have been Pam. Jenna was the absolute perfect choice as Pam!
How cool ! Thanks for sharing
Wow, Anne Dudek auditioned for the role of Pam! That’s pretty cool! But jenna fischer was, is, and always will be Pam Beesly:)
[from tanster: absolutely.]
[from tanster: oops, thank you!]
#2 Adam Scott, as in Parks and Rec’s Ben Wyatt?
[from tanster: yes, that is correct! a little mindblowing, right?]
I agree Tanster, for some reason that piece of paper is priceless and one of the best treasures yet from this show.
I could not imagine Jim and Pam not being John and Jenna. Thank you Greg for having such wonderful insight!
I love the idea that Rainn and Adam Scott were in the same room at the same time for an audition.
@Karen, and don’t forget the casting director, Allison Jones! I believe she had a lot to do with the casting of John and Jenna also.
This is just amazingly cool. I remember hearing Jenna talk about all the people who auditioned for Pam and Jim and how she told JK that he was her favorite Jim. I always wondered who the others were. So so cool!
ALAN. TUDYK.
My mind is blown. I would like to see that alternate universe.
Alan Tudyk?? I love that guy. I will always love Steve Carell. But, Alan Tudyk??
I cannot believe some of the people who auditioned. I would *hate* to have had to job of picking who got the roles!
Alan Tudyk!
I am so glad you post this stuff! :)
And now, I’m stuck imagining an alternate universe with Alan Tudyk as Michael, Matt Besser as Dwight, and Adam Scott as Jim. And yes, the real Office is better than the alternate universe Office.
It’s weird to think anyone but John and Jenna could have been Jim and Pam. At least they were each other’s “favorite” when casting.
What a phenomenal document. Really makes you think about how different The Office might have been, even with one different cast member.
Sorry for the double comment, but does anyone know whether the date on the sheet is DD/MM/YY or MM/DD/YY?
[200-word limit]
Love, love, love! What a treasure! So glad Anne Dudek didn’t get the part of Pam because the role was made for Jenna! (and also because she might not have been able to play Francine, Betty’s catty neighbor on Mad Men which is an awesome role!)
I absolutely love this!! I couldn’t imagine The Office any other way but it’s still kind of funny picturing it. Ben Falcone.. Adam Scott.. Love them both but just wasn’t meant to be. I love my Steve Carell & John Krasinski.
Hamish Linklater actually looks a lot like John.
I guess the number 13 wasn’t unlucky for Jenna.
That is awesome! I absolutely love seeing stuff like this! Wouldn’t it be awesome if they included some additional stuff like this, possibly even the original audition tapes, in the Season 9 DVD? One can hope!
Notice how the fifteenth spot’s empty and Steve hasn’t signed in?
I definitely like John as Jim, but Adam Scott wouldn’t have been so bad; he reminds me of Jim in Parks and Rec.
Well, this is pretty damn interesting.
It’s notable how many of the 12 folks who didn’t become Dwight or Pam (or Michael, even if SC isn’t on the list for some reason) are now “yeah, I know who that is” names. I have no idea who Matt Price, Jarrett Gnome, Jim Zuvelic, and Bill Chott are. But Adam Scott, Mary Lynn Raskjub, Ben Falcone (even if I recognize him as Mr. Melissa McCarthy), Alan Tudyk? That’s a ton of working talent who broke through on merit. And it validates what a strong vision they had for this project, right through the way it made stars of Rainn Wilson and Jenna Fischer and everyone else.
Nobody mentioned Ever Carradine auditioning for Pam ( besides Tanster ):
She would ‘ve been terrible as Pam.
Wow, Alan Tudyk, Adam Scott, Mary Lynn Raskjub, Ben Falcone in one show would be very awesome IMO.
But I am glad it wasn’t the Office.
Do you suppose the audition tapes still exist? That would make a great DVD extra. I’d be especially curious to see Rainn auditioning for Michael Scott.
Alan Tudyk graduated from my high school (two years before me)! Random, but cool ;)
And Angela Kinsey went to my alma mater: Baylor. How many degrees of separation am I from The Office, lol.
It would be interesting to see who all auditioned for Michael Scott. I think Bob Odenkirk (who played Michael Scott 2.0 on Moving On) originally auditioned for Michael Scott, so I would like to see who all else tried for the part.