Speaker 1: My name is Steven Socks. I was a stand in
Speaker 1: on the Office, also played Justin Spitzer on the Office,
Speaker 1: and currently I'm the commissioner of The Office Fantasy Football League.
Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome to a special Thursday edition of
Speaker 1: The Office Deep Dive. I am your host, Brian bon Gardner. Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm here on a Thursday. Why it's not Tuesday. Why
Speaker 1: a Thursday? Well, because I'm so excited. It's my favorite
Speaker 1: time of the year. It's the most wonderful time. We
Speaker 1: have to pay for that. Listen, those of you who
Speaker 1: follow me on social media know that I am a
Speaker 1: huge football fan. That's right. But did you know that
Speaker 1: a lot of the Office family actually love football too.
Speaker 1: In fact, we have our own fantasy football league that
Speaker 1: has been going on for seven teen years, an official
Speaker 1: The Office Fantasy Football League. Now that seventeen years. That's
Speaker 1: longer than some of you have been alive. Okay, Now,
Speaker 1: the competition started way back while we were filming the
Speaker 1: show like season two ish, And let me tell you,
Speaker 1: our directors hated it. Our assistant directors really hated it
Speaker 1: because nothing interrupted our ability to do our jobs like
Speaker 1: our obsession with beating each other. Yes, defeating like pummeling
Speaker 1: one another. Seriously, we would spend as much time on
Speaker 1: fantasy football as we did on writing scripts or finding
Speaker 1: props or memorizing lines, and you know something, those were
Speaker 1: some of my favorite times on set. So in honor
Speaker 1: of our fantasy football crew, I'm gonna be launching a
Speaker 1: special Thursday edition of the podcast called The Office Deep
Speaker 1: Dive Fantasy Edition, where I bring on special guests and
Speaker 1: members of our league to talk all things the Office
Speaker 1: and well maybe a little football too. You'll know some
Speaker 1: of the crew like Rain Wilson, John Krasinski. Others you're
Speaker 1: gonna be meeting for the very first time, like my
Speaker 1: guest today. So to kick things off, we're gonna bring
Speaker 1: in a very special person. He is the glue that
Speaker 1: kept our league together and a man I am so
Speaker 1: lucky to call my friend, our commissioner, Stephen Socks. This
Speaker 1: is a man who's really an unsung hero of the
Speaker 1: show and a huge part of our office family. Stephen
Speaker 1: was a stand in for six years. He appeared in
Speaker 1: several episodes as the character Justin Spitzer, and he was
Speaker 1: actually one of the last people to say goodbye to
Speaker 1: Steve on camera. He was on set with us day
Speaker 1: in and day out, in his words, biting his wallet
Speaker 1: during takes so he wouldn't ruin a shot, laughing and
Speaker 1: literally watching his own family grow up with the office.
Speaker 1: But most importantly, he has kept our fantasy football league
Speaker 1: together all of these years. So please join me in
Speaker 1: giving a warm, deep dive welcome to the man who
Speaker 1: well has won the league, but also one all of
Speaker 1: our hearts, the amazing Stephen Socks, Bubble and Squeak. I
Speaker 1: love Bubble and squeak on Bubble and Squeaker cook at
Speaker 1: every month lift over from the nuttyle Brian there is
Speaker 1: what's Stephen? So good to see you? I know, it's
Speaker 1: it's been so long, it has I mean, we've talked
Speaker 1: and texted, but to see you is is really nice.
Speaker 1: I know what happened to your hair? Well it's not
Speaker 1: even more like you Yeah, well there you go. You
Speaker 1: know I always I was always bald. I just always
Speaker 1: wore a black cap backwards for lighting on the set,
Speaker 1: just to make sure that I didn't except for you,
Speaker 1: I take it off um and and maybe Creed because
Speaker 1: he had really light hair too, And so you know,
Speaker 1: that was the way I kept my job is to
Speaker 1: have a little dark on my top of my head.
Speaker 1: I know, it just looks shinier. Let's just it just
Speaker 1: looks shine. Maybe you polished it this morning. Getting older, Brian, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, we sure are. Oh my gosh, it's so
Speaker 1: good to see you. What um what So you're good.
Speaker 1: You survived, Yes, yeah, we have survived. It was it
Speaker 1: was you know. I think for parents, it's the hardest
Speaker 1: part of the whole thing is you're trying to protect
Speaker 1: your kids in so many different ways, not only health wise,
Speaker 1: but you know, mental health wise with school and uh
Speaker 1: we did distance learning for the last year and a
Speaker 1: half and it's it's been good for them. That's that's
Speaker 1: not the case for a lot of kids. I would say, oh,
Speaker 1: that's great. Well, and I feel like your family, I mean,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about that in a little bit, but your
Speaker 1: family was so much a part of the office experience
Speaker 1: as well. I just saw a video Rain Wilson sent
Speaker 1: of his son Walter jamming with Creed and I started
Speaker 1: thinking about your family as well. And Walter, I mean,
Speaker 1: Walter is like a grown up now and he was
Speaker 1: the reason I know his age is because he was
Speaker 1: born when we were shooting the first four episodes of
Speaker 1: The Office. It's in credible. We had that. We had
Speaker 1: that on the set. We had, you know, families being made.
Speaker 1: And I think probably the reason you're thinking that too
Speaker 1: is to have my wife and I on the set
Speaker 1: at the same time. I mean, that was that's the
Speaker 1: kind of a unique thing to Okay, So now for
Speaker 1: those people who don't know, how would you describe the
Speaker 1: job of a stand in, then that no, go ahead, No.
Speaker 1: A stand in is another screen actress guild job on
Speaker 1: the set is also known as second team, and we'll
Speaker 1: will watch the rehearsals of a scene by the actors.
Speaker 1: The actors are also called first team, and and usually
Speaker 1: during the last rehearsal, the camera department will throw down
Speaker 1: some marks on the like tape marks on the ground,
Speaker 1: just spots that the actors will land on. That's called blocking.
Speaker 1: And then after rehearsal, the actors, you know, have some
Speaker 1: time because the camera and lighting are preparing for the
Speaker 1: shot and stuff. So the actors go off and you know,
Speaker 1: finish up hair and makeup or go over your line
Speaker 1: or whatever you guys do, and the standings will stand
Speaker 1: in the places that are that are marked during that
Speaker 1: blocking and help the director of Photography the DP light
Speaker 1: the scene and coordinate the movements of the camera and stuff.
Speaker 1: So so the standard needs to just basically pay attention
Speaker 1: to what's going on the scene and really get the
Speaker 1: movements down that the actor was doing. Sometimes, I mean,
Speaker 1: on the office, it could be so easy. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's so many talking heads. You could sit there for
Speaker 1: forty five minutes. The lighting is pretty much pre set.
Speaker 1: But it could be kind of complicated. I remember, like
Speaker 1: Jim and Pam the proposal the proposal was and you
Speaker 1: weren't there for that, But that's an entire production of
Speaker 1: the with the with the rain and next the freeway,
Speaker 1: you know, and at the gas station. You would do
Speaker 1: like a run through without the actor just to make
Speaker 1: sure everything was done. So there were one time actually
Speaker 1: drove the car into the rain and the cars are
Speaker 1: going on the freeway and I got out and got
Speaker 1: to propose and knelt down the and did it before
Speaker 1: John and Jenna. It was very exciting. Right now, so
Speaker 1: you watch the rehearsal, you see where everybody's moving, and
Speaker 1: I know, for example, in the office sometimes adjustments would
Speaker 1: be made. Now, then would you communicate with the actors
Speaker 1: any sort of adjustments that that happened. That's a great question,
Speaker 1: because you're supposed to give some adjustments. But there's a
Speaker 1: balance there. You have a balance of two things, what
Speaker 1: the actor wants to hear from the stand in and
Speaker 1: also what the director wants to tell the actor himself.
Speaker 1: So you you learn your your relationship with the actor.
Speaker 1: Some actors don't really want any kind of instruction other
Speaker 1: than from a director. Others would love to sit down
Speaker 1: and get all the details, and they just want to
Speaker 1: get it all together. Right, Okay, So let's go back
Speaker 1: to circa two thousand seven eight ish. What were you
Speaker 1: doing before the office? I was managing a gym in
Speaker 1: Santa Monica, and Laurie was in between jobs and she
Speaker 1: was doing some assistant work for people. Oh yes, Laurie,
Speaker 1: my wife, and we're both actors, went through Second City
Speaker 1: here together and and um, we're pursuing acting, looking for
Speaker 1: a job that was flexible. So she was kind of
Speaker 1: running errands for people. And one of the people she
Speaker 1: was running errands for, uh, Kelly Cantley, an assistant director,
Speaker 1: and kind of ran out of work for for Laurie
Speaker 1: to do, and Kelly asked Laurie if she'd liked to
Speaker 1: do some background on a show she was working on,
Speaker 1: which happened to be season two of the Office, and
Speaker 1: so she knew we were Screen Actors Guild members, and
Speaker 1: so offered that job, and Laurie was like, uh. In fact,
Speaker 1: I remember Laurie calling me, going, should I do background?
Speaker 1: I get, I get, you know, I guess. I go,
Speaker 1: you're not doing anything. Let's let's do it. Let's let's
Speaker 1: let's work right. So she did, and that um Booze
Speaker 1: Cruise was her first was her first episode that season two.
Speaker 1: That's like mid season two or something, I think early
Speaker 1: mid season two, but probably our most difficult episode to
Speaker 1: film was her first episode. She had had problems just
Speaker 1: getting to set. I remember it was a long beach.
Speaker 1: This was kind of before well, I guess I had
Speaker 1: a cell phone, but I don't know if she had
Speaker 1: a cell phone. I don't really remember. But we didn't
Speaker 1: have like ways or you know, Google maps and stuff.
Speaker 1: So her getting down a long beach, I remember she
Speaker 1: was calling early early in the morning. She was like,
Speaker 1: I'm lost, you know, And it was one of these
Speaker 1: things going is this gonna work out? Is this job
Speaker 1: gonna work out of were you know, this is the
Speaker 1: way we're gonna start, and uh, she had a blast.
Speaker 1: It was great. Yeah, so she was there as the
Speaker 1: female stand in for Yeah. Then well they only had
Speaker 1: This is very weird too, because Screen Actress Guild, usually
Speaker 1: because it's a union, designates that there'll be a stand
Speaker 1: in for every actor on a set. And I mean
Speaker 1: we could have fifteen actors on the scene one time
Speaker 1: and there was one stand in at that time, a man,
Speaker 1: and they were like, oh, well, let's get a second
Speaker 1: stand in, and so they need a female. And I
Speaker 1: don't know if it was because of the documentary style
Speaker 1: or however they got away with with that through the union,
Speaker 1: but that's how it was. And they asked Lori about that,
Speaker 1: and again we were we were like, well, I mean,
Speaker 1: is it you can have enough time, you know, to
Speaker 1: audition and stuffing that you know that the kind of
Speaker 1: idea of the non working actor going, I need to
Speaker 1: make time for my my auditions and when all this
Speaker 1: stuff happens and uh, and so she kind of reluctantly,
Speaker 1: We're like, okay, let's try this. And again it was
Speaker 1: the best decision she made, you know, but that was
Speaker 1: start of season three, and they had two standards at
Speaker 1: that time, and then you eventually came on. What was
Speaker 1: the story there? Go ahead, Well, I got to meet
Speaker 1: you guys, and so there was some rapport there that
Speaker 1: first her first season as a stand in, and they
Speaker 1: lost the mail standing. They were looking for someone to
Speaker 1: fill in, and we got a call from Kelly again
Speaker 1: saying would you be interested? And I was so stressed
Speaker 1: in my job. We were I was managing this gym
Speaker 1: and Santa Monica. Like I said, I live in Studio City,
Speaker 1: like near Universal Studios for people that might not know
Speaker 1: exactly along commute. It's like twenty miles and the gym
Speaker 1: opens at five am, it closes at midnight. There wasn't
Speaker 1: a time I was away from the gym, really stressed out,
Speaker 1: and a new lawry was having a great time. It's
Speaker 1: a time for us to be together. And that was
Speaker 1: really a no brainer for me. Right, so this was
Speaker 1: your first time standing in. Yeah, I had no idea
Speaker 1: what I was doing. And and but I mean not
Speaker 1: only did it, and and as actors that reluctancy that
Speaker 1: I talked about, you know, doing it because there's this
Speaker 1: stigma that you're if you're standing in on a show
Speaker 1: your second team. You may want to be first team,
Speaker 1: but now everyone sees you as second team. And and
Speaker 1: I haven't found that to be true. Not only do
Speaker 1: you have a chance to show professionalism UM and sometimes
Speaker 1: acting chops on a set in front of producers, but
Speaker 1: you meet a lot of great people. I would meet
Speaker 1: a new director every week. I mean, we had Ken Kopas,
Speaker 1: Paul Feig, who is like the best dress director in Hollywood. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Jeff Blitz. Harold Remus directed the first time
Speaker 1: I ever acted on the Office UM with John Favrou.
Speaker 1: I mean it was and I didn't have LORI had J.
Speaker 1: J Abrams. You had J. J Abrams and Josh Weeden.
Speaker 1: So it was great experience to learn from those directors,
Speaker 1: but to see camera movement, um, lighting, set decoration. So
Speaker 1: when you go to make your own project, you kind
Speaker 1: of know what to do. But also when you're on
Speaker 1: the set as an actor, you you know what's going on.
Speaker 1: I mean, especially after the Office, when there was a
Speaker 1: time where I was standing in on what's called a
Speaker 1: multi camp show, which would be your typical comedy uh
Speaker 1: with a laugh track and shooting at the same time,
Speaker 1: like Friends or Willow Greys exactly. That isn't something that
Speaker 1: an actor learns. I mean it is closer to you know,
Speaker 1: I know you have a theater background like I do.
Speaker 1: It's closer to theater, but it still takes some You know,
Speaker 1: you can go on at your first time as an
Speaker 1: actor and you can you can act confident in in
Speaker 1: any job you do. You act confident, you can get
Speaker 1: away with a lot of stuff. But Um, to really
Speaker 1: learn what multi cam shooting is and have an idea
Speaker 1: and know what each camera is doing really helps when
Speaker 1: you're on the other side of the camera to to
Speaker 1: know what they're asking of you and how to perform.
Speaker 1: Now you your main stand in person, at least for
Speaker 1: the first four years you were there, was was Steve Carrell.
Speaker 1: This is Steve's birthday is this week? Happy birthday to Steve. Um.
Speaker 1: How was it like working with him on the set
Speaker 1: and and how you know to give people an idea?
Speaker 1: Actually that that I don't even know. How was he
Speaker 1: to to talk and work with, you know, between the
Speaker 1: setups and then going back into the scenes. What did
Speaker 1: he want to hear? Steve is very professional. He's a
Speaker 1: bit quiet on set for the most part. He wouldn't
Speaker 1: like a lot of adjustments. If there were major things
Speaker 1: your marks changed, yes, i'll tell you what your market
Speaker 1: has changed. But um, he was very focused. But I
Speaker 1: have to say he's the one that I and probably
Speaker 1: every actor on the show learned the most from. I
Speaker 1: mean there was a lot of young actors on that set,
Speaker 1: and not that Steve was old, but he was mature
Speaker 1: in his acting and his professionalism. I don't remember him
Speaker 1: instructing people how to how to do things, but as
Speaker 1: an example, he showed a lot of people the little
Speaker 1: things that that you would just take for granted. Actually
Speaker 1: if you weren't in the industry, being there on time,
Speaker 1: know in your lines, having a rapport with the other actor, look,
Speaker 1: communicate with the other actor in a professional way, and
Speaker 1: especially when the camera's on that other actor giving a
Speaker 1: full performance even when it's not your coverage, right, And
Speaker 1: he was always doing that, and and I've always said
Speaker 1: it one of my top five favorite people in the world.
Speaker 1: I mean, an amazing human being, just a giving man
Speaker 1: and just a straight up guy. Like you said. As
Speaker 1: his birthday this week, I get a reminder it's his birthday.
Speaker 1: I give him a text every year. He never doesn't
Speaker 1: just text me back right away. I mean when he
Speaker 1: left the show, he said, you have my number? What
Speaker 1: we had played golf, you know John You I mean
Speaker 1: Chris Workman played with us, right, I remember that, And
Speaker 1: we had played golf, and so we had exchanged numbers
Speaker 1: and stuff, and I remember I'm saying, you have my number,
Speaker 1: you have my email, you need anything, let me know.
Speaker 1: And you know, at the time, I was like, I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't know what I'll need and I'm not and
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna blow it on you know what's on
Speaker 1: that I've got this spread? What do you think you know?
Speaker 1: But uh, actually, actually I've waited a couple of times
Speaker 1: to say, Okay, this is the time to call um. Well.
Speaker 1: You know, we've talked a lot about him as an actor,
Speaker 1: and one of the things that that was unique about
Speaker 1: him in a way, and I sort of have attributed
Speaker 1: it to his improv background, was he was, and I
Speaker 1: mean this with all love and respect, he didn't want
Speaker 1: to rehearse. And I always viewed it like he wanted
Speaker 1: to bring in the performance when it was live because
Speaker 1: he wanted everybody to be on their toes in a
Speaker 1: specific way. He did not deliver a ton of performance
Speaker 1: during the rehearsal. Versus James Spader, another amazing actor who
Speaker 1: wanted every gesture worked out in advance. So how was
Speaker 1: that different transitioning from one to the other, How was
Speaker 1: that different for you? Uh? James Spader wanted as much
Speaker 1: input as possible in every facet of the process. When
Speaker 1: he left to do hair and makeup and there was
Speaker 1: that forty five minutes of set up, I think in
Speaker 1: his mind he was thinking, I might be missing something. Right,
Speaker 1: let me get back and see if there is there
Speaker 1: anything that you can give me. Is basically what he would.
Speaker 1: He would just sit and chat, and before he would
Speaker 1: get to a place where someone could pull him and
Speaker 1: say we're ready, he would want to pull me to
Speaker 1: the side and just let's talk. Um. Also with James, Uh,
Speaker 1: the writers wrote a lot for Robert California. I mean
Speaker 1: a lot of big dialogue pieces. Oh man, it was,
Speaker 1: it was, and and he was incredible at it. Um.
Speaker 1: But he wanted someone on book at all times. So
Speaker 1: I had started doing that a couple of seasons in.
Speaker 1: I would be on book for anybody, but it was
Speaker 1: really needed. Really, I just got time to sit next
Speaker 1: to the monitors and get close to the director and
Speaker 1: and follow the script. It was fascinating for me. But
Speaker 1: with James Spader, every word needed to be exactly right.
Speaker 1: So if he didn't get the line right, he wanted
Speaker 1: to know what it was and reinforce that. And so
Speaker 1: that was that was different. Now Steve, you know, got
Speaker 1: all his lines and would sometimes call for a line.
Speaker 1: But um, yes, Steve was Steve during rehearsals. He he
Speaker 1: giggled a little. I remember him giggling a lot because
Speaker 1: it was funny and he take that time to laugh
Speaker 1: and get it out. I mean all that. You see
Speaker 1: a bunch of outtakes where Steve will laugh you know what,
Speaker 1: you're hilarious. But uh, he would laugh a lot during
Speaker 1: scenes because we all enjoyed it and laughed and had fun.
Speaker 1: You have to remember, when we're recording, we're right there
Speaker 1: and no matter how funny it is, you can't laugh.
Speaker 1: It's not like these multi camp shows where you're laughing
Speaker 1: the audience is laughing. We're just biting our wallets and
Speaker 1: the monitor that's right right right, or look and we're
Speaker 1: and they usually put the monitor pretty close to the
Speaker 1: scene because the director could run out real quick and
Speaker 1: say hey, I want to do this, and so you're
Speaker 1: just like, you know, biting your knuckle, just trying not
Speaker 1: to laugh sometimes, right, I remember at times people would
Speaker 1: be kicked out of the room. Jence Alata specifically comes
Speaker 1: to mind, like she would just be like, would be like,
Speaker 1: we're doing a time doing a talking head and she
Speaker 1: just couldn't and was like jen Leaf, go find go
Speaker 1: find a monitor somewhere in another room. Um, that's that's
Speaker 1: really interesting. So James really worked with you before, kind
Speaker 1: of before, during and after. Yeah, there were times where
Speaker 1: I would go into his trailer and we just run lines,
Speaker 1: you know, because I would have some time off, or
Speaker 1: we do it during lunch or whatever, and it was great. Um,
Speaker 1: there were times where you would hand me the script
Speaker 1: say hey, run this with me, or or Rain would
Speaker 1: do that. But you know, these were big, meaty dialogues.
Speaker 1: These were like a little mini um like audition pieces.
Speaker 1: You know, there were long, there was a lot of words,
Speaker 1: and he did so well with them, you know, he
Speaker 1: really did. Yeah, do you have a favorite episode of
Speaker 1: the show that you worked on? Well, I mean, Benni
Speaker 1: Hannah Christmas. For multiple reasons, it's it's even as just
Speaker 1: a fan of the show. I believe it's the best
Speaker 1: Christmas episode. It's during a peak time of the show.
Speaker 1: And uh and and I did get a line on
Speaker 1: the show. So that was that made it close, you know,
Speaker 1: closer to my heart. But it's a really great episode.
Speaker 1: Now did you know that you were going to speak? Was?
Speaker 1: I don't remember? Were you cast in advance of that? No?
Speaker 1: So Kelly can'tly called me to say there was quote
Speaker 1: unquote a featured background uh extra that was going to
Speaker 1: be at the bending on the table and it was
Speaker 1: not scripted to have any lines this character. But she
Speaker 1: didn't see a reason she didn't. I guess she had
Speaker 1: worked with prepped with Harold Ramos the week before and
Speaker 1: said this person is going to have to talk, and
Speaker 1: so she said it's a good chance. So would you
Speaker 1: want to do it? I go yes? So it's so funny, right,
Speaker 1: people go, would you would you do this for me? Like,
Speaker 1: like you would you do this this podcast? For me? Yeah? Brian,
Speaker 1: I'm there. Um And so when when I got on
Speaker 1: the set, um it was just doing background. We walked
Speaker 1: through it and in the very first UH rehearsal, held
Speaker 1: Muskin to me and said, what, wouldn't you want to
Speaker 1: say something? And I said, yeah, I think so, and
Speaker 1: so I'll deliver a four page monologue for you, Harold
Speaker 1: would it didn't matter? I was like, oh if I
Speaker 1: just say one word because it's so great. Um, and
Speaker 1: your character's name Justin Spitzer, Justin Spitzer. Isn't that funny?
Speaker 1: So Justin Spitzer was a writer on the show, and
Speaker 1: they named the character Justin's. Now is this Does this
Speaker 1: get confusing for you with your IMDb page that you're
Speaker 1: you're Justin Spitzer on the office but not the writer
Speaker 1: Justin Spitzer. I don't know. I think it's so funny.
Speaker 1: It is funny. In fact, I remember as I worked
Speaker 1: on the show more and there were a couple other
Speaker 1: times where I could be in front of the camera.
Speaker 1: I just legitimately, and this is probably not the thing
Speaker 1: to do as an actor who's who's basically given some roles.
Speaker 1: I went to Greg Daniels, created the show, and I said,
Speaker 1: how how is this Justin Spitcher character? Now? Part of
Speaker 1: that he was at the Benihanna Christmas table and nobody
Speaker 1: knew him, but now he's he's in uh the warehouse
Speaker 1: during UH you know, uh, crime maide crime made Yeah,
Speaker 1: and um, and in an elevator, and and and Greg
Speaker 1: always had a complete backstory contrived of Yeah, there's no
Speaker 1: reason why this guy couldn't have He's in Scranton, you
Speaker 1: know he could. How many questions that should never be
Speaker 1: asked by an actor? Are you sure I'm needed here?
Speaker 1: How many times did Justin Spitzer appear in the office
Speaker 1: actually being seen? I think, as it was all said
Speaker 1: and done, only three or four times. I think four
Speaker 1: times you can actually see me with dialogue. But then
Speaker 1: there were then for me as an actor, there were
Speaker 1: a lot of voiceovers two that were available because um,
Speaker 1: there was no loop group for the office. UM. A
Speaker 1: loop group is a group of five or six people
Speaker 1: who go into a sound booth and do all the
Speaker 1: the sounds of a crowd, a little individual, Hey over there,
Speaker 1: and grab one of those Hey Patty, good to see
Speaker 1: you. You You know that kind of thing. So when the
Speaker 1: editors would be going through and doing rough cuts of
Speaker 1: the episodes, I'd get a text saying, Hey, at lunch,
Speaker 1: could you come over and throw down a line and
Speaker 1: we'll just see if it works. So it could be
Speaker 1: something on a car radio. It could be uh, you know,
Speaker 1: something that was actually usually scripted, but um, he was
Speaker 1: like just throwing because I need I need a voice
Speaker 1: to show it to Greg, but they haven't cast it yet.
Speaker 1: So it always gave me a chance to do it.
Speaker 1: And if Greg liked it, he could stay. And if
Speaker 1: a stage it was mine, which is great or Laurie
Speaker 1: or Laurie's you know. So, so I think we did
Speaker 1: end up doing. Um, I just go by like the
Speaker 1: little residuals now, but I think it's like eight or
Speaker 1: nine episodes. But whenever I get whenever I get a
Speaker 1: big whenever I get a big residual check, I always
Speaker 1: think of you. Always going if I'm getting a big
Speaker 1: residual check for that day, you know, big for me,
Speaker 1: I'm going, Oh, that's how fun to have done a episodes? Um,
Speaker 1: what was the most challenging episode for you to work on? Mm? Hm, wow,
Speaker 1: that's a great question. Um. I can't think of any
Speaker 1: episodes that were mentally or emotionally challenging. Uh, well, oh
Speaker 1: that's now I have to say Steve's Steve's last episode.
Speaker 1: You know, I was gonna say something like it was hot,
Speaker 1: like when we went went out into the woods, or something,
Speaker 1: but you know, to be honest, Um, saying goodbye to Steve.
Speaker 1: It was set up so well for us as a crew.
Speaker 1: On Thursday, you know, Monday, we shot Monday to Friday.
Speaker 1: On Thursday of that week, we went to Ontario Airport
Speaker 1: and shot all the airports stuff and we said goodbye
Speaker 1: to Michael Scott. He got on a plane and left
Speaker 1: and that Friday, the next day was the last day
Speaker 1: for Steve and we were back at the stages. I
Speaker 1: feel like that's when we said goodbye to Steve. UM.
Speaker 1: I was lucky in the fact that in that moment
Speaker 1: Um it was one of these things going, hey, put
Speaker 1: a suit on and show up on the last day
Speaker 1: because I want Greg said, I want to throw you
Speaker 1: in the background somewhere and so um. For those that
Speaker 1: remember Steve's final time and in the office bullpen and
Speaker 1: he says something to Creed and has a great moment
Speaker 1: with John and walks to the elevator and goes down
Speaker 1: the elevator and out to a car and goes to
Speaker 1: the airport. Well, his last scene is walking into that elevator,
Speaker 1: which is not a real elevator. Actually we're on the
Speaker 1: first floor of everything, but the doors just closed, and
Speaker 1: then the doors that were up on the other stage
Speaker 1: and where yeah, it's it's the movie magic. But um,
Speaker 1: so they had like a FedEx guy type of background
Speaker 1: character that was going to be in the elevator and
Speaker 1: walk out of the elevator as Steve was walking in
Speaker 1: the elevator, and they just put me in with that
Speaker 1: FedEx guy, and so I would walk out of the elevator,
Speaker 1: Steve would walk in, and then I just waited in
Speaker 1: the lobby and the doors closed and we waited and
Speaker 1: held and they'd say cut and the doors were open.
Speaker 1: And that last time I remember the doors opened and
Speaker 1: he's we knew it was it. And I was the
Speaker 1: first one, right, I was literally six ft away and
Speaker 1: I just I just hugged him. You know, Steve, he
Speaker 1: didn't he he didn't even hesitate. He just hugged me.
Speaker 1: And uh. It was very emotional, very emotional. But that
Speaker 1: was probably that was probably the toughest. The Thursday was
Speaker 1: really emotional too. I mean, it's a great it's a
Speaker 1: great ending for that character. I mean it ended up
Speaker 1: not being the ending but exactly, but you know, he
Speaker 1: came back, but um, what he takes the microphone when
Speaker 1: he takes the Lavalier mike off and and that's what
Speaker 1: she said, and you can't hear him. It's it's brilliant,
Speaker 1: It's really brilliant. And but but watching him walk away
Speaker 1: after Pam says goodbye to him was I mean, there
Speaker 1: wasn't a dry eye in the house. But on camera,
Speaker 1: it's interesting. You were the second to the other than Pam.
Speaker 1: You were the last one to pass him by in
Speaker 1: the elevator. Yeah, that's right, that's right. Yeah, he um, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was. It was a special moment because we had
Speaker 1: gotten close, we had all gotten close, and we didn't
Speaker 1: want to see this family broken up. We we want
Speaker 1: I mean, not only do you want to keep working?
Speaker 1: You know, we we knew Steve leaving uh was a
Speaker 1: big part of our show. But he was just a
Speaker 1: wonderful person. He is a wonderful person to just have
Speaker 1: in your life. The greater loss for the show Steve
Speaker 1: Carrell or Michael Scott. M hm. For me, it's Steve. Um.
Speaker 1: I can always go back and watch Michael Scott. I
Speaker 1: can always appreciate that character over and over. I mean,
Speaker 1: I have a thirteen year old daughter now that started
Speaker 1: binging the office like during a pandemic time, and it
Speaker 1: was like awesome, and we and we get to the end. Honestly,
Speaker 1: those last episodes were very painful and emotional, and I
Speaker 1: was like, oh, and we just start back to the
Speaker 1: pilot and I can I can go back and see
Speaker 1: that and watch that. But I had limited time with Steve. Yeah. Um,
Speaker 1: so you were on the show five to six years, um,
Speaker 1: which is a long time to work with the same
Speaker 1: group of people. How do you feel that the office,
Speaker 1: the experience that people were were different than other things
Speaker 1: that you've worked on. You know, Greg Daniels said, and
Speaker 1: I think you said this in front of everybody. He
Speaker 1: said that this show was really special and that people
Speaker 1: work their entire career and don't get a show like this.
Speaker 1: Not only nine years on a show, but the group
Speaker 1: of people, and I didn't appreciate it as much as
Speaker 1: I do now it It is by far the best
Speaker 1: show I ever worked on because of the people. I
Speaker 1: got close A couple of times. There were a couple
Speaker 1: of shows I worked on I go this, this this is
Speaker 1: what a great group, but they didn't last and when
Speaker 1: we didn't have a growth together. I mean, you talk
Speaker 1: about family when you when you see uh pe Bowl
Speaker 1: having children, getting married, getting divorced, having deaths in their family,
Speaker 1: and you're there for that. That's what made the office
Speaker 1: so special and made us also close and why we
Speaker 1: probably communicate and stay together so much. In fact, I
Speaker 1: just went down to San Juan Capestano this weekend, went
Speaker 1: to a restaurant and Tad Schultz, who was one of
Speaker 1: the producer, like an assistant producer, assistant to the producer.
Speaker 1: I ran into him. He's out, he's not even in
Speaker 1: that part of the business anymore, and he lives down
Speaker 1: in San Juan Capiscano. And I was like, and you're
Speaker 1: just bonded. And I didn't even spend that much time
Speaker 1: with Tad. You know, Tad didn't really know a lot
Speaker 1: of you guys. He's in a he's in a trailer
Speaker 1: and doing all the post stuff and and all that
Speaker 1: kind of stuff, not the actual shooting and um, but
Speaker 1: anytime I see somebody that is from the show, all
Speaker 1: we can talk about is the show, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: I ran I did UM actually UM did the finale
Speaker 1: of Be Positive as an actor and I and I
Speaker 1: was walking back to my trailer and ran into Andy
Speaker 1: Buckley who was doing another show at Warner Brothers, and
Speaker 1: I knew he had to be someplace because there were
Speaker 1: a lot of pas around him going uh andy Andy.
Speaker 1: But we talked for like forty five minutes, and there's
Speaker 1: no way you can. I mean, we talked about you know,
Speaker 1: golf and football, but we talked about just old times
Speaker 1: and you you had a family basically that that was
Speaker 1: that was born our kids, I know. I mean Lori
Speaker 1: and I were both working on the show full time
Speaker 1: until we had our first child. And at that point
Speaker 1: we knew someone was going to stay at home, and
Speaker 1: so she did. And there were times though once I
Speaker 1: had gotten through, because we had we had long seasons,
Speaker 1: um long hours, you know, twenty three episodes and long hours,
Speaker 1: so there were times where you know, I wanted some
Speaker 1: some baby time and my wife wanted some adult time.
Speaker 1: The pretty this is were amazing at letting us swap
Speaker 1: off for weeks in a time where Lori could get
Speaker 1: a break into civilization, you know, from from babies. I mean,
Speaker 1: I would say at this point, you are the person
Speaker 1: most responsible for at least a specific subgroup of people
Speaker 1: on the show. Stephen is the commissioner of the Office
Speaker 1: Fantasy Football League. Stephen, this is a lot of work
Speaker 1: you're talking about wrangling cats. Uh, those those of us,
Speaker 1: especially the actors on the show. Now we're in year
Speaker 1: what year is this now? Seven season? We are about
Speaker 1: to embark on season seventeen of The Office Fantasy Football League.
Speaker 1: I can't even believe it. Um, when we started this,
Speaker 1: there was no online draft that happened. There was no
Speaker 1: We started doing the draft on a yellow legal pad
Speaker 1: and the draft would take us weeks. There were no
Speaker 1: no um for those of you who do fantasy when
Speaker 1: when it was your turn to draft, you got past
Speaker 1: the yellow legal pad this is and then you would
Speaker 1: have to make your pick. But you might be in
Speaker 1: the middle of a scene or you might be in
Speaker 1: the middle of standing in and then have to go
Speaker 1: be on book and it could take hours, or it
Speaker 1: could be passed to me and I could have gone
Speaker 1: home for the day. So it's not until the next
Speaker 1: day that we picked back this. Yes, um, seventeen years
Speaker 1: you are the commissioner. Are you excited that we're back? Oh?
Speaker 1: Of course. And last year we did. We did have
Speaker 1: some of the guys zoom the draft, which was great.
Speaker 1: So we got to talk to each other. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: was fun and we'll do that again. So I am
Speaker 1: looking forward to that. I do not look forward to
Speaker 1: the wrangling of the cats, as you say. I mean
Speaker 1: we we have a very modest of anti in you know,
Speaker 1: so getting buy in right and getting getting the money
Speaker 1: from everyone, um, isn't it isn't a difficult pay for everyone,
Speaker 1: but it can be really hard to get the money.
Speaker 1: And to be honest, I've paid out without getting everything in.
Speaker 1: But you want to have like you want to make
Speaker 1: sure everyone is is awake here, you know, like I
Speaker 1: want to make sure everything I know, everyone's coming back right.
Speaker 1: But to actually get in touch with twelve other people
Speaker 1: that are doing all different things and almost half our
Speaker 1: our group or actors that could be anywhere in the world,
Speaker 1: I mean, maybe not now with the pandemic is as much.
Speaker 1: But I remember trying to get John, and John can
Speaker 1: be one of the hardest ones to get and oh,
Speaker 1: I'm kidding and uh and I'm emailing and texting and
Speaker 1: you know, I'm thinking these things are going to go through.
Speaker 1: And there was one time where he didn't get back
Speaker 1: to me for a few days and he said, I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: I'm in the middle of the Amazon shooting something. I'm like,
Speaker 1: I had no WiFi. Um okay, so seventeen years now
Speaker 1: it is there is really in the last I don't know,
Speaker 1: eight to ten years. We haven't really had any turnover.
Speaker 1: But who are the guys who are in now? Myself
Speaker 1: Rain Wilson, John Krasinski previously mentioned. Uh you Andy Buckley,
Speaker 1: Andy Buckley, that's right, David Wallace, Owen Ellickson writer a
Speaker 1: Warren Lieber seen the writer. Yes, Mike Bertolina who was
Speaker 1: props at the time. He's at pleased now. Chris Workman
Speaker 1: who I mentioned earlier, but he is um he's a
Speaker 1: camera operator now, but he was a camera assistant at
Speaker 1: the time of the show. H Lee Kirk join his
Speaker 1: husband husband. He qualified because he directed an episode. He
Speaker 1: directed an episode that uh, Nick Carbone sound department. And
Speaker 1: Greg Uberaga, who was one of our favorite pas on
Speaker 1: the show. And he Greg is now a marshal at
Speaker 1: the Park golf course. Yes, as one of his jobs,
Speaker 1: and I know he's loving it. He's an incredible he's
Speaker 1: an incredible golfer. Yes, he's way better than me. Um okay,
Speaker 1: who has one the office league the most times. There's
Speaker 1: no doubt that are most celebrated player or manager is
Speaker 1: Warren Leeper's. He did not start until two thousand twelve.
Speaker 1: He didn't, which I when I look back, I forgot
Speaker 1: he won his first year. He must be cheating. And
Speaker 1: then he had just had a three year streak a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago. So he's he's won four times,
Speaker 1: um and and then he got a second place. So
Speaker 1: he's he's placed five times out of nine seasons. How
Speaker 1: many times have I won? You have not won, Brian,
Speaker 1: but you have. It feels like you actually had the
Speaker 1: You had the distinction of placing in the top three
Speaker 1: the most, the most. I've placed the most. I'm in
Speaker 1: the money twice you have gotten second place, and twice
Speaker 1: you've gotten in third place. So four, well, then then
Speaker 1: that must mean I'm at least tied with Warren. He's
Speaker 1: won four times. Oh, I meant place, but not one.
Speaker 1: I've given Warren the award. You're not Warren, Okay place
Speaker 1: Aside from Warren, I've placed in the top I placed
Speaker 1: second and third the most, second, third, the most. But
Speaker 1: good news is um Kauzynski's never won. I remember that
Speaker 1: was that was something that that Rain always would dig
Speaker 1: him about rain one rain one twice on the third
Speaker 1: place one time? Yes, okay, what about you? Have you won?
Speaker 1: You've won, I won in two thousand thirteen, and then
Speaker 1: I've I've taken second place twice in third place once. Okay,
Speaker 1: I mean, this is what do the Cubs say? This
Speaker 1: is my year? You're always there, Brian, You're always right there.
Speaker 1: I mean to think that the two times that you
Speaker 1: were in second place, you want the championship game twice, right,
Speaker 1: just one game away from the championship game. Two other times,
Speaker 1: I feel like we're just being nice to me. I know,
Speaker 1: I had to tell you it is. It is heartbreaking when,
Speaker 1: like I said, I've I've come in second place twice
Speaker 1: as well, and when I have lost that game, it's
Speaker 1: usually around Christmas time. It ruins my Christmas. Yeah, I know,
Speaker 1: it probably ruins the Christmas for my family. Is um,
Speaker 1: how did you how did you get to be a commissioner?
Speaker 1: It was because nobody else wanted it, that's probably, to
Speaker 1: be honest, and and I did want it. I mean,
Speaker 1: I love fantasy football. It's really besides the corralling of
Speaker 1: everybody and dispensing of a little bit of money. But
Speaker 1: I'm able to be a facilitator of us staying together.
Speaker 1: It really is fantastic because there's a lot of ribbing
Speaker 1: that goes on between us. We're close like families, so
Speaker 1: there's a there's no holds bar actually, um, and but
Speaker 1: that that's been a great way for us to stay together.
Speaker 1: I mean we, like I said, we run into Andy Buckley.
Speaker 1: We talked about old times, but we talked about football
Speaker 1: and I had to be the biggest part of that
Speaker 1: as I could. Yeah. Well, I will say that last year,
Speaker 1: I mean, who knew what zoom? Well, I didn't know
Speaker 1: what zoom was before you know this nonsense that happened.
Speaker 1: But that was really fun that we kind of finally
Speaker 1: did the draft. I know that one year we drafted
Speaker 1: from the computers. Yeah, so on the bullpen set of
Speaker 1: the Office when we were shooting the office, we drafted
Speaker 1: from the computers once or twice. Yeah, well I remember
Speaker 1: one time and uh, I think we brought like a
Speaker 1: six pack of beer. There was some beer. Yeah, there
Speaker 1: was two beers, maybe maybe just a couple. Um. It
Speaker 1: was fun. But other than that that us getting together
Speaker 1: last year, that was that was really fun. So the
Speaker 1: reigning champion who won last year, Andy Buckley, he beat
Speaker 1: Warren in the finals. Andy Buckley. Now that he's definitely cheating, right,
Speaker 1: because it doesn't seem like, you know, when his son
Speaker 1: helps him, his son, his son. I think the actual uh,
Speaker 1: the name that you registered as, I believe it is
Speaker 1: a son's name. So he's using his son's account, I think.
Speaker 1: But I think he's getting I think he's getting some
Speaker 1: some help. But yeah, what are some of our best
Speaker 1: team names? I know that Chris Workman was a big
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers fan. Oh, he had so many different
Speaker 1: about Gore, Yeah, Gore, no more when Gore left. And
Speaker 1: then mine's always been you know, Stephen socks. I've always
Speaker 1: been socks it to him and original, cute, clever. Now
Speaker 1: I guess this makes me like a fuddy duddy. I
Speaker 1: can't believe I just used the term fuddy duddy. I
Speaker 1: have been bombers. I just bombed. I don't know. I
Speaker 1: never do it. Rain He gets really into the names.
Speaker 1: Usually it's something slightly perverted. Yes, he's had I don't
Speaker 1: know what your rating is on your podcast, and it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. He's had cut my balls for a but
Speaker 1: Cooper Cup, you know you could be for for a
Speaker 1: couple of years. Um, but he just changed it to
Speaker 1: cut my footballs. So I don't know if he's maybe
Speaker 1: getting I don't know, he's cleaning he's cleaning it up.
Speaker 1: I don't know. Um, but yeah, you've always been b
Speaker 1: B bombers. And I'd say Rain is the biggest trash
Speaker 1: talker Rain is, And Rain loves to send you the
Speaker 1: crappiest trade offers. Oh my god, ever like giving a
Speaker 1: bite on that, like or he's getting a trade offer
Speaker 1: from someone else, and he'll come to me and say,
Speaker 1: what do you think about this? And I'm going, why
Speaker 1: would Why am I helping you? First of all, I'm
Speaker 1: the commissioner. Second of all, I'm playing against you in
Speaker 1: the in the standings, So I've learned actually to help him, Uh,
Speaker 1: you know in my own way. Um, I think that
Speaker 1: we're unique in a way. And this is because I
Speaker 1: am in other leagues, and I think that the biggest
Speaker 1: benefit of us and it being seventeen years is there's
Speaker 1: really no there's no controversy right, Like it feels like
Speaker 1: in other leagues it's like, well, how many days do
Speaker 1: you get to accept a draft? Or how many players
Speaker 1: or this or that, like there's just kind of no
Speaker 1: nonsense and that all of that stuff has kind of
Speaker 1: gone away. There's really no controversy, and the draft order
Speaker 1: is uniquely determined by always my kids. We always grab
Speaker 1: I had a done Mifflin hat. We've gotten so many
Speaker 1: over the years, right, and put everybody's name in a hat,
Speaker 1: and my kids take turns pulling the the names out
Speaker 1: of hat, and we always the you know, the first
Speaker 1: the first pull will be position twelve and will go
Speaker 1: all down to the first pick. Which is funny because
Speaker 1: I have one other league where he'll he'll do a
Speaker 1: very similar thing, and the first the hat is number one,
Speaker 1: And I've always had this like problem with that. I'm like, well,
Speaker 1: that doesn't make any sense. You never say who won first,
Speaker 1: and then let's let's talk about two, three to twelve.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's how you do anything. You would never
Speaker 1: they don't give the award first place first, and then
Speaker 1: and then everybody you know, oh, let's wait around for
Speaker 1: a second place and goes to now let me give
Speaker 1: you the nominees. No, it made no sense. So I've
Speaker 1: been picked, uh, you know, last to be twelve in
Speaker 1: that league, and I've been like I should have been
Speaker 1: the first pick. But anyway, it's a pretty unique way,
Speaker 1: and it's a it's a really great way to get
Speaker 1: my kids involved in enjoying that and and just seeing
Speaker 1: the age of the kids as the progress, because I'll
Speaker 1: videotape it and and send it out to everybody and
Speaker 1: at least gives a chance for everyone to say, yeah,
Speaker 1: we are we are getting older. Yes what, Um, I
Speaker 1: know the answer to this question, but who's your football team?
Speaker 1: The New Orleans Saints from New Orleans, originally from New Orleans. Yes,
Speaker 1: New Orleans. You've got Rain, big Seahawks, John Big Patriots.
Speaker 1: I might have the Green Bay Packers represented. And I
Speaker 1: would say we are kind of homers in that way. Now,
Speaker 1: not a hundred percent, because we all we do take
Speaker 1: it seriously, but I would say that we all try
Speaker 1: to get at least somebody. I definitely try to get
Speaker 1: somebody from the Saints, which has been easy the last
Speaker 1: you know, a few years with their their offense. You know,
Speaker 1: if it's not Drew Brees, I want to get Kamara
Speaker 1: or I want to get Michael Thomas and that kind
Speaker 1: of hurt me last year, but um, but you know,
Speaker 1: I want to be in this group I want to win,
Speaker 1: but I also we have such a great time. Like
Speaker 1: when you talk about how there's no controversy, I think
Speaker 1: of like you just kids on the playground, right, you
Speaker 1: show up, you got you got a basketball, and there's
Speaker 1: a hoop and we're just playing. That's what we want.
Speaker 1: We want to have fun. So grabbing one of our
Speaker 1: players he has definitely a thing we want to do,
Speaker 1: even if it's not maybe the smartest draft choice. You know,
Speaker 1: we'll move up the draft for a hometown player most definitely. Right. Okay,
Speaker 1: my my producer came up with these, uh this idea.
Speaker 1: Let's see how well you or I do? All right,
Speaker 1: if you were to hold a draft with just office characters,
Speaker 1: who would you draft first? And what position would they play?
Speaker 1: Craig Robinson fullback because no one stopping him. Okay, that's fair,
Speaker 1: that's all right, that's fair. What do you think Kevin's
Speaker 1: position would be? Although, see you said Craig Robinson, but
Speaker 1: you mean Darryl Philbin. Oh yes, I'm sorry, Darryl Philbin.
Speaker 1: What do you think Kevin would play? I think Kevin
Speaker 1: Malone would have to be uh deceptively athletic, remember, yes,
Speaker 1: and and offensive Lineman R. And that's where I would
Speaker 1: put him, because you need someone that's going to have
Speaker 1: legs like tree trunks that are set in the ground
Speaker 1: and stable, and that's your that was your persona on
Speaker 1: the show, a stable, physical person, almost an immovable object
Speaker 1: at times. So I could see the focus of Kevin
Speaker 1: just being I'm going to block block and I could
Speaker 1: see that nothing to complicated. I think that. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think that's a that's a that's a um, you know,
Speaker 1: I think that's a that would be a standard response.
Speaker 1: I think, what do you think if well, I think
Speaker 1: if you were a writer on the office, it would
Speaker 1: probably there would probably be a final play in the
Speaker 1: game and somehow Kevin would run by every one and
Speaker 1: catch a long touchdown. That would be that would be
Speaker 1: where they're their minds would go. Who would who would
Speaker 1: get kicked out of the game first? Oh, boy, b J.
Speaker 1: Probably I mean Ryan Howard, Ryan R. Okay, fair enough,
Speaker 1: he'd piss off somebody. Yeah, you know, I could see uh,
Speaker 1: I could see Meredith Palmer doing something where she just
Speaker 1: would have to be removed from the from the game. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: there are substance abuse there, there might be testing, who
Speaker 1: might fail some sort of test. Um, who who would
Speaker 1: be the m v P. Michael Scott, He'd be our
Speaker 1: He'd be the quarterback, the fearless leader. For as ridiculous
Speaker 1: as some of the pleas would turn out to be
Speaker 1: and as nonsensical as they would turn out to be,
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, you knew it was
Speaker 1: an honest choice and it probably full the hell out
Speaker 1: of the other team. Well, that's true, because it would
Speaker 1: make very little sense sometimes. Again, somehow I think it
Speaker 1: would it would be Jim. I don't know how, but
Speaker 1: it would be Jim. Well that's you've been seeing those
Speaker 1: pictures of his abs. Well, yeah, exactly, kidding me. Um,
Speaker 1: all right, so we may come back and we may
Speaker 1: talk about this now. Our draft is coming up very soon.
Speaker 1: We get a lot of questions. I get a lot
Speaker 1: of questions directly, Like, I'm an expert. I've been doing
Speaker 1: it seventeen years. You just heard I've never won. But
Speaker 1: we'll talk about the league once we have the player set.
Speaker 1: What do you think about that? That sounds great. I
Speaker 1: always love talking fancy with you. I love it now. Uh, Steve, sorry,
Speaker 1: before I let you go, I know you have a
Speaker 1: podcast of your own called if we Knew then UM
Speaker 1: tell us a little bit about that if we knew
Speaker 1: then Yes, Liam was born in Teach thousand and ten
Speaker 1: with Down syndrome UM and it was an incredibly frightening
Speaker 1: time for us. We when when Liam was born, we
Speaker 1: didn't know very much about down stydrom or diversity inclusion,
Speaker 1: all these words that we hear today and UM. But
Speaker 1: most of the information we had about down syndrome was
Speaker 1: not very positive. It was certainly not hopeful, and so
Speaker 1: we were really looking for a place where parents could
Speaker 1: hear those stories of accomplishments and and and also get
Speaker 1: useful information. You know about therapies are educational supports but UM,
Speaker 1: but just to hear positive messages and and we initially
Speaker 1: thought that these things were going to be totally geared
Speaker 1: to the down Sturgeon community, but we've I guess, through
Speaker 1: constantly learning and evolving, we've realized that so many of
Speaker 1: our guests have given information that's needed by all parents
Speaker 1: and and it's helped us with both our kids. We
Speaker 1: just recently talked to an attorney about family trusts UH.
Speaker 1: We we we talk about the importance of self care
Speaker 1: for parents UH through guided meditation was one way. We
Speaker 1: had a pediatric dentist on just about introducing your child
Speaker 1: to two healthy dental routine, you know. And uh, we
Speaker 1: had a zen Buddhists on the Zen Buddhist priest on
Speaker 1: the show about talking about fear. I mean that's the
Speaker 1: main thing. We were only scared of the unknown and
Speaker 1: fearful of that because we don't know it right. So
Speaker 1: the more information we can gather, the less fear we have.
Speaker 1: And these things benefit all parents and really to get
Speaker 1: down to it though, even the stories that are more
Speaker 1: specific to Down syndrome we all learned from. We interviewed
Speaker 1: a couple of times Chris nikisch Uh he is the
Speaker 1: first person with downstad and the Finish and iron Man
Speaker 1: he won the Jimmy v Award on the SPS recently
Speaker 1: and um and and how he broke through stereotypes. And
Speaker 1: we had a a young dentistry student from Syria, sod
Speaker 1: er Issa, who was raised by a father who has
Speaker 1: Down syndrome. I mean his father has been married for
Speaker 1: thirty years, goes to work every day to support his
Speaker 1: family and or siblings. Like we've had our daughter on.
Speaker 1: One of the things that we see the most is
Speaker 1: that parents is so worried for the other kids or
Speaker 1: the other family members, Like, what's the repercussions? Is the
Speaker 1: thought process? What's what's what's going to happen to these
Speaker 1: to the kids we have? And overwhelmingly we found that
Speaker 1: it's it's a wonderful experience. U. We we got a
Speaker 1: chance to talk to Steve Guffinson from ten Thousand Maniacs
Speaker 1: and he had his his sister Cathy had Down syndrome,
Speaker 1: and we talked to him about what he learned about
Speaker 1: her and and many people from the entertainment industry to
Speaker 1: to talk about the importance of inclusion in media, and
Speaker 1: that is that is a big hashtag right now, inclusion
Speaker 1: and it is very important for the disability community as well. Um.
Speaker 1: But we talked to Julianne Robinson. She's the EP of
Speaker 1: Bridgetain and that show has broken a lot of barriers.
Speaker 1: But she also did a movie about an adult with
Speaker 1: Down syndrome. So so yes, the podcast focuses on Down
Speaker 1: syndrome and I highly recommend sharing it with anyone you
Speaker 1: know who has someone with Down syndrome in their life.
Speaker 1: But I think in doing it, I've realized how much
Speaker 1: we can learn from each other, especially, you know, from
Speaker 1: people we assumed we're very very different from ourselves, you know,
Speaker 1: and and we really aren't all that different when it
Speaker 1: gets down to it. I mean that that's inclusion. And
Speaker 1: the more we include those stories, tell those stories, the
Speaker 1: more we include all the people in our society to
Speaker 1: join the table, to join the discussion, to truly be
Speaker 1: a voice in our society, the better we all are,
Speaker 1: right if we knew them. A podcast from Even and
Speaker 1: his and his wife Lorie For what it's worth. Some
Speaker 1: of my favorite days on set were when people's kids
Speaker 1: who were either born during the show or not came in.
Speaker 1: Sophia leam Walter. We talked about before Rain's kid. Um
Speaker 1: just Angeli's Angela's daughter, Angela's daughter. Well, she basically lived
Speaker 1: there right, totally lived in the trailer. She never went home.
Speaker 1: Um no isabel that of course it's not true. Um, Stephen,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for coming and talking to me.
Speaker 1: You had a very significant and important role on the show,
Speaker 1: but also you were an important part of our dunder
Speaker 1: Miffin and family. And uh, I want you to know you, Lori,
Speaker 1: your kids, all of you are are very special to me.
Speaker 1: And UH and I appreciate you coming in. I appreciate
Speaker 1: all the work that you do keeping Fantasy Football lead going,
Speaker 1: and and I love you and appreciate you, and let's
Speaker 1: talk some more throughout the season. I love you brain
Speaker 1: all right, definitely, thanks for um, thanks for just bringing
Speaker 1: back some amazing memories. I mean, it's there's not often
Speaker 1: that we get to like sit down and really like
Speaker 1: talk about you know, I don't know if you ever
Speaker 1: knew any that way I got on the show or anything,
Speaker 1: and and it's just neat to hear that stuff and
Speaker 1: and and and say and to say that stuff. Really,
Speaker 1: it's really fantastic. Thank you, Thanks buddy, Thank you all right.
Speaker 1: Stephen A k A sucks it to me. Uh, Steven,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for coming in to talk to
Speaker 1: me today. We're gonna have you back throughout the season
Speaker 1: to keep us posted on on how how the competitors
Speaker 1: are faring, how are our teams are doing this year.
Speaker 1: Also catch Stephen and his wife Laurie on their podcast
Speaker 1: If We Knew Then, where they talk about their family
Speaker 1: parenting and they do incredible work raising down syndrome awareness.
Speaker 1: Also keep listening to this podcast, The Office Deep Dive.
Speaker 1: For future updates about the Office Fantasy Football League. Until
Speaker 1: next time, we will see you, well, We'll see you
Speaker 1: on Tuesday. The Office Deep Dive is hosted and executive
Speaker 1: produced by me Brian Baumgartner alongside our executive producer Langley.
Speaker 1: Our producers for this episode are Liz Hayes, Emily Carr
Speaker 1: and Diego Topia, and our intern is Hannah Harris. My
Speaker 1: main man in the booth is Colin Tadeshi. Our theme
Speaker 1: song Bubble and Squeak, performed by my great friend Creed Bratton,
Speaker 1: and the episode was mixed by Seth Olandsky