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Speaker 1: My name is Veda Samarne, and I was the script

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Speaker 1: supervisor on The Office. Welcome, welcome, one and all to

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Speaker 1: the Office deep Dive. It is nice to be back

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Speaker 1: with you all on this fine Tuesday or whatever day

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Speaker 1: you happen to be listening. I am your host, Brian Baumgartner.

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Speaker 1: Today we're wrapping up our little mini deep dive on

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Speaker 1: the women of the Office with a woman who was

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Speaker 1: truly the glue of our show. She kept everything together,

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Speaker 1: our script supervisor, Veda somarn. This is someone I respect

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Speaker 1: and admire so much. Okay, she was with us on

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Speaker 1: set every single day making sure that we did our

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Speaker 1: jobs and set our lines and that the director, the

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Speaker 1: editor and the writers all got what they needed to

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Speaker 1: make a great show as well. And so how was

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Speaker 1: she repaid? Well, she was repaid by the cast with

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Speaker 1: groans with eye rolls, because when we were having fun

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Speaker 1: shooting on set, when Veda came in, Oh, well it's

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Speaker 1: because we did something wrong. Oh that's how we repaid her.

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Speaker 1: But I really do I love her and Veda and

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Speaker 1: I we had a special connection because Kevin's car on

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Speaker 1: the show was actually Vedas car in real life. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: remember Kevin's fuzzy steering wheel cover. Now that that's all

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Speaker 1: Veda think of this, the simple task of keeping the

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Speaker 1: entire cast on track, helping everyone with lines, marking every take,

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Speaker 1: supporting the director, editors, actors, props, wardrobe all at the

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Speaker 1: same time. She even made sure all of the clocks

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Speaker 1: and watches were set to the same time. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that was all her too. Now, when we spoke all

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Speaker 1: the way back in February, she was working on Steve

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Speaker 1: Correll and Greg Daniels show Space Force with lots of

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Speaker 1: other office cast and crew, so she was getting to

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Speaker 1: hang out with that crew almost every day in that moment.

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Speaker 1: Lucky her, and well, lucky you, because now you get

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Speaker 1: to listen to my conversation with the incomparable Vada Samarn

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Speaker 1: Bubble and Squeak. I love it, Bubble and squeakan Bubble

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Speaker 1: and Squeaker Cookie every month left over from the night before.

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Speaker 1: Oh my god, how are you so good to see you?

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Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I know it's been so long. Oh

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Speaker 1: right there, right, yeah, right by that Mike, He'll come. Okay,

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Speaker 1: it's always so fun to see people from the office.

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Speaker 1: It's well, you were just working with a bunch of them. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that was a really cool experience to be back with,

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Speaker 1: you know, Steve bunch of us, Dave Rogers. Yeah, it

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Speaker 1: was very cool. Yeah is that that? Wait? Who is it? Well?

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Speaker 1: Ka um, do you still have the RAB four? No?

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Speaker 1: Oh gosh, okay. So you know, I remember a good

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Speaker 1: story about that, you know, because the prop department always

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Speaker 1: had to change my license plate right right to make

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Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania. And I once drove home with the Pennsylvania plates,

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Speaker 1: I remember, and I got home, I thought, oh my god,

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Speaker 1: that's not good, is it? You know? And then and

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Speaker 1: then of course I didn't know how to get them off,

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Speaker 1: so I had to drive back the next morning with

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Speaker 1: them on. But it doesn't reflect well on the prop department,

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Speaker 1: you know, they had. But also I remember there were

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Speaker 1: all these stickers all over it that were like Pennsylvania

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Speaker 1: stickers that I had. I just left on because Kevin

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Speaker 1: was always there, so my car was always right there.

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Speaker 1: And it's that's that's another continuity thing that I thought of,

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Speaker 1: you know, like the car continuity. There were so many

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Speaker 1: weird kinds of continuity, right all right, So first, how

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Speaker 1: did you get hooked in? Was it through Ken Kappas.

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Speaker 1: I had done a movie with him. I did a

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Speaker 1: movie that he wrote called Sexual Life, So I knew

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Speaker 1: him from that, and he knew I was smart and

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Speaker 1: that you know, I could figure stuff out, and you

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Speaker 1: know that this show was going to require someone who

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Speaker 1: could figure yourself out? Right, And you came in Diversity

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Speaker 1: day right, Yes, that's the second episode. Yes, yes, yes,

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Speaker 1: they didn't do the pilot. I never met the person

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Speaker 1: who did the pilot, but no, I did every other

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Speaker 1: episode after that though. I just stuck with it. I mean,

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Speaker 1: why wouldn't. I mean, it's the best show to work

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Speaker 1: on the way the show was shot. Was that more

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Speaker 1: difficult for you? In other words, like there are no marks,

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Speaker 1: so much improving that would affect you a lot too. Yes,

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Speaker 1: it made my job completely different. I had to reinvent it.

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Speaker 1: I think everyone did, you know, in their own job,

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Speaker 1: their own department, and their own capacity. They had to

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Speaker 1: reinvent what they normally do. You have to throw it

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Speaker 1: out the window and start all over again. Because this

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Speaker 1: was really different. At the beginning, no one was allowed

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Speaker 1: on set. None of the crew members remember that. Because

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Speaker 1: the idea was that it was going to feel like

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Speaker 1: a real office and you guys were going to get

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Speaker 1: acquainted with the space and feel like you were home

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Speaker 1: when you were there, so that you would feel free

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Speaker 1: to do whatever. So the way that affected me was

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Speaker 1: humongous because first of all, I had to be in

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Speaker 1: the green room with the writer the entire I think

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Speaker 1: it was two or three seasons we did. So I

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Speaker 1: was outside the main office. I was outside the door,

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Speaker 1: and so between takes we both have to run in,

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Speaker 1: I mean literally run in to give our notes. And

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Speaker 1: the no slating meant that I had to reinvent the

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Speaker 1: way I did my notes because I had to be

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Speaker 1: able to signal to the editors where all the good

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Speaker 1: parts were. So I had to use time code instead

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Speaker 1: of slates to separate out each part of it. So

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Speaker 1: I had to create a new way of doing the notes.

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Speaker 1: This was at the beginning. Later on I got a

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Speaker 1: little bit more traditional, a little bit more, but at

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Speaker 1: the beginning it was totally new. Um, you would just

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Speaker 1: slate the scene and the camera would just keep rolling,

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Speaker 1: and a lot of what was on the camera was

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Speaker 1: just the cameras sitting on the ground and feet walking by.

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Speaker 1: So they had to use my notes literally to find

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Speaker 1: the takes. And to find the coverage. Like I'd say, here,

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Speaker 1: the camera's going wide now, so we're going to get

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Speaker 1: a three shot of the accounting department. And then now

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Speaker 1: and this take we got a close up of Kevin,

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Speaker 1: and this take we got a close up evangel and

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Speaker 1: this take we got a close up of Oscar. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's like every take was a different piece of coverage

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Speaker 1: or you know, a continuity there was. There was so

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Speaker 1: much continuity. But luckily everyone was on top of it,

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Speaker 1: so it wasn't just me, but I was definitely needed.

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Speaker 1: I needed to track so much because you know, the

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Speaker 1: episodes would take the place in the course of a day,

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Speaker 1: so it all had to make sense right right right,

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Speaker 1: like what was on even what was on people's desks

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Speaker 1: or because things would changed through the course of the day. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and if we were going backwards or write Office Olympics,

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Speaker 1: you know, like which games had been played? You know,

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Speaker 1: you had to know at every moment we tried to

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Speaker 1: shoot in order. Usually we had to know which games

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Speaker 1: have been played to know what each part of the

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Speaker 1: office looked like. There was a lot too, you know,

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Speaker 1: I had to have like special charts for everything, like

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Speaker 1: what else well for example, the clock was always in

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Speaker 1: the shot and it didn't run we'd said it. But

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Speaker 1: when I prepped for each episode, I had to assign

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Speaker 1: a time to each scene so that the set decorator

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Speaker 1: could just take that list and set the clock, and

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Speaker 1: they had. We realized after the first couple of shows

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Speaker 1: that we had to set it for every scene, no

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Speaker 1: matter what, because you never knew what the camera was

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Speaker 1: going to capture. I remember in the the Hot Girl

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Speaker 1: episode when they were buying purses, you know, I had

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Speaker 1: to keep track. That's another one. I had to keep

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Speaker 1: track of what purse was on what desk at what time,

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Speaker 1: like who bought what. And I remember very distinctly this

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Speaker 1: was the moment I realized that we had to be

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Speaker 1: so careful about continuity. We had to make sure the

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Speaker 1: whole office was correct for every scene because we were

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Speaker 1: shooting a close up of Dwight, and I remember Randall

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Speaker 1: just suddenly went around to the other side of Dwight

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Speaker 1: so you could see Katie in the background Amy Adams,

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Speaker 1: you know, and you could suddenly see that he had

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Speaker 1: the purse that he bought later on his desk, and

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Speaker 1: so of course I had to run in No, that's

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Speaker 1: not there yet. But that's when I realized, no, we

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Speaker 1: can't leave anything out. You know, everything has to be

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Speaker 1: correct for every moment because I don't know where the

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Speaker 1: what the cameras are gonna see. Yes, I remember you

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Speaker 1: with the clock and with the watches on people's risk,

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Speaker 1: and I said later and I have used this sense

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Speaker 1: that the greatest decision that I ever unwittingly made was

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Speaker 1: that Kevin did not, Thank God, because having to adjust

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Speaker 1: that watch every scene and the clock. You're right, well,

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Speaker 1: the watches. I got a little more easy going about

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Speaker 1: the watches. I decided only if someone was going to

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Speaker 1: be camera, because that, yeah, there was enough for us

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Speaker 1: to worry about. There was so much, Right, who does

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Speaker 1: the script supervisor serve? Well, the script supervisor is a

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Speaker 1: department of one, so you're your own boss. Yes, it's

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Speaker 1: really hard to manage. I remember that if there was

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Speaker 1: a Kelly line about how she was, she was a

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Speaker 1: department of one and her department was so hard to manage.

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Speaker 1: Let's have that applied to script supervisors. Right. But in

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Speaker 1: terms of I guess, I don't know. It's so interesting

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Speaker 1: to me, like in terms of you know, you're talking

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Speaker 1: about needing to do stuff for the editors. You've got

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Speaker 1: writers chirping at you, telling you you know that they

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Speaker 1: want lines set a certain way. You serve them all.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you production. You keep track of a lot

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Speaker 1: of information about the scripts, and you know how much

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Speaker 1: is shot, how much remains. You keep track of all

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Speaker 1: the scenes and you know if anything's missing you tell

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Speaker 1: them right away, or you keep track of scenes and

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Speaker 1: what um the director or the writers want to include

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Speaker 1: in the cut. For the editor and for the For

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Speaker 1: the actors, you're helping them with lines. Sometimes they don't

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Speaker 1: treat it as help, but you basically are helping them

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Speaker 1: remember their lines. And you work for the writers in

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Speaker 1: the sense that you're trying to make sure this script

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Speaker 1: is properly shot, and then all the lines are as written,

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Speaker 1: especially on the office because I mean, let's face it,

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Speaker 1: it was like Shakespeare. The lines were beautiful. Yeah, they

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Speaker 1: had to be said exactly as written at least once

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Speaker 1: or twice, just because they were so beautifully written. It

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Speaker 1: just had to be that way. So I was a

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Speaker 1: real I was a real stickler for the burbage, you

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Speaker 1: know the people. Yeah, people would cower when I came

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Speaker 1: towards them. If they had like a whole paragraph that

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Speaker 1: they had to say. They would be so nervous that

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Speaker 1: I was going to tell them they were doing it

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Speaker 1: all wrong. But you know, for the most part, I

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Speaker 1: just wanted the comedy to be for it to be

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Speaker 1: as funny as it possibly could be. Right. I want

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Speaker 1: to talk about that a little bit, that relationship between

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Speaker 1: the actors and you on the show, Like did you

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Speaker 1: did you feel comfortable with everybody like Rain for example,

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Speaker 1: Like Rain would give you hell. I loved him, you know,

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Speaker 1: I loved everybody. It was everybody had a different way.

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Speaker 1: You know. I think a lot of actors just they

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Speaker 1: wanted to be so perfect that they get frustrated and

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Speaker 1: and sometimes they take it out on me a little bit,

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Speaker 1: but I don't really take it personally, and I know

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of pressure on them. You were very,

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Speaker 1: very skilled at that, particularly when we were in the

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Speaker 1: conference room, and I just recall at times, you know,

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Speaker 1: being in between a take and there being a kind

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Speaker 1: of pause that when you're inside the conference room, you

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Speaker 1: weren't quite sure what was happening, Like it felt like

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Speaker 1: nothing was happening, and then you would turn the corner

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Speaker 1: and it would be like, oh, somebody's getting it now,

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Speaker 1: somebody is getting it from Beta. Um. But I think

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Speaker 1: it was all truly it felt like everybody was working

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Speaker 1: to try to make it the best show that that was.

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Speaker 1: That was so lovely and unusual about that show, Like

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Speaker 1: I mean, for nine years, I was excited to go

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Speaker 1: to work. I got up, I was happy that I

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Speaker 1: was going to see the scenes I was going to

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Speaker 1: see that day, and I was so excited to see

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Speaker 1: everybody at work, you know, every day. So and I

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Speaker 1: think everyone felt that way. We all loved it so much.

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Speaker 1: We wanted it to be as good as possible. So

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Speaker 1: sometimes it took, you know, a little bit of bullying,

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Speaker 1: you know, to get some Sometimes people would argue with

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Speaker 1: me about lines. Well, I would make them say, like

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Speaker 1: every article, every little word, because I could feel the

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Speaker 1: rhythm of the line, like I knew how the line

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Speaker 1: was supposed to sound, It was in my head. So

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Speaker 1: I just ignored when people thought I was crazy because

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Speaker 1: I knew I was right. And it quite often the

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Speaker 1: line would get a laugh after they added that tiny

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Speaker 1: little word like a just like one little word could

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Speaker 1: make all the difference on that show. I've never seen

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Speaker 1: that at any other show. How much after you handed

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Speaker 1: in your note, were you in dialogue with Dave Rogers

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Speaker 1: or Claire or Dean or not really like once because

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Speaker 1: you're shooting the next That absolutely was because they were

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Speaker 1: right there. They were in the next building, which is

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Speaker 1: such a luxury because that doesn't happen very often. So

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Speaker 1: I could go over there at lunchtime or between scenes

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Speaker 1: and say, you know, here's what's happening. A lot of

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Speaker 1: times I would have to talk to them about the director,

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Speaker 1: because we had a different director for each episode almost,

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Speaker 1: you know, and so many newcomers who were experienced directors,

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Speaker 1: but they had never worked on the show before, so

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Speaker 1: sometimes I thought they weren't quite getting it right. So

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Speaker 1: I'd go and talk to Dave, and what do you

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Speaker 1: think about what we shot yesterday? Does it is this

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Speaker 1: director getting it? Is there any way that I could

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Speaker 1: kind of nudge them in one direction or another? And

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Speaker 1: sometimes you'd say, you just get more reaction shots, get

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Speaker 1: tons of reactions for this episode because I'm going to

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Speaker 1: really need them, or or they'd say, you know, you're

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Speaker 1: not the director is not getting enough angles. I need

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Speaker 1: more angles to be able to pace the scene the

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Speaker 1: way I need to pace it because that was a

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Speaker 1: big thing for them, pacing for the comedy. I remember

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Speaker 1: some instances, but I want to talk to you about

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Speaker 1: how you were tracking not just continuity within an episode,

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Speaker 1: but also continuity within relationships that spanned marks. Right, I was,

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Speaker 1: and Um sometimes that was very difficult. Well, first of all,

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Speaker 1: I didn't always know what or remember like what parts

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Speaker 1: of the script had ended up in the final cut,

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Speaker 1: because it was half of it basically would be in

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Speaker 1: the final cut, so I didn't always remember what had

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Speaker 1: actually aired. And then if something stated in season two

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Speaker 1: and then in season five we revisited that idea, sometimes

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't remember that we'd already said something about that.

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Speaker 1: I'll give you an example, like um, who started at

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Speaker 1: dunder Mifflin first, Pam or Jim. That was a big

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Speaker 1: issue that the fans noticed because early on we said

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Speaker 1: it was Pham, I believe, and then later on we

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Speaker 1: said Jim had been there or the eye. I don't

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Speaker 1: remember which round it was. But it was years, literally

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Speaker 1: years later, that we addressed it again and contradicted ourselves.

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Speaker 1: And that was you know, I would catch those things

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Speaker 1: quite often, but I couldn't catch all of them. It

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Speaker 1: was just too hard. There were two characters and yeah,

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Speaker 1: and they all had their own stories with different relationships.

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Speaker 1: There was some question about like how many kids did

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Speaker 1: Meredith actually have? Was it one or two? Because she

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Speaker 1: says when she's being described to Michael when he's trying

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Speaker 1: to write a funny message on her birthday card season

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Speaker 1: the second season, for the first season, thinking they say

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Speaker 1: she has two kids, and then later she only had one.

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Speaker 1: So then I think it was in a webisode that

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Speaker 1: we addressed that issue and why she wouldn't talk about

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Speaker 1: the other kid, right, right, right, And I think that

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Speaker 1: was the other thing I remember Greg talking about, which was, yeah,

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Speaker 1: the webisodes. Was that a part of the history of

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Speaker 1: the show too, or was it just the episodes or

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Speaker 1: was it everything we shot? Like, yeah, there's a lot

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Speaker 1: to keep track of, ye, and the writers had to

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Speaker 1: try to keep it all in their heads too, you know.

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Speaker 1: So hopefully with everybody thinking about it, most of the

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Speaker 1: problems got addressed. But I'm sure, you know, I'm sure

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Speaker 1: there are things that the fans are still finding little nuggets.

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Speaker 1: So so you would take the script and you would

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Speaker 1: break it, So tell me, like the process of what

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Speaker 1: how you would break down a script. Well, I would

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Speaker 1: do that on the weekends. I would take the script

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Speaker 1: and um for each scene, I would you know, note

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Speaker 1: for myself the significant things that happened for each character

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Speaker 1: and each scene, and then what time of day that was,

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Speaker 1: so that I would be able to create like a

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Speaker 1: story flow for myself. After the first season, I believe

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Speaker 1: there was almost always a beast story as well, So

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Speaker 1: I would separate out the A the B. Sometimes there

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Speaker 1: was a C story, and I'd color code them so

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Speaker 1: that I'd see each story separately and how it developed

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Speaker 1: over the course of the day. So like you're tracking,

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Speaker 1: say if Michael and Carol have something this episode, and

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Speaker 1: Jim and Pam or you know, Darryl and Gim or something, right,

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Speaker 1: you're tracking all like the middle of the day, they're

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Speaker 1: not speaking to each other, you know, then I know that,

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Speaker 1: you know, Okay, that's that's about four hours into the day.

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Speaker 1: And then a couple of hours later something happens that

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Speaker 1: makes them bond again, and yeah, that that. I was

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Speaker 1: definitely tracking that kind of thing, and I would get

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Speaker 1: a lot of questions about that from the actors. Yes,

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Speaker 1: like when is this happening. We're shooting scenes out of order. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and I when did I get angry? Yes? Right? Am

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Speaker 1: I building up to it now? Or has it already happened? Right?

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Speaker 1: So you have this chart, and I'm fascinated about this.

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Speaker 1: So are you Once actors get in wardrobe, if the

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Speaker 1: wardrobe is changing, does that get added to your chart?

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Speaker 1: I mean, every department keeps their own continuity, so I'm

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Speaker 1: just really checking it. Right. The Yankee swap episode must

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Speaker 1: be the most complicated and difficult. You know, when does

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Speaker 1: Phillis have the mit? She gives it to Michael and

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Speaker 1: when we're shooting scenes out of order? Who has it?

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Speaker 1: What are they doing with it? Yeah? I definitely had

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Speaker 1: to have a very clear chart of that. I remember

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Speaker 1: Mike Sure and I were in the green room for

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Speaker 1: that because that was when we still were not allowed

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Speaker 1: on set. And I remember he we had so many

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Speaker 1: charts on the walls, and one of the charts was

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Speaker 1: his tally of how many times he had to run

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Speaker 1: in each day. I still have that, Oh my gosh,

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Speaker 1: you do. I kept that document? Oh my god, like

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Speaker 1: how many times he had to run in that? It's

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Speaker 1: really funny on an episode of my episode basis, you're

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Speaker 1: a department of one so you serve yourself and you're

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Speaker 1: served by yourself. But are you like, who are you

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Speaker 1: working closest with on a week day? Is that the writers?

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Speaker 1: Is that the director or is it usually the director?

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Speaker 1: But I mean the director and the actors. But um,

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Speaker 1: on the office, the writer was very involved, so that

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Speaker 1: that was I also worked very closely with the writers.

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Speaker 1: That isn't always the case on comedies. Usually the writer

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Speaker 1: comes to set, but quite often they'll send a writer

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Speaker 1: to supervise the writing for them. You know, there will

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00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:43,040
Speaker 1: be like a designated writer who's on set, but on

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Speaker 1: the office it was usually the writer of the episode

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Speaker 1: would be on set. Did you have any special secrets

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Speaker 1: or ways that you dealt with any of the particular

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Speaker 1: actors on set? I mean your relationship with each actor

364
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Speaker 1: is to front. Well, there were different ways I would

365
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:07,320
Speaker 1: have to phrase things like would you try one where

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Speaker 1: you say it this way? Or you know, with you,

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Speaker 1: I would just say, you know, here's the line in

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Speaker 1: the script. You know, there wasn't a lot of attitude there,

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Speaker 1: so you would just you just say, okay, but I

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Speaker 1: want to say this way. You know, we would just

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Speaker 1: negotiating and it would be quick. There would be some negotiation, yes, okay,

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Speaker 1: but sometimes I would have to word things carefully because

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Speaker 1: and I remember once I told one of the actors, um,

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Speaker 1: it's funnier this way, and I realized, no, I can't

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Speaker 1: say it that way because he got so mad at me.

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Speaker 1: Don't tell me what's funny. Yeah. I mean that's the

377
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Speaker 1: thing is that I imagine on some shows there would

378
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Speaker 1: be a level of defensiveness or like, I don't feel

379
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Speaker 1: like we had that. I feel like every but he

380
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,520
Speaker 1: was trying very hard. Yeah. Yeah, everybody wanted it to

381
00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,880
Speaker 1: be funny and want you know, I felt like there

382
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,160
Speaker 1: was an understanding. They knew that I was saying something

383
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Speaker 1: because I thought it would improve their line or improve

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Speaker 1: the scene. Yes, it wasn't. It wasn't ever personal for me,

385
00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:20,640
Speaker 1: so I think I think for the most part, people

386
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,320
Speaker 1: were really nice to me. I think people it was

387
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Speaker 1: more I just remember fondly. Actually, I don't know if

388
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Speaker 1: you felt that way, but I remember just a very

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Speaker 1: you know, almost like family like when again, like when

390
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Speaker 1: you would turn the corner, it would be like, oh no,

391
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:45,520
Speaker 1: here's dah oh boy. Um No, it was fun. It

392
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Speaker 1: was frustrating to me that I couldn't prompt lines because

393
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Speaker 1: I just was usually too far away. My voice doesn't

394
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,600
Speaker 1: care very well, and people would end up just laughing

395
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:01,760
Speaker 1: when they asked for a line because they couldn't hear it.

396
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,520
Speaker 1: That's exactly right, so frustrating for me. I mean, I've

397
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,359
Speaker 1: always I liked prompting lines. I try to do it

398
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,119
Speaker 1: in a timely fashion. But I don't know if you remember.

399
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,880
Speaker 1: After a while we asked the stand ins Steven Socks

400
00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,080
Speaker 1: and that's right, Ray Socks, to be on lines if

401
00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:20,800
Speaker 1: it was a long scene. They would kind of crouch

402
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,199
Speaker 1: somewhere closer and just be how was that came from me?

403
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:27,840
Speaker 1: Because I said, you know, it's really not on this show.

404
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:30,720
Speaker 1: I really can't be on the lines all the time.

405
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,640
Speaker 1: So we set up that system where Laura and Stephen

406
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 1: would sit in the room and just give lines really quickly,

407
00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:39,320
Speaker 1: because that's what you need when you're an actor, right,

408
00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:41,479
Speaker 1: you need to hear the line just really quickly so

409
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,320
Speaker 1: you can stick with the momentum of the scene, right,

410
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:48,120
Speaker 1: so it doesn't you don't lose this scene. I do,

411
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:52,359
Speaker 1: I do remember, though Again I don't know why every

412
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:54,480
Speaker 1: all my memories go back to the conference room, but

413
00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:57,560
Speaker 1: just being in the conference room, someone going well, what

414
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:03,920
Speaker 1: is it? What's the line? And you hear and then

415
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:08,600
Speaker 1: everyone just laughing because there was just no embarrassed there

416
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,919
Speaker 1: was no way to hear. Um. How difficult was it

417
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:18,200
Speaker 1: to track all of the improv stuff that happened, Well,

418
00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:22,520
Speaker 1: I couldn't really track it. I mean I would just say, okay, here,

419
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:24,960
Speaker 1: this is a big chunk of improv, and I try

420
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:29,080
Speaker 1: to describe to the editor what was happening in that section,

421
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,280
Speaker 1: and and I tried to make sure there were points

422
00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:35,359
Speaker 1: where they could cut in and out of the improv sections.

423
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 1: And that was all I could really do, just make

424
00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,879
Speaker 1: sure that everything up to the improv matched and everything

425
00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:43,800
Speaker 1: coming out of it, man, and that there were angles

426
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:46,840
Speaker 1: to cut two in case they needed to cut out

427
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:49,160
Speaker 1: of it. So I had always encouraged that we got

428
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,760
Speaker 1: reaction shots. That was a big deal to get a

429
00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:55,680
Speaker 1: reaction passed, yeah, which would give just cut natural cutaway

430
00:26:55,720 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 1: points through anything. Kevin, Yes, Um, in terms of unscripted

431
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:09,160
Speaker 1: stuff or even physical gestures. I'm sure that you had

432
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:13,240
Speaker 1: an instinct at least eventually like, oh, well that's going

433
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,399
Speaker 1: to be in the show. The example that I'm thinking

434
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,960
Speaker 1: about is gay witch hunt so Oscar or Michael going

435
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:26,679
Speaker 1: and kissing Oscar. Yeah, that would be in the show. Yes, yeah,

436
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,439
Speaker 1: How do you signal that out or does that become

437
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 1: a specific thing that you add in to the script

438
00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:38,280
Speaker 1: for the editor or my script is always the official script.

439
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,760
Speaker 1: It represents what was shot. So I cross out things

440
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:44,840
Speaker 1: that we don't shoot, and I'll add things that we

441
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,760
Speaker 1: do shoot if they're not in the script. So definitely,

442
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:51,080
Speaker 1: I'll I'll write that in. So I put this in

443
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:56,080
Speaker 1: this take, Michael kisses Oscar. Every director and the writer

444
00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,439
Speaker 1: love that. Use it if you can, you know, oh

445
00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:03,080
Speaker 1: those things. Yeah, but yeah, I did after a while

446
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:05,520
Speaker 1: know what which takes we're going to be in the show,

447
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,000
Speaker 1: Which takes we're gonna be looked at the most closely.

448
00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:12,640
Speaker 1: And you know, I knew what Dave would choose when

449
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:15,399
Speaker 1: I saw the show. You know, at the end of

450
00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,160
Speaker 1: the week, I would recognize the takes that he chose.

451
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,960
Speaker 1: I think I I knew he was going to pick

452
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:26,119
Speaker 1: that one after a while. Yeah, Like it's the the

453
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:28,600
Speaker 1: family thing. I mean, you just know people's taste, you

454
00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:32,760
Speaker 1: know how they work, you know, you know you know

455
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:36,560
Speaker 1: each other so well after a while. I mean, Greg

456
00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:39,760
Speaker 1: obviously you are working closely with him when he's writing

457
00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:43,680
Speaker 1: on set, when he's directing. How much communication do you

458
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:48,160
Speaker 1: have with him about your job specifically? It was just

459
00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,240
Speaker 1: when he was on set, really when he was directing, particularly,

460
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:54,000
Speaker 1: and he would interact with me a lot, and then

461
00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:57,240
Speaker 1: he I think that's when people find out what my

462
00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:04,440
Speaker 1: job is when they something. Were there any particular relationships

463
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,080
Speaker 1: with directors that you felt like you worked really well

464
00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:11,520
Speaker 1: with and and and that working relationship maturities the show? Well,

465
00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:15,720
Speaker 1: I think well, always when the writer directed their own episode,

466
00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,800
Speaker 1: there was a real understanding because I always really appreciated

467
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,040
Speaker 1: the scripts. The scripts were so good, you know, um,

468
00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:25,240
Speaker 1: and I think that they felt there was a lot

469
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:29,000
Speaker 1: of support coming from me because I wanted the script

470
00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:35,280
Speaker 1: shot properly, and sometimes um, I could help a little

471
00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:37,880
Speaker 1: bit with the angles and the you know, the way

472
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:39,960
Speaker 1: the scene was shot, because I knew what we would

473
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,360
Speaker 1: traditionally do with a scene like that, you know. So

474
00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:48,760
Speaker 1: I always enjoyed working with Ken Koppas and Paul fig

475
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:53,360
Speaker 1: and um Ken Whittingham, and there were certain directors that

476
00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:55,560
Speaker 1: would keep coming back and then I would love to

477
00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 1: work with. It was funny on the office, particularly on

478
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:04,960
Speaker 1: that show. After a few years, we felt like we

479
00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:08,680
Speaker 1: knew how to make the show, and we felt like

480
00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:14,600
Speaker 1: we didn't even need a director. So the director would

481
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:18,320
Speaker 1: come on and they would be guided by all of us,

482
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:23,520
Speaker 1: and sometimes, um, we would wonder about how they were

483
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:29,320
Speaker 1: shooting something. I remember when time a scene was shot,

484
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:31,800
Speaker 1: it was a scene in the parking lot. We were

485
00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:35,400
Speaker 1: shooting it from an angle that I thought wasn't that

486
00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:37,720
Speaker 1: right angle for the show, But that was just from

487
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:40,680
Speaker 1: what was in my head when I read it. Well,

488
00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:42,800
Speaker 1: the next week we came back and reshot it from

489
00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:47,360
Speaker 1: the other angle. I didn't I hadn't said anything because

490
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,120
Speaker 1: I felt like it wasn't really my place. I mean,

491
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:53,080
Speaker 1: the director and that DP were were decided to shoot

492
00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:55,920
Speaker 1: it from the other side, but I thought, that's not

493
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:59,760
Speaker 1: how this is supposed to be shot. So sometimes, you know,

494
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:03,960
Speaker 1: there was a real feeling that the crew knew the set,

495
00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:08,240
Speaker 1: knew the characters, knew the scripts better than anyone else,

496
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,080
Speaker 1: and so the director would just bring in a few

497
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,560
Speaker 1: interesting ideas that would shake it up a little, which

498
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:19,240
Speaker 1: was good because it never became formulaic. For that reason,

499
00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:22,080
Speaker 1: I think because we had so many new directors all

500
00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:28,440
Speaker 1: the time, Yeah, Well, here's some names. Randall Einhorn, Matt Son,

501
00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:37,680
Speaker 1: John Krasinski, me Um, I believe, Steve Carrell, Claire Scanlon,

502
00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:43,440
Speaker 1: Dave Rogers all directed. I'm sure I'm missing some, but

503
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:48,000
Speaker 1: all directed on the Office for the first time. How

504
00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:54,840
Speaker 1: was that for you? Working with inexperienced people, but people

505
00:31:54,840 --> 00:32:01,000
Speaker 1: who knew the show so well? Did that present specific challenges? Yes?

506
00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,320
Speaker 1: I no, I mean it. Um. When we had a

507
00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:08,320
Speaker 1: like a famous director coming in, it was always exciting,

508
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:12,920
Speaker 1: but it was always that was more of a challenge

509
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,280
Speaker 1: because they didn't always get the show and it was

510
00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:21,440
Speaker 1: hard to politely steer them in the right direction. Um.

511
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:25,600
Speaker 1: When it was somebody who was working on the show already,

512
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,120
Speaker 1: that problem was already solved. They got the show, they

513
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,160
Speaker 1: knew what the human they knew the humor, they knew,

514
00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:35,240
Speaker 1: they knew the characters, they knew the spaces that we

515
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:40,120
Speaker 1: generally worked in, and they knew how to make the show. Um.

516
00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:46,960
Speaker 1: But sometimes they didn't know how to direct, um, just

517
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,880
Speaker 1: because they hadn't done it before, and sometimes they didn't

518
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:54,480
Speaker 1: realize all the different things that were their responsibilities. And

519
00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:56,160
Speaker 1: because we all knew how to make the show, we

520
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:58,440
Speaker 1: would often pick up the slack and we would do

521
00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:03,520
Speaker 1: part of the director's job. And um, that was sometimes

522
00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:07,320
Speaker 1: difficult because we all had so much to do already.

523
00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:11,239
Speaker 1: To have to, you know, help someone out when they

524
00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:14,280
Speaker 1: don't even realize you're helping them out, that was kind

525
00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:19,760
Speaker 1: of hard. Sometimes interesting. Yeah, I mean you had all

526
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:25,720
Speaker 1: people just trying to direct this show, but the diverse

527
00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,960
Speaker 1: range of experiences. You know, you've got editors. You've got

528
00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:34,280
Speaker 1: Dave Rogers and Claire Scanlon who presumably have never dealt

529
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,680
Speaker 1: with actors before, but they knew what shots they need,

530
00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:40,200
Speaker 1: they knew what shots they needed. And then you've got

531
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:45,920
Speaker 1: Randall and Matt who again don't really know how to

532
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:49,480
Speaker 1: deal with actors, but they know where that camera is.

533
00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:53,040
Speaker 1: Whereas you know, actors, I knew how I wanted it

534
00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:56,360
Speaker 1: to look, but don't talk to me about lenses, right,

535
00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:58,240
Speaker 1: or like what lens we're going to use, you know,

536
00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:02,480
Speaker 1: So it's like coming at it from just different perspectives.

537
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:05,840
Speaker 1: I just think it's very interesting. I mean, every director

538
00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:09,399
Speaker 1: has their strengths and weaknesses. But um, but when you'd

539
00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:13,480
Speaker 1: get someone like Ken Kappas, you know, it would go

540
00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:17,680
Speaker 1: really smoothly because not only did he understand the show

541
00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:19,480
Speaker 1: and know how to make the show. But he also

542
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,239
Speaker 1: knew all the aspects of directing and what everyone was

543
00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:26,640
Speaker 1: expecting from him, So that was always the best for

544
00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,799
Speaker 1: me when it was somebody like that. But um, but

545
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:35,279
Speaker 1: I know, I really, you know, wanted to support everybody. So,

546
00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:39,120
Speaker 1: you know, everybody who directed I, you know, I felt

547
00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:41,759
Speaker 1: like they were bringing a lot of new things to

548
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,320
Speaker 1: the table and some things they just weren't that aware

549
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:48,239
Speaker 1: of yet. But you know, like some directors would you know,

550
00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:51,400
Speaker 1: like an actor directing would be very aware of the acting,

551
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:54,359
Speaker 1: would be very often very aware of what would make

552
00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:58,040
Speaker 1: the scene funny, which was great, but they might not

553
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:01,480
Speaker 1: be aware of the angles and different kinds of coverage

554
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:04,359
Speaker 1: that we needed and the lighting or something, you know,

555
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:08,439
Speaker 1: so they wouldn't work with those departments, so that those

556
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:12,240
Speaker 1: departments would have to jump in and pick up the slack.

557
00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,719
Speaker 1: Michael's search for family, you know, ends up being his

558
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:42,319
Speaker 1: you know, his his major journey through the show. Do

559
00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:47,520
Speaker 1: you have any specific recollections or memories about about that?

560
00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:51,200
Speaker 1: About a man who had nobody All he wanted was

561
00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:55,400
Speaker 1: somebody He used the office as as that somebody, and

562
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:59,400
Speaker 1: then eventually finding love and going away well, it was

563
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:03,640
Speaker 1: what kept me hooked on his character the whole time.

564
00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:08,120
Speaker 1: I was always so interested to see what Steve would

565
00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:13,680
Speaker 1: do with each new situation. What I kept wanting to

566
00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:16,680
Speaker 1: find out, what I was so fascinated with every day,

567
00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:19,200
Speaker 1: was to see how the scenes would play out, because

568
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:22,560
Speaker 1: I when I read the script and studied it over

569
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:26,239
Speaker 1: the weekend, I always had very specific ideas about how

570
00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:28,319
Speaker 1: it would look. I mean I could see the whole

571
00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,360
Speaker 1: the whole episode in my head. So I guess what,

572
00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:35,400
Speaker 1: you know, it's just like a personal fascination with you know,

573
00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:37,839
Speaker 1: is is that the way it's going to look? Or

574
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:41,160
Speaker 1: is it is there going to be something different about

575
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:46,600
Speaker 1: it than I haven't imagined yet. It was just fascinating

576
00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:51,319
Speaker 1: see to see how the actors would play out the

577
00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 1: scenes and how they'd say the lines, because I would

578
00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:57,279
Speaker 1: love the lines and I would want to hear them,

579
00:36:57,320 --> 00:36:59,280
Speaker 1: and I could hear like I could hear your voice

580
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:01,360
Speaker 1: in my head. I could here you know, Michael's voice,

581
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:04,440
Speaker 1: Jim's voice. You know, I knew how the how they

582
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:08,319
Speaker 1: generally delivered their lines, but I always wanted to hear

583
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,839
Speaker 1: how these specific lines were going to sound. So as

584
00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,240
Speaker 1: far as you know, the character arc and the journey.

585
00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,280
Speaker 1: I always felt like I was just an observer and

586
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:21,759
Speaker 1: that you know, and the writers were always coming up

587
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:26,279
Speaker 1: with interesting new twists. Right, here's a question. I have

588
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:32,959
Speaker 1: been asking people, what were you afraid of missing more

589
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:40,759
Speaker 1: Steve or Michael Scott. Oh? Well, I was afraid that

590
00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:44,480
Speaker 1: without Michael Scott the show wouldn't work. And it did work.

591
00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:47,640
Speaker 1: So I was proud of us that we managed to

592
00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:52,720
Speaker 1: make it work. But I knew personally that I would

593
00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:57,400
Speaker 1: miss Steve terribly, that my heart would ache, that I

594
00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:03,200
Speaker 1: wouldn't just miss seeing him. And it's hard for a crew,

595
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:05,720
Speaker 1: you know, when you get close to actors, because you

596
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:08,080
Speaker 1: can't just go over their house, you know, you can't

597
00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:09,400
Speaker 1: just call them up and say you want to have

598
00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:12,680
Speaker 1: a drink, you know, because it's a different kind of relationship,

599
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:17,279
Speaker 1: it's a work relationship. So you know, I've I knew

600
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:21,000
Speaker 1: I would miss him. Yeah, as a person, you know,

601
00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:26,319
Speaker 1: just miss seeing him. Well, and you this is sort

602
00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:29,160
Speaker 1: of occurring to me, but you know, for seven years

603
00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:32,239
Speaker 1: he had the most to say, so you were you

604
00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:36,799
Speaker 1: definitely had the bulk of your work with with him.

605
00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:42,160
Speaker 1: He had long speeches too, which he could memorize so fast.

606
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:46,960
Speaker 1: No one's amazed me. But I would help him. Yeah.

607
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:49,400
Speaker 1: He would always warn me. You know, I'm going to

608
00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:53,520
Speaker 1: be all over the place with this, you know. So um,

609
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:57,480
Speaker 1: I would just tell him if I thought something wasn't working,

610
00:38:57,520 --> 00:39:00,520
Speaker 1: or if he was leaving something out, or you know,

611
00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:03,440
Speaker 1: he needed to say something a little differently. But for

612
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:06,560
Speaker 1: the most part, he just let him do his thing.

613
00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:11,160
Speaker 1: Was he always receptive to you? Well, he was so sweet,

614
00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:14,640
Speaker 1: you know he Um, Yes, he was always receptive because

615
00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,799
Speaker 1: he knew I I had a concern. You know. It

616
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:21,520
Speaker 1: wasn't just I wasn't just trying to wield my power

617
00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:25,320
Speaker 1: or something, you know. I actually it was genuine. He

618
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:29,399
Speaker 1: knew that. So we do have a picture we took though,

619
00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:34,160
Speaker 1: we posed where Steve is going like this kind of

620
00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,200
Speaker 1: like who wants to push me away? And I'm trying

621
00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:40,080
Speaker 1: to give him a line, because that's the general feeling

622
00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:43,919
Speaker 1: when the script supervisor gives lines that you know they're

623
00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:52,480
Speaker 1: nagging you. Did you ever feel like Toby? Toby pretty

624
00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:56,400
Speaker 1: much always well, something I don't know, because my you know,

625
00:39:57,239 --> 00:39:59,120
Speaker 1: this was a second career for me. I was I

626
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:01,440
Speaker 1: was an academic first and I and I was a

627
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:05,240
Speaker 1: professor and or history right, and you know, film stuff,

628
00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:08,960
Speaker 1: film history, film studies, and so my approach was always

629
00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:12,840
Speaker 1: very sort of academic. You know, this line is you know,

630
00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:18,920
Speaker 1: and I think I'm might nitpick a little because I

631
00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:22,240
Speaker 1: don't always have the perspective on it. You know, maybe

632
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:26,200
Speaker 1: this isn't that important, but you know I try to

633
00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:29,279
Speaker 1: every script sour for us tries to judge very clear

634
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:31,839
Speaker 1: clearly in their mind. You know, is this important enough

635
00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:34,040
Speaker 1: for me to interrupt things to for me to throw

636
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:35,879
Speaker 1: you know, you don't want to throw the actors off.

637
00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:37,520
Speaker 1: You don't want to give them stuff to think about.

638
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:41,600
Speaker 1: You want them to do their thing. But um, I

639
00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:45,000
Speaker 1: mean as far as continuity goes, or lines or any

640
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:49,240
Speaker 1: of any of that, it's it's never perfect. There's always

641
00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:52,520
Speaker 1: something you can correct, but you have to try to

642
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:57,359
Speaker 1: be smart about what to correct and what to just leave.

643
00:40:57,440 --> 00:40:59,600
Speaker 1: Because you don't want people to feel like they have

644
00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:02,239
Speaker 1: to pay attention to the lines. You want them to

645
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:05,640
Speaker 1: pay attention to the acting or there. You don't want

646
00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:08,640
Speaker 1: them to suddenly start paying attention to like where their

647
00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:12,160
Speaker 1: arms are, you know, So I'd really try to correct

648
00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:15,160
Speaker 1: people to add to a minimum. I try to keep

649
00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:19,600
Speaker 1: it to a minimum because in my job there is

650
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:22,640
Speaker 1: a certain nerdiness. You know, you tend to be very

651
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:25,840
Speaker 1: attuned to the details, and you don't always see the

652
00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:30,160
Speaker 1: big picture. So, you know, I try to pay attention

653
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:32,759
Speaker 1: to the directors and to you know, how they're dealing

654
00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:35,320
Speaker 1: with the actors. If they're not giving notes, I'm not

655
00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:37,480
Speaker 1: going to go in and give a note because there's

656
00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:40,120
Speaker 1: a reason they're not giving them yet. They're trying to

657
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:44,000
Speaker 1: let the actor find something. And over the years, I

658
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:47,480
Speaker 1: think I've gotten more and more sensitive to that. What

659
00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:50,319
Speaker 1: was it like working with Steve as a director? The

660
00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:54,040
Speaker 1: last episode he directed is the one he proposes to Holly.

661
00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:57,400
Speaker 1: What was it like working so smart? You know? It

662
00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:02,200
Speaker 1: made it pretty easy because he was so nice, so smart,

663
00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:07,360
Speaker 1: so savvy about the show. He was a great director

664
00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:11,560
Speaker 1: to have. Yeah, Towards the end, he had this idea

665
00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:16,359
Speaker 1: that he wanted Threat Level Midnight to be seen on

666
00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:19,319
Speaker 1: the show. Talk to me a little bit about the

667
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:24,840
Speaker 1: challenge of attempting to piece together and and find the

668
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:29,920
Speaker 1: continuity of this movie that was possibly shot. Well, the

669
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:33,160
Speaker 1: thing about that was that it was supposed to be goofy.

670
00:42:33,719 --> 00:42:36,680
Speaker 1: We were doing contnuity for Threat Little Lettle Midnight, there

671
00:42:36,719 --> 00:42:39,200
Speaker 1: was going to be something that didn't have continuity. But

672
00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:41,840
Speaker 1: that's a tricky thing because I remember when I first

673
00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:44,920
Speaker 1: got hired to do the show. I remember Ken Quaba saying,

674
00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:47,520
Speaker 1: we're you know, we're not going to worry about continuity

675
00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:52,360
Speaker 1: because it's a documentary. The documentarians can make mistakes, but

676
00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:55,279
Speaker 1: that only works on certain levels. That works on the

677
00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:59,000
Speaker 1: level of on the cutting level, Like if if the

678
00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:05,279
Speaker 1: documentarian cut in two different pieces of a take cut

679
00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:08,240
Speaker 1: them together in an awkward way, that would be okay.

680
00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:11,640
Speaker 1: But you can't cut together two takes that don't match,

681
00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:15,759
Speaker 1: because then you're implying that this thing happened twice and

682
00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:17,879
Speaker 1: it only happened once, you know what I mean. So

683
00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:23,360
Speaker 1: if there has to be a reality to it that

684
00:43:23,719 --> 00:43:27,840
Speaker 1: you know, um, so that conuity is actually very important

685
00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:31,880
Speaker 1: in the end and not something I could ignore. And

686
00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:35,480
Speaker 1: you didn't want to imply that The documentarians were saying, Okay,

687
00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:40,000
Speaker 1: do this again, you know, but do it a little differently,

688
00:43:41,080 --> 00:43:45,600
Speaker 1: because they were just supposed to be shooting discreetly, you know,

689
00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:49,520
Speaker 1: and not controlling what was happening. They were all kinds

690
00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:52,200
Speaker 1: of new, new kinds of continuity that I hadn't really

691
00:43:52,239 --> 00:43:55,800
Speaker 1: thought about before, Like if somebody was out of the office,

692
00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:58,520
Speaker 1: their jacket couldn't be on their chair because they were

693
00:43:58,560 --> 00:44:02,080
Speaker 1: wearing it, right, So you'd have to, you know, look

694
00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:06,799
Speaker 1: at sort of the the opposite side of the community.

695
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:11,000
Speaker 1: What what shouldn't be there? Right in the parking lot,

696
00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:13,239
Speaker 1: it was the same way, what cars should be there

697
00:44:13,239 --> 00:44:16,480
Speaker 1: and what cars shouldn't be there. We have to always

698
00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:21,160
Speaker 1: think about that. Well, the most important car was your

699
00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:26,840
Speaker 1: actual yes, right, that was Kevin's Carns car for a

700
00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:30,000
Speaker 1: long time. Do you remember when it first got established?

701
00:44:30,719 --> 00:44:33,560
Speaker 1: It was right away it was like, yeah, yeah, the

702
00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:39,240
Speaker 1: first season. Yeah, I drove it quite a few times

703
00:44:39,239 --> 00:44:42,040
Speaker 1: in the end, Yes, in front of Holloway when she's

704
00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:48,200
Speaker 1: impressed with me sort of most notably, um, yeah, I

705
00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:52,560
Speaker 1: remember thinking, you know, she's so impressed that I'm driving

706
00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:56,399
Speaker 1: the car. And I remember having this idea of just

707
00:44:57,280 --> 00:45:01,960
Speaker 1: driving it straight over the curve just like and just

708
00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:07,600
Speaker 1: plowing right. And then I thought, the greatest car. I

709
00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:11,040
Speaker 1: think I won't I think I won't do that. Yeah,

710
00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:15,520
Speaker 1: but I I always remember Rap four. Oh it wasn't

711
00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:20,000
Speaker 1: the Rap four. It was CRVRV. First I forgot, yes,

712
00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:24,160
Speaker 1: but now it was do you remember there was like

713
00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:29,799
Speaker 1: this fuzzy tiger striped cover over the wheel, over the wheel. Yeah,

714
00:45:30,320 --> 00:45:32,759
Speaker 1: after a couple of years, my husband bought that for

715
00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:36,799
Speaker 1: me because steering wheill get cold. But I remember at

716
00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:40,799
Speaker 1: the production meeting, John was directing the episode where you

717
00:45:40,840 --> 00:45:43,200
Speaker 1: were driving the car, and I asked him I should

718
00:45:43,239 --> 00:45:46,000
Speaker 1: should I take off the fuzzy steering wheel cover, and

719
00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:48,200
Speaker 1: he said, I would never ask you to do that.

720
00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:51,520
Speaker 1: I would never ask you to take off something like that. No,

721
00:45:51,760 --> 00:45:54,439
Speaker 1: that if that's on your car, you leave that. That's

722
00:45:54,480 --> 00:45:57,160
Speaker 1: so great. And we all got a little bump on

723
00:45:57,200 --> 00:45:59,920
Speaker 1: our paycheck if we have are I think it was

724
00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:02,880
Speaker 1: like five dollars that you got if your car was

725
00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:05,080
Speaker 1: in a scene, and they just kept a tally of

726
00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:08,680
Speaker 1: how many times your car was in a scene, and

727
00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:11,640
Speaker 1: you'd get a little bumped for that. Really do you

728
00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:16,560
Speaker 1: get residuals? Get residuals. But the car was in a

729
00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:19,400
Speaker 1: lot of shots, a lot of shots. No, it was

730
00:46:39,080 --> 00:46:44,360
Speaker 1: was the office. Um, your acting debut. Well I was

731
00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:47,360
Speaker 1: only in that last Yeah, I was in that last episode.

732
00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:51,400
Speaker 1: And yes, that was your acting debut. Any memories about

733
00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:54,719
Speaker 1: being on set in front of the camera. I was

734
00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:57,799
Speaker 1: always so nervous. I'm really shy, so that was not

735
00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:00,720
Speaker 1: comfortable for me. But I like that we were all

736
00:47:01,040 --> 00:47:02,480
Speaker 1: you know that a lot of us were in that

737
00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:08,359
Speaker 1: final episode, but it was I didn't want to have

738
00:47:08,400 --> 00:47:12,240
Speaker 1: a line or anything. What do you remember going into

739
00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:14,960
Speaker 1: the finale? Did you feel like it was time for

740
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:18,360
Speaker 1: it to be over. I didn't want it to be

741
00:47:18,440 --> 00:47:21,160
Speaker 1: over personally. I would have liked to just work on

742
00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:26,000
Speaker 1: that show for the rest of my career. But um,

743
00:47:26,040 --> 00:47:28,960
Speaker 1: I felt like it was smart to decide when your

744
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:32,560
Speaker 1: show is going to end and wrap it up beautifully

745
00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:36,880
Speaker 1: instead of just ending it suddenly. But it was so sad.

746
00:47:37,640 --> 00:47:42,120
Speaker 1: It was just hard for all of us. I think, Yeah,

747
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:45,440
Speaker 1: what was it do you think about the show that?

748
00:47:45,520 --> 00:47:47,920
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously, it's a job, and in our industry,

749
00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:51,440
Speaker 1: like having a job and a good job is is

750
00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:54,879
Speaker 1: a blessing. But it felt different. There was something about it.

751
00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:59,759
Speaker 1: It felt special. Yes, definitely. There was a lot of love.

752
00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:04,400
Speaker 1: You know, there was a lot of um caring for

753
00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:08,080
Speaker 1: the show, caring for each other. It was a good

754
00:48:08,200 --> 00:48:12,040
Speaker 1: environment and you know, even though it was very tiring,

755
00:48:12,120 --> 00:48:16,400
Speaker 1: we were all exhausted, it felt good to do that

756
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:19,160
Speaker 1: job and to be there every day. It was hard

757
00:48:19,200 --> 00:48:23,600
Speaker 1: to imagine not having that, and I really never have

758
00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:26,560
Speaker 1: found a show where I feel that way. So I

759
00:48:26,600 --> 00:48:29,280
Speaker 1: was right to be sad because it really was something

760
00:48:29,320 --> 00:48:33,080
Speaker 1: that I was losing. I mean, I've enjoyed shows I've

761
00:48:33,080 --> 00:48:36,360
Speaker 1: worked on since then, but never I never felt that

762
00:48:36,400 --> 00:48:42,120
Speaker 1: warmth and that camaraderie in anything else. We were all

763
00:48:42,680 --> 00:48:45,919
Speaker 1: we all laughed so much that sometimes it was hard

764
00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:49,239
Speaker 1: to finish a scene. And I had to put that

765
00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:51,240
Speaker 1: in my notes because you know, I'd say this scene

766
00:48:51,280 --> 00:48:54,160
Speaker 1: was great up until they all broke. That was something

767
00:48:54,200 --> 00:48:56,520
Speaker 1: the editors would mention to me sometimes, you know, I

768
00:48:56,960 --> 00:49:00,399
Speaker 1: can't cut this, it's like somebody's breaking in every take.

769
00:49:01,040 --> 00:49:03,640
Speaker 1: But then also the crew we had to you know,

770
00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:07,719
Speaker 1: we couldn't laugh out loud, and that is hard to

771
00:49:07,840 --> 00:49:11,919
Speaker 1: do sometimes, especially if you're in that little talking head

772
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:15,400
Speaker 1: room and you're sitting right in front of the actor.

773
00:49:16,320 --> 00:49:19,120
Speaker 1: There were times when I had to actually leave the room.

774
00:49:19,160 --> 00:49:20,960
Speaker 1: But that was one thing that made it great to

775
00:49:20,960 --> 00:49:23,239
Speaker 1: be there every day, because you would there was so

776
00:49:23,360 --> 00:49:28,880
Speaker 1: much that was so funny. There was so much laughter. Um,

777
00:49:29,120 --> 00:49:34,640
Speaker 1: talk to me about this German lullaby oh that appeared

778
00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:38,880
Speaker 1: in the show that was in Mindy's something, Mindy road right,

779
00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:41,960
Speaker 1: Mindy Kaylenk. The episode was Night Out Dwight. It was

780
00:49:42,040 --> 00:49:48,759
Speaker 1: Dwight Dwight sings Ryan to sleep. Yeah, my mother was Viennese,

781
00:49:50,360 --> 00:49:54,560
Speaker 1: so her first language was German, and when growing up

782
00:49:54,560 --> 00:49:58,680
Speaker 1: in Vienna, they spoke German and so her mother would

783
00:49:58,680 --> 00:50:02,440
Speaker 1: sing her German lullaby. So when I was a child,

784
00:50:02,520 --> 00:50:05,760
Speaker 1: she sang German lullabies to me when I was falling asleep.

785
00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:10,000
Speaker 1: So I knew a couple of German lullabies. And so

786
00:50:10,160 --> 00:50:14,120
Speaker 1: I just piped up and said, you know, I because

787
00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:17,520
Speaker 1: I guess she wanted him to sing something to her. Yeah,

788
00:50:18,640 --> 00:50:21,280
Speaker 1: I said, well he could sing what my mother sang

789
00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:24,480
Speaker 1: to me, and I sang it for was it schlofkin

790
00:50:24,640 --> 00:50:30,480
Speaker 1: lynchlough schlaf kin lynch law mm hmm, yeah, I think

791
00:50:30,520 --> 00:50:34,239
Speaker 1: that was that. Yeah, And um, I always found it

792
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:41,360
Speaker 1: very soothing. So so yeah, well I don't remember the

793
00:50:41,440 --> 00:50:44,600
Speaker 1: words right now, but I know because it starts schlaf

794
00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:52,879
Speaker 1: kin lynch lav mm hmmmmmm. I don't remember the words

795
00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:56,839
Speaker 1: at the time, I still I remembered the words where

796
00:50:56,840 --> 00:51:02,719
Speaker 1: I looked them up. Slow kin lynch law. That's very funny. Um,

797
00:51:03,520 --> 00:51:07,799
Speaker 1: the guys, is there anything else that I've missed here? Right? Yeah,

798
00:51:07,880 --> 00:51:13,160
Speaker 1: look at your list. I actually hear all this stuff.

799
00:51:13,840 --> 00:51:17,960
Speaker 1: Do you ever say that's what she said? I say it,

800
00:51:18,560 --> 00:51:24,160
Speaker 1: I say it. I say it around friends. I tend

801
00:51:24,239 --> 00:51:29,480
Speaker 1: to not draw attention to that fact, but yes, do

802
00:51:29,600 --> 00:51:31,440
Speaker 1: you say that's what she said? My husband and I

803
00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:33,759
Speaker 1: say it all the time at home. Yeah, but I

804
00:51:33,880 --> 00:51:36,800
Speaker 1: try not to say it on set anymore because I

805
00:51:36,880 --> 00:51:40,360
Speaker 1: think people do get maybe offended by it, and you know,

806
00:51:40,520 --> 00:51:46,680
Speaker 1: sets are so sensitive now about harassment and saying things

807
00:51:46,840 --> 00:51:50,160
Speaker 1: like that. So I don't say it on set anymore.

808
00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:53,080
Speaker 1: Just sometimes I have to say it, so I say

809
00:51:53,080 --> 00:51:57,239
Speaker 1: it to myself really quietly. Do you do you think

810
00:51:57,360 --> 00:52:03,080
Speaker 1: that this show could be made now? In this question

811
00:52:03,360 --> 00:52:10,160
Speaker 1: woke PC environment, I think it was, you know, a

812
00:52:10,239 --> 00:52:14,600
Speaker 1: perfect storm. It's like, you know, everything came together at

813
00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:18,960
Speaker 1: that moment, all the people involved, all the ideas, all

814
00:52:19,040 --> 00:52:24,480
Speaker 1: the um you know, the crew, that talent, it all

815
00:52:24,600 --> 00:52:27,839
Speaker 1: came together in a way that made it all work.

816
00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:30,400
Speaker 1: And I don't know if we could ever happen exactly

817
00:52:30,480 --> 00:52:34,759
Speaker 1: that way again. Yeah, I don't know if it has

818
00:52:34,960 --> 00:52:38,160
Speaker 1: to do with the time period or it's just the

819
00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:43,959
Speaker 1: miracle of all those personalities coming together at that moment. Yeah, Veda,

820
00:52:44,080 --> 00:52:47,160
Speaker 1: thank you so much for coming, and yeah for coming

821
00:52:47,239 --> 00:52:52,080
Speaker 1: to talk to me and your your perspective having watched

822
00:52:52,280 --> 00:53:11,160
Speaker 1: it all as it happened, is really delight to watch. Well, Vada,

823
00:53:11,360 --> 00:53:14,920
Speaker 1: what a delight you are. And thank you for speaking

824
00:53:15,000 --> 00:53:18,200
Speaker 1: with me. What a true pleasure to have you in.

825
00:53:19,360 --> 00:53:22,560
Speaker 1: That's what she said. Uh, and thank you listeners for

826
00:53:22,760 --> 00:53:26,400
Speaker 1: joining in. Join us again next week please for another

827
00:53:27,239 --> 00:53:31,960
Speaker 1: riveting conversation, and don't forget to subscribe and leave us

828
00:53:32,040 --> 00:53:36,920
Speaker 1: comments on on whatever podcast platform you see fit. Have

829
00:53:38,160 --> 00:53:48,360
Speaker 1: a great week. The Office Deep Dive is hosted and

830
00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:53,920
Speaker 1: executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer, Langlee.

831
00:53:54,440 --> 00:53:58,120
Speaker 1: Our senior producer is Tessa Kramer. Our producers are Emily

832
00:53:58,239 --> 00:54:02,560
Speaker 1: Carr and Diego Tapia. Our social media producer is Liz Hayes.

833
00:54:03,040 --> 00:54:06,080
Speaker 1: My main man in the booth is Alec Moore. Our

834
00:54:06,200 --> 00:54:09,640
Speaker 1: theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed by my great friend

835
00:54:09,760 --> 00:54:13,520
Speaker 1: Creed Bratton, and the episode was mixed by Seth Oladsky