WEBVTT - My Favorite TV Show: The Office 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:06.760 Do you think that the Office jokes can kind of 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:10.920 live in today's society. I don't know. People are watching it, 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:14.160 and that's what ultimately is the goal in real life. 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:18.200 How are Kevin and Brian different? Well, first of all, 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:23.720 I don't spoiler alert, I don't talk quite the same way. 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:27.480 When finally Dwight gets married and then Michael shows up, 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:30.160 I was just like, oh my god, I started crying 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:32.960 without saying anything about me. I promise you this. You 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:39.760 were not the only one who cried. Hey, what up? Everyone? 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:42.879 Welcome to another episode of cheek Ease and Chill. I'm 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.559 your host cheek Ease, and we have a very exciting 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:48.159 episode in store for you today. The person we're speaking 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:50.440 with is a cast member of one of my favorite 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:53.680 shows ever. So let's not waste any more time and 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:56.680 let's jump right into it. This is cheek Ease and Chill. 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:06.959 Today's guest is someone I'm really looking forward to talking to. 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:11.520 It's none other than Brian bomb Gartner. You may know 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.360 him as Kevin Malone from the Emmy Award winning TV 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:18.600 sitcom The Office, or you might know him as the 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.960 host of his podcast Off the Beat. Welcome to the show, 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:26.759 Brian thank you. How are you. I'm good, How are 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:30.440 you good? I'm glad to be here. Thank you. I'm 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:32.920 so excited. I cannot believe that I'm talking to you 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:35.440 right now. Thank you so much. I'm a huge, huge 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.560 fan of the Office. Honestly, I'm one of the later fans, 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:40.720 Like I started watching it, I want to say, like 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:43.959 about a year ago, and I'm like so into it, 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:46.080 and everyone asked me, who's your favorite character? Like It's 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:48.600 so hard because I love you all for like different reasons. 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:50.440 But I kind of wanted to talk about that, you know, 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:52.800 being a part of the Office, And do you think 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:56.080 that the Office, like a lot of the jokes that 0:01:56.640 --> 0:02:00.600 have been made, can kind of live in today's society. 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:04.040 I guess, um, we get asked that question a lot now. 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.280 I mean, look, here's the thing. We haven't filmed anything 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:11.400 now in about eight years, right, And for most of 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:12.880 the time we were on we were the number one 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:16.160 show on NBC, right, so we were good. But for us, 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:18.640 we never felt like we were like friends or something 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:23.960 like huge billboards and ads and the cover of Vogue 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:28.919 or whatever. That wasn't it. However, now seven eight years 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:32.400 and then this started several years ago. We're currently the 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.480 most watched show in television. So of all the news 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:39.120 ship people talking about squid Game or succession or or 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:42.280 whatever it is, more people are watching The Office now 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.440 than any other show in television. So part of what 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:48.359 I have been exploring over the last couple of years 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:51.720 is why what happened? Like, why are more people watching it? 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:53.960 Why do we have new fit with fans like you 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:58.520 Cheekey's why are you finding it now? Well after when 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:02.600 we ran? And I think that the universality of the show. 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:04.480 I mean, you know, we have one producer who just says, well, 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:09.560 because it's funny, that's that's it. I think that's true. 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:13.320 But I think that really it's about especially during the 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:16.480 pandemic this time when we were all sort of searching 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:19.960 for a connection. We couldn't go out the way that 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.040 we used to go out. We couldn't see our friends. 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.280 If we had family across the country, we couldn't see them. 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:26.120 And so I think that The Office became a show 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:30.040 that people started using to find a connection with people. 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.119 You know, could it be made today? I don't know. 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.000 I think there are things that might change. One of 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:39.520 our producers, Greg Daniels, who created the show says, you know, 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:41.880 we may make fun a little bit. We may have 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.280 poked more fun at a woke culture now than anything else. 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.240 I don't know, could it be made today? People are 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.120 watching it, and that's what ultimately is the goal, So 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:54.040 I don't know. I I tend to say yes, with 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:59.000 maybe some some joke exceptions. Yeah. I think it's hilarious, 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:01.000 And like you said, I just for me it was. 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:04.840 Everyone's so sensitive now I feel, you know, and I 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:06.560 get it to a certain extent, but for me, it's 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.480 like it's acting. It's supposed to be fun. I don't know, 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:11.880 it's just I want to think that it could be 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:13.880 made today, you know, and like you said, you know, 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.560 maybe adjusting a few things. But I think it's perfect 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:19.080 the way it is, and I really use it as 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:20.680 as a form of therapy. I feel like when I'm 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.000 watching The Office, I could watch the same episode a 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.039 thousand times and I don't get bored. I feel like 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:28.000 I find something new every single time, and it's an 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:29.840 outlet for me, and it's it's a form of therapy. 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:31.640 And I could just sometimes even put it on as 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:34.279 background noise when I'm doing something and I can almost 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.159 finish everyone's lines, like it makes me forget about everything 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:39.800 going on in the world because, as we know, it's 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:42.520 been pretty tough since. So it's like, that's what it's 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:44.240 done for my heart in my mind, and this is 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:47.000 why I'm like, I guess, yeah, I'm new, but I'm like, 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:48.680 I don't know, I feel like, what the heck? Why 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:50.680 did I jump on the damn badwag in so late? 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:55.039 Because it makes it feels so good? Are you surprised, though? 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:59.080 Are you surprised that so many people like still love it? Yeah? 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:01.159 I mean of the things that we've talked about is, 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:03.400 you know, we've got a lot of younger people. I mean, 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:07.200 you know, like I get stopped by twelve fourteen year 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:10.400 old and when we made the show, we weren't making 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:13.680 it for that. I mean, it really was about a 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:17.159 staple of television is like the office comedy, right, So 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:20.559 it's like, okay, so people in offices will hopefully they'll 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:23.800 respond to the humor and watch it. But I think 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:28.640 that the young people was really surprising to me. And 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:32.120 then I've come to a discovery through conversations with multiple 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:35.320 people about this, which is that there's a correlation between 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:41.560 an unreasonable boss who makes his employees do unreasonable things 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:44.400 while sitting next to people that you don't choose to 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.520 sit next to year after year after year. There's a 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:52.719 close correlation between that and an unreasonable teacher who makes 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:56.800 their students do unreasonable things while sitting in a classroom 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.880 next to these people that you don't necessarily choose to 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:04.320 sit next to. And so I think that while thirteen, fourteen, 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:07.720 sixteen year old people don't have the office experience, they 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:10.760 do have an experience of being in a confined area 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:15.320 with with a bunch of other people with different personalities 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.240 that ultimately you have to form some sort of bond 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:21.280 with to get through day after day after day. And 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:23.800 I think to your point, that's one of the things 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:26.480 that's been really surprising to me, that not to put 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:28.560 words in your mouth, but essentially like it brings you comfort, 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:30.280 you put it on even if you're not watching, because 0:06:30.320 --> 0:06:32.480 it makes you feel good in a way. And I 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.480 think that's the thing that that people miss. Michael Scott 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:40.159 may say inappropriate things, non pc things, things you quote 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:44.359 unquote can't say today, but it's always been confusing to 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:49.360 me because the overall message is he says something and 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:53.719 you have thirteen people looking at the camera or responding 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:57.320 in a way which is you can't say that, you 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:00.360 can't you can you can't say that thing. This has 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:04.160 always been confusing to me. To me, it's actually very 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:08.200 progressive in that way. It is telling you, in some 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.520 ways or other what you can and can't say. We 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:17.760 had mandatory sexual harassment seminars from NBC Universal, right, this 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:20.800 huge conglomerate. So just like if you were working in 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:25.240 an office, we had to get sexual harassment training once 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:27.320 a year. We had to sit in a room and 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:31.480 sign in for their corporate whatever. And this is not 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.800 a joke, this is true. In that seminar, the HR 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.320 people that they would bring in to teach these seminars 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:42.960 would show clips from the office showing what you couldn't 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:47.600 do in the workplace. So we're all sitting there watching 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:52.680 ourselves on TV showing doing what we are told we 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:56.480 can't do. Very weird thing. But anyway, I think that 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:59.960 the message of the show is, yeah, these are things 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:02.440 you can't do or can't say. Yeah, like you said, 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:04.880 Like I would see Pam's face all the time and 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:06.960 she look at the camera, She's like uh, like she's 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:08.360 not her head, like I just can't believe you just 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:10.680 said that, but it would make it so freaking funny. 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:13.160 And I'm just like guys like I see it as 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:17.200 again acting. But any who, now, let's talk about Kevin 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:21.680 so in real life. How are Kevin and Brian different? 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.280 Are they very different? Do you guys have any similarities 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:28.280 at all? Well, first of all, I don't spoiler alert, 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:33.560 I don't talk. I don't talk in quite the same way, 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.680 so that would be a difference. I don't I talk 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:39.960 a little faster. Let's say this. The basketball episode was 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.679 not edited. That was me, so I guess I can 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:46.360 shoot the rock that were similar at that nice we 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:49.800 shot a golf episode. I play a lot of golf, 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:54.600 so that's true. And I do like to bet on golf. 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:57.160 That is true as well. I like to play cards, 0:08:57.200 --> 0:09:00.559 so maybe that's true as well. I know you you 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:04.440 know music, so don't don't be alarmed here. I do 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:08.559 not play the drums. I do not play the drums. 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:12.040 But I'll tell you a funny story. I fooled Alice Cooper, 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:16.280 which might be my greatest claim to fame. I showed 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:19.200 up at a charity event for Alice Cooper. We're on 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:22.040 our way, there's like a big benefit concert and they've 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:26.440 got I mean, they've got tons of musicians singing and 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:30.360 playing instruments. And the guy goes, okay, so just so 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:33.000 you know, you know, it's concert and different people sing. 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:36.120 But Alice thought it would be really fun the last 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:39.120 song that he's gonna play as schools out for summer, 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:44.240 right schools for So he's like, all right, so when 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:46.360 when we play that, we're gonna invite you on stage 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:49.080 to play the drums. Oh my god. And I was like, 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:54.240 I was like, um, I don't want to make Mr 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:58.240 Cooper mad, but that's a hard no. Like I know, 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:01.560 I know enough that I could not fool my way 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:05.360 through with a bunch of legendary musicians playing the drums 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:07.319 on that song. So yeah, I turned into a little 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:09.960 bad background singer. I did come up and do some 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:15.240 background singing, but yeah, no, I do not play the drums. Okay, nice, 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.439 Are you married, Brian? I am? Yes. So that's a 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:22.239 different because they know Kevin didn't have or he had girlfriends, 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:26.199 right he did. We started with a fiancee, yes, we started, 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:29.800 who left, and then there was periodically a couple of 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:32.760 other relationships. But Brian's very much married and you've been 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:37.800 married for how long? Brian? Eight years? Nice? Okay, so 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:41.560 right after like you finished with The Office, No, I 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:43.880 guess we were. I guess now we were. Oh, yes, 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:47.439 that's right, Yes, that's right, that's right. Together, but no, 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:50.000 together together longer. That's why the math. I was like, no, 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:52.679 that didn't happen. Yes, but anyway, So so what made 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:55.080 you want to be on the show? Like, did you 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:58.560 want to audition for Kevin's role specifically or did you 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:02.000 just audition? How did that work? No? I was aware 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:04.880 there was a British version of the show first, and 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.240 there was a character in the British version, his name 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:10.080 was Keith that they kind of, you know, they kind 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:13.080 of took that character. So most of the characters in 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:17.120 the Office were not taken. So they really, um, Michael 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:23.520 and Dwight and Jim and Pam and Ryan and Kevin. 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:28.160 We're really the only characters that had a British counterpart 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:30.640 that came over. So that's sort of where it started. 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:33.520 And I knew that they were looking for unknown people. 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:36.160 And at the time I had just moved to Los Angeles, 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:38.760 I had been doing theater around the country, so I was. 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.840 I was not known, and so I knew. I knew 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:43.720 that was a part I could play, and I knew 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.200 they were looking for unknown people, and so no, I 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:49.079 saught it out. I worked to get an audition in 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:53.080 a meeting, but ultimately, yeah, I just I just auditioned. Okay, 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:55.840 And how did you prepare for the role of Kevin? 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:59.360 I mean I had been working, like I said, in 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:05.120 the theater and for me, voice, physicality, those were all 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:07.360 part of creating a character. I mean I had, I 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.840 had gone to school, I had studied acting, and I 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:13.080 wasn't really a comedy guy per se. I mean I 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:18.080 did a lot of dramas and usually really bad bad guys. 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:23.720 Really yeah, yeah, I know, I know that's what people 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:26.120 say now it's crazy, but yeah, I mean I I 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.720 certainly I had done some comedy, but it wasn't like 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:32.040 I was a stand up guy or an improv guy 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:35.160 working really just in comedy. So for me, in terms 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:37.880 of creating the role, yeah, that was just what I saw, 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.560 and then working with the writers we kind of fine 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:43.760 tuned him a little bit. But yeah, the physicality and 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:46.520 the voice and all of that was was for me 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:49.520 about creating a character. Nice were you one of the 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:53.320 writers on the show. No, I directed, but I wasn't 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:55.960 a writer. You The thing I tell people because there 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:57.400 were a lot of If you don't know, there were 0:12:57.400 --> 0:12:59.720 a lot of actors who were writers on the Office. 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:03.600 The way that you know is if you were in 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:07.720 the main room. The people in the main room weren't 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:13.040 writers because mostly filmed in the in the main room. 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:15.720 So the people who sat back by the break room 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:18.400 in the annex, those were the writers. So Mindy Kaling 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:22.000 who played Kelly, and Paul Lieberstein who played Toby, and 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.040 bj Novak who played Ryan. Yeah, they were all back 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.760 there so they could be writing and not filming as much. 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:32.600 And that was because they needed to write. Yes, there 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:36.800 were times when I wanted to just choke Ryan just 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:47.640 like he was hilarious. So then Michael Scott les, I'm 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:51.280 gonna be honest. Okay. When Michael Scott left, I was like, 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:52.800 I don't know if I want to watch anymore because 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:54.600 it's like he was so huge because I'm never going 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:56.040 to be the same And I got into the show 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.559 because of my boyfriend. He's a huge office. I'm like huge, 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:02.800 And I was like, okay, I was like I don't know. 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:04.160 He's like, no, you have to watch you have to 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:05.720 watch it. I watched it, and I fell in love 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:07.520 all over again. I felt like, oh my god, like 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:10.280 everyone came together and did such a wonderful job. Like 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:12.680 it got to a point where I didn't even miss Michael. 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:14.959 But then you watch it again and we started over again, 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:16.880 and I'm like, oh, this is why I love it. 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:20.320 You know, But how did you guys feel when Michael said, okay, 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:22.640 he had to go. I mean, it was it was 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:27.120 devastatingly hard. It was really hard. I mean because again, 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:31.720 we were all including Steve, the people who watched the 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:36.280 show more recently, Steve Carell's big star, right, like, and 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:39.160 you watch the show, it's Steve Karel show. But you know, 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:42.320 at the time, nobody was famous, nobody was known. Fourty 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:44.560 year old Virgin didn't come out until our second season, 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:48.360 and that's really when he went bonkers. So we all 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:51.440 kind of grew up together, and the show struggled in 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:55.000 the beginning in terms of getting fans, and so, you know, 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:58.320 we all just sort of bonded together. So when he left, 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.720 it really was like one of the ang is gone, 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:03.720 and kind of the Papa is gone. And the thing 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:05.960 you have to know also is is that as much 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:09.880 of an amazing creation that Michael Scott is, Steve Carell 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:13.720 is a is a better guy um than than even 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:17.560 that that creation. So we were we were losing kind 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.480 of an amazing character, not just in our show but 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:23.320 in my opinion, in the history of television. But we're 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:28.200 also missing like our leader, our friend who who we 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:30.720 had all kind of grown up with in the industry. 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:34.040 So it was really tough, I think in terms of 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:38.280 for us moving forward. He's talked very publicly about why 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:41.080 he left. I mean, he was the central story for 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:44.160 seven years, and he felt like he wanted the character 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:48.040 to have a journey from having his family be the 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:51.840 office to maturing and growing enough as a human being 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:54.120 to be able to have his own family and someone 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:57.000 that he fell in love with. So that journey had happened, 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.600 and after that he felt like it was it was 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.080 just it was time for him to go. So we 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:05.680 all felt like there were parts of the other characters 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:08.960 that now we just had more time to tell once 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:11.440 he was gone. So that was really what our our 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:15.520 focus became was was just further exploring the other characters 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:18.240 that were left yeah, you guys did amazing with it, 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:21.240 because I really thought it's gonna be just way too different, 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:23.640 you know. And when I got around to watching it 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.120 and I'm like, no, everyone came together and did an 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:29.840 amazing effing job, I was like this, I loved it. 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:31.880 I was like, Okay, well Michael's not here, and I 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:34.200 kind of just forgot. But I mean, I love him, 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:36.320 and I think that Steve Carroll is just an amazing 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:39.120 human being an actor. But I was wondering about that 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:40.960 because I was like, I felt it. I cried. I 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:42.440 was like when he left, I was like, what the 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:45.440 heck is going on? But I think that that's that's 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:47.520 big of him too, of saying, you know what, sometimes 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:49.120 we do have to accept, like this is good for 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:50.720 this season of my life and now I'm moving on 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:52.800 to the next phase. And he did it both for 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:55.520 himself and the character, you know, So I think it 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:59.120 worked out fairly nicely. I'm sure it was difficult, but yeah, 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:01.280 I mean and and look, I mean, and I'm not 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:03.720 trying to undercut any of that because that is the truth. 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:06.439 But by the same token, the fact that he was 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:12.359 there producing or you know, acting in almost thirty episodes 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:17.160 a year after he became kind of the largest comedy 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:19.280 star on the planet after fourty year old Virgin in 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:21.720 the movies that that he did and the opportunities that 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:23.439 he had, the fact that he stayed around. You know, 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:27.159 his contract was for seven years. Everybody else over time 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:31.440 extended their contracts. He lived out his contract. He didn't leave, 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:34.240 you know. That was the thing is, he didn't really leave. 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:36.280 He did his job. He did it the whole time 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:38.240 he was there. He loved it. He's talked a lot 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:41.439 about it. He and I talked for my podcast about 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:45.080 that transition for him. But the fact that he stayed 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:49.520 that long after what he had become really like at 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:53.159 the beginning of our second season is also really just 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:55.600 like a credit to him as a human being. That 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:58.560 he didn't just say like, okay, guys, I'm I'm good now, 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:01.040 thank you so much, and I'm to go, you know, 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:06.720 do the next Ghostbusters or whatever. No, he was a 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:08.359 man of his word. He said, this is my contract, 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:10.800 I'm gonna live it through and and you know, he 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:12.480 gave his best. I mean, I'm sure it was. It 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:13.919 was a lot of work because he was doing everything 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:17.520 all at once. Um, are you guys still friends. Oh yeah, 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:19.800 I mean, you know, we just like everybody, right, I 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:23.120 mean there's been time a lot of people don't live 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:26.479 in the same city anymore. Um, people have kind of 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:31.359 moved around the country, and obviously the pandemic seeing but um, 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.280 you know, I tell people we have a group text 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:38.959 that we use fairly often, and then you know, some 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:42.240 of us get together. Oscar and I tomorrow morning are 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:45.560 going to Oklahoma City to do something together. So you know, 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:49.239 there's different things that happened, and awesome. Tell Oscar I said, Hi, 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:53.480 I will He's like, who is that chick? But anyways, 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:56.840 I love Oscar. He's freaking awesome. Okay, so tell me 0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:01.480 life after the office finished? What team? Correct? Yeah, that's 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:05.120 about right. Yeah, did you take some time off? Yeah? 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:07.600 I mean I'll be honest, like, no one should cry 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.280 for any of us, but you know, most help well 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:12.919 and especially now, right. I mean most of the shows 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:16.440 you start watching are nine episodes or ten or even 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:20.760 the network television shows were two and we were doing thirty. 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:24.400 So I mean we were working almost year round. Yeah. 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:26.880 The other thing people don't realize is is that it's 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:29.920 it's twelve or fourteen hours a day on set. I 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:31.800 mean just in terms of the amount of time, so 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:34.480 that's sixty seventy hours a week. There was just very 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:37.600 little time for anything else in addition to the other 0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:40.800 kind of requirements that go along with doing a show, 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:44.240 press and so forth. So yeah, I think I think 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:49.000 I took some time and also became very strategic in 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:51.960 terms of the types of roles that I wanted to play. 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:55.439 You know, I wanted to be sure to make decisions 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:58.879 to do different things and started doing more in the 0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:02.800 film space and in the drama television space, as uh 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:06.320 I talked about before. So and then, you know, really 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:09.919 the last couple of years, I've I've almost returned in 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:12.919 a way because of the phenomenon that the office became. 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:16.840 I kind of became the historian in a way. Myself 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:19.840 and Ben Silverman, we wrote a book you're now speaking 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:23.520 to a New York Times bestselling author, Welcome to dunder Mifflin. 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:26.720 If you haven't checked that out. We put a bunch 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:29.080 of never before seeing photos in there and kind of 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:32.520 went back and and retold the story of the show 0:20:32.600 --> 0:20:35.760 and how it came to be, and really, quite frankly, 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:38.320 I think for fans like you that found the show 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:42.080 later to really try to go back and say, like, yes, 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:45.919 Steve Carrell, he was not nobody knew who Rain Wilson was, 0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:49.119 or Jenni Fisher or John Krasinski. You know, Jennif Fisher 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:51.480 was about to quit the business and move on to 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:54.720 do something else when this happened. So it was a 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:58.360 lot about that. So I've really enjoyed now after some 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:01.479 time going back and and re exploring it again, and 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:03.800 I'm having a lot of fun. So did your book 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:07.800 come first and then your podcast? The podcast came first, 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:10.720 So I went back and talked to my old friends 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:13.080 and did a bunch of interviews and ended up with 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:18.120 um over a hundred hours of interviews from just office 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:22.919 folks and sort of took that and photos and turned 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:26.320 that into a book. And and now I enjoyed doing 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:29.760 the podcast stuff so much. The sort of new iteration 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:33.040 it's called off the beat. Yeah, tell us about it. 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:36.480 So I'm going back and talking to other entertainers, people 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:39.359 in television, people in movies. We're gonna talk to people 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:43.879 in music and people in uh sports eventually, but you know, 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:48.000 just wanting to tell the stories that have never been 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:53.280