Listen, we're in July now, but there's still a lot of summer left and Macy's Summer Favorite Sale has everything you need to get the most out of it.
There are 20 to 50 % off some favorite brands.
Well, I'm going to go shopping because I want more t -shirts.
Lady, I'm going to say it, I want to go into the crop.
The crop? The crop t -shirt.
Like I've been wearing my t -shirts super long and I don't think it's doing the right thing for my proportions.
We need a waist. I want to crop it up.
Yeah, crop it up. Well, I just got some big designer sunglasses.
Oh, I love this. I do.
Okay, they're sort of big, square, and chunky sunglasses.
They're not normally what I would wear, but I think they look really cute, especially by the pool.
Shop your summer favorites now at macys .com and get 20 % to 50 % off from July 18th through the 20th.
Shop now at macys .com or in store.
Here's the thing about SimpliSafe.
It is a system that works to prevent break -ins are a violation in your space from ever happening in the first place.
Yes. What if it's a raccoon going through your trash?
Well, then they'll let you know that.
The cameras will let you know.
They have AI -powered cameras and live monitoring agents to detect suspicious activity around your property.
No contracts, no hidden fees.
It was named Best Home Security System of 2025 by CNET.
Well, Ange, you love it.
you set it up yourself.
You're not a techie person.
I'm not a techie person.
Josh and I, we did a combo platter.
He and I set some of it up and then there was a few things we needed help on.
We called them. They are ranked number one in customer service and I can concur.
Visit simplisafe .com slash office ladies to claim 50 % off a new system with professional monitoring plan and get your first month free.
That's simplisafe .com slash office ladies.
There's no safe like SimpliSafe.
I'm Jenna Fisher and I'm Angela Kinsey.
We were on The Office together and we're best friends and now we're doing the ultimate office lovers podcast just for you.
Each week we will dive deeper into the world of The Office with exclusive interviews, behind the scenes details and lots of BFF stories.
We're the Office Lady 6 .0.
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Office Lady 6 .0.
Today, we are going back to the very beginning of the world of the office.
And we have a special guest to help us travel back in time.
Angela, that is such a poetic way to describe this episode.
I'm sorry. I got here early.
I just let free time on my hands.
Maybe I overthought that one.
You know, I don't know what got into me.
I love an origin story.
What can I say? Well, it is true that today we are starting at the beginning.
We have rewatched the BBC pilot of The Office, and as it turns out, I have a connection to someone from the BBC Office, and they're joining us today.
You do. Tell them who it is, lady.
My lady friend just texted Lucy Davis because they're pals.
Lucy plays Dawn Tinsley in the BBC The Office.
She's joining us in the studio today to give us all the behind -the -scenes details of how the show began.
Gan. Well, you know Lucy from The Office, and she was also in Shaun of the Dead, Wonder Woman, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
She's just the loveliest person and very, very funny.
We are so excited to have her here with us.
Lady, she is the original Office Lady.
She is. So I think we should just jump right in.
Here we go. Hello, everyone.
We have such a fun guest here today, Lucy.
Lucy. Hello. It is Lucy Davis, you guys.
Don Tinsley from the original office, the UK version of the office.
Why we ever had jobs in the first place.
Oh, I'm glad this is down to me.
Okay, good, good. We can leave Ricky and Steve way out.
Well, they're not here today.
They're not here. So there we are.
The show is mine. That's right.
You know, we're so excited to have you on today.
We're going to break down the pilot episode of the BBC's The Office.
You're going to take us through it.
We're going to ask you questions.
It's pretty cool. But, you know, we always like to kick things off by asking people, how did you get your job on The Office?
I tell you, it was 1999, and it was just everyone was breaking up for Christmas.
and I had auditioned for a bunch of comedy pilots, none of which I had particularly gelled with.
It was still in a time when those live audience comedies were very, very broad and nothing against that.
I just didn't fit easily into that.
And so I went in and I auditioned.
Ricky Gervais wasn't there then.
And I auditioned, then I got a call back and then Ricky was there and Steve Merchant and we were in a tiny room with an extremely large table so you had to kind of shimmy your way around it and I did a scene which stayed in the pilot where Dawn gets fake fired that's what I auditioned with that's what I auditioned with oh my okay but that's so funny that was our audition scene yeah that's mad it yeah and and originally I don't know what was in yours but in ours originally when Dawn then is crying and breaking down Rikki tries to explain it's a joke she says something to him and walks out the room
but trips and falls so when we were in this audition room I was thinking I'm not gonna trip and fall because it just feels so weird and uncomfortable in this room not uncomfortable in the good uncomfortable way Yeah, right.
So I didn't. And then at the end of the scene, Ricky kept going as David Brent.
And so I kept going.
And then after a while, I was like, yeah, I'm probably going to run out of things to say.
So what do I do? Oh, I know, I'll just leave the room.
So I just exited the room and went.
I just heard Ricky roaring.
I was like, apparently that was okay.
And then I got it and I was really pleased and I had to sign a contract, I think, for six years.
And that was very new in England.
And I remember, isn't this awful?
I remember thinking, six years?
I don't want to be doing the same thing in six years' time.
And now, of course, I couldn't be more glad to have got this job.
It was a joy. And the fact that no one said, don't forget, this is a funny line, so really make it funny.
don't you know and and everything had to just be as real as possible was my comfort zone and my like no one had ever asked me to do that before it was all like be a good actor but it's acting and now this is just being um you were so good oh your timing and when i watched it the first time you know years before the u .s okay you know version yeah i really didn't think it was was scripted I was one of those people that thought they just yeah you know I thought well David Brent is a crazy character of a person but I'd also worked for some really weird bosses and so I kind of bought it but I I thought
you were just in the moment yeah we were it was it was really um a joyous freedom I don't know if you felt this just to you know what's happening is also funny, but you just get to be, you just get to be real.
No one's trying to make a big thing about a joke and making sure you have three laughs a page and all of that kind of stuff.
And that was a freedom for me.
I loved it. The rhythm of it, like what Angela's saying and what you're talking about, when I saw it again, before I ever even knew I was going to audition, before I even knew there would be this American American version.
I was just completely struck by how funny it was to be off rhythm and to sit in things for awkward amounts of time.
And it was a new comedic rhythm that you guys just invented together.
It was so cool. There was a show in England that had already started airing called the Royal Family, R -O -Y -L -E.
Um, and that was a similar style.
And if you've never seen the Royal Family, please see it.
If you guys have never seen it, it's so good.
It's so uncomfortable.
And it's really just a family on a couch in a living room.
Um, and anyway, I can't wait to check it out.
Yeah. Check it out.
I'll send you, I'll send you a link.
Um, but yeah, it was, when I watched that, I remember thinking that would be a fun role as an actor to play um so doing the office oh it was yeah ever since then I've I did my first multicam a couple of years ago and I knew of course that the style isn't going to be the office or whatever but it was interesting for me and a strange experience experience to have to make so much of the comedy lines i was like but if they're funny they're funny you don't have to add a bell and whistle on it yeah so yeah i came from sketch comedy right so when i my first scene you know the first like few lines i had
i thought oh i'm getting fired i was doing so much but i was because i was doing that you know yeah but it is such a different style you guys did it so well but I have a question when you were filming the pilot did you feel like oh we've got something here like this is going to be a hit because we felt that way we didn't know if I would say a hit well no but I thought I thought we had something special amazing I didn't think anyone was going to watch it that's how I felt yeah that's the thing I was like if people will watch this it's going to be a hit I don't know if they're going to watch it But is that,
that was your experience?
That's how I definitely felt.
I just remember really praying that it would go because I loved doing this so much. And we made, I think I told you this, Jenna, that we actually made a pilot and then we remade the pilot.
Yes. And the original pilot, there was some different things.
But the biggest difference was there had been this documentary reality show in those very very early days called, I think it was called Airline.
And it was just cameras following an airline in a smallish airport in England.
And it became huge.
And suddenly like these people were famous.
And there was an actor called John Nettles who narrated the documentary.
So we had him narrate the pilot to make it as real, like kind of this genre and this style.
And And, but then I think, I believe, this was such a long time ago now, but I believe they felt that it took time away from story and comedy.
So we redid it again.
Without him. Without the narration.
Yeah, yeah. And the original theme tune just for that pilot was ELO's Mr. Blue Sky.
What? That was our original theme song.
Yes. Is that, I never knew that.
What? No, I'm getting chills.
I don't know if Greg knew that, but the, when I, when Greg gave us a screener of the pilot, we all got together and we watched it.
The theme song was Mr. Blue Sky.
You have to ask him if he knew that that, because, because obviously it never got air.
Yeah. But we couldn't, Greg told us, Oh, we can't use that song because another show, another show nabbed it.
So then he had a friend who composed the song that we ultimately use.
That is a great song, though.
Yours is a great song, too.
Yeah. Because obviously ours was Stereophonics.
And bless them, which is fine.
They didn't give us permission to use their song, Handbags are Gladrag.
So it was kind of rewritten to be that.
And then when it got big, they said that we could use it.
But we liked ours by that point.
And originally with Mr. Blue Sky, the opening credits weren't images of Slough.
Now it was David Brent walking into work all proud and pompous in his suit and his briefcase stuff.
So yeah, it was pretty different.
I love the opening images.
And we were in London a few years ago.
We actually crossed paths, Jen.
It was so fun. But I was on a train with my husband and kids, and I didn't realize that we were going to go through Slough.
And so I said to them, we have to get off.
And they're like, what?
This isn't our stop.
And we jumped off really fast just so I could get a picture.
and then we jumped back on the train.
Did you post the picture?
I did, I did. So I remember a story that Stephen Merchant told when they first came to visit the set.
Yeah. He said that after the very first episode aired, he was sitting on the train and he overheard a woman asking her friends if she had seen the documentary about the crazy guy in an office.
Oh God. And that the friend said, said, oh, that's not a real documentary.
That's a comedy show.
And that the woman said, oh, well, then it isn't very funny.
Oh, that's great. But what was crazy was he said, like, she loved it when she thought it was a documentary.
And then when she found out it was a comedy show, she was like, oh, no, no, I don't care for it.
But what was the reaction when it came out?
Do you remember? It was slow.
We were on a network, BBC Two, which tends to have a lot lot less viewers I think are they told I think Steve and Ricky told me that the pilot got only just a few more viewers than women's bowls yes yeah I actually read that it was in fact scored one of the lowest ratings in BBC history yeah yeah but that was the great thing about I mean in England they do this more because a we've we only did six episodes it's our whole season so they're already shops you may as well air them I guess and um and it was BBC2 is not as big a channel as BBC1 so I think it was always just going to air and it just
gradually picked up and um over time but a lot of people did say I thought it was a documentary at first yeah did you ever have that no I think because we were on like NBC must see TV right yeah um and And your show had been so popular that everybody knew.
I mean, the big hill that we had to climb was living up to the original.
There were so many critics and fans who were sort of, I feel like, actively rooting for us to fail.
Because they didn't want to take anything.
They didn't want us to tarnish the reputation of your show.
I will say there have been times and certainly back then where people would say to me back then, as if I would want to hear this, oh, it won't do very well.
And I was like, but wouldn't it be great if it did?
It doesn't affect me one way or the other, what it does.
That's so nice of you.
Why would anyone? I find it very strange when anyone wishes some failure on anyone.
I remember getting a pilot once and I got let go before we even taped it.
And it's very hard to be let go from a pilot.
But when they got picked up, I couldn't have been more happy.
And I emailed everyone and said, congrats, it's just live.
Just move through it.
You don't have to hope that someone fails so that you feel better about yourself.
So it was quite fascinating that.
that and I bet you did I bet you did have that a lot but I will tell you that I've watched every episode of your show through 10 12 times I bet I know it more than you really that is so wild to when you told me that that I was like yeah I mean well what did you think like do you remember what the first episode you saw the first one was the pilot yeah I watched it straight from I can't remember so I would have been living in England still when it first aired and I do you know if before it came out over there, because I think I watched it over here first. So I feel like you might've had a couple
seasons out by the time I was watching it.
So then I just started watching it.
And at first it might be a little strange because you go, oh, that girl's playing my character and that guy's playing his character.
But you have to go, no, they've got to find their own feet.
Well, especially the pilot, you know, it's almost a shot by shot remake, which when I I rewatched the BBC pilot this week.
I'd seen it a while back, but I couldn't believe how much of a remake we did.
I couldn't believe how much of your performance I stole from you when I watched it.
Delighted. I couldn't believe.
I've stolen so many performances.
Has anyone ever stolen any of mine?
I'm delighted. I can die happy.
So much. I mean and I also noticed like the scene with um and we'll get into a bigger breakdown but I noticed the scene with Tim and Lee at the desk when you walk away I was like oh my gosh like the three of you and then me and Jim and Roy I was like oh my gosh like down to the like carrying in an odd box.
Yeah. I know. What's in the bag?
What's in the bag? But when I watched it, I always thought there was a bigger story to the big trash bag box thing.
And I was like, no, there's nothing.
In both pilots. In both pilots.
No. That's true. I'd forgotten that.
You'll know it more than I.
I'll know yours more than I'll know mine.
I'll tell you that.
Well, maybe we should take a break.
and when we come back, we'll start going through the scenes.
Yeah, let's do it. You can remind me.
Lady, if you need to hire someone, that means there's like a position in your company or in your business that is not being filled.
So you probably have extra work to do already.
Do you know what you don't also need on top of doing the work of the position you're trying to fill is a bunch of nonsense trying to find the person to fill the position.
And this is why you need Indeed.
I have no time for nonsense.
No, you need Indeed.
You do. With sponsored jobs, your posts jump to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you can reach the people you want faster.
There's no need to wait any longer.
Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed.
And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed .com office ladies.
Just go to Indeed .com office ladies right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed .com office ladies, terms and conditions apply.
Hiring Indeed is all you need.
I'm Kristen Press and I'm Tovan Heath.
We're World Cup winners, Olympians, and the hosts of The Recap Show.
Every week, we sit down with the icons, disruptors, and game changers on the field and beyond it to talk victories, heartbreaks, and everything in between.
We've built a space where athletes, changemakers, and people creating the future of women's sports can show up and show off as their full, unapologetic selves.
Follow and listen to The Recap Show wherever you get your podcasts.
Put us in a box. Go ahead.
That just gives us something to break out of Because the next generation 2025 GMC Terrain Elevation is raising the standard of what comes standard. As far as expectations go, why meet them when you can shatter them?
What we choose to challenge, we challenge completely.
We are professional grade.
Visit GMC .com to learn more.
All right, we're back and here we are.
we're talking about The Office, episode one, season one.
The title of your episode was Downsize.
It was written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
They wrote all of them and directed all of them, right?
How did that work? Well, I mean, I guess so.
I mean, certainly from my point of view, everyone, they seem to get on very well, obviously i don't know how you could do that if you don't get on well um they were both extremely i mean because ricky was acting in it as well obviously really extremely generous and um ricky kept oh my god he made me laugh so much and there were times when i'm like you're ruining your own show because we would do things i remember having to come into the scene was like come into david Brent's office, I think I have to open a drawer for something.
And every single take, Ricky had left me a fresh, obscene drawing.
I'm supposed to carry on.
And I'm like, but I can't because it's new.
I'm responding. And as soon as Ricky knew he was doing something unexpected that would would make you laugh it would just get bigger next time until and until you just so you couldn't keep going and if one time I was actually sent out the room in the scene it was when there was Jennifer Taylor Clark who was the boss yeah yeah um and we were sitting in oh that might have been the pilot was it when when she said uh where's the the the faxes faxes yeah that's the pilot it yes I saw these bloopers yes it was like every time you came in to to take notes yes Ricky had a different like bit he was saying
at the top oh yeah I saw these too yes and it was like 20 takes yeah of you just you couldn't even start the scene you were just trying to enter the room and he couldn't make you guys stop laughing and then you you hear Steve off camera say all all right, just stop it.
Just say it the way it is.
Stop changing it. And so after a while, I don't think I might have, I think I had a line or two.
But after a while, once it got to close up for Ricky and Jennifer, it was like, Lucy, maybe you would like to maybe stand out here.
I said, am I being exited from the scene?
Yeah. A highlight. I had a few of those.
You did? did. I had a few.
There's a, when Michael Scott is doing the running man to Pamela, forget it.
Yeah. I, they had to get my reaction, which is me not laughing.
They had to get my reaction that he couldn't be there.
They actually, I guess that's the opposite.
They had to make him leave so that I could do it with nothing there.
Cause I couldn't do it otherwise.
wise yeah we did we had a bunch of those i when i had to ask her if if roy had ever mercy killed an animal because i you know poor sprinkles was in the freezer that we jen and i couldn't get through it they actually like we're like we're gonna like go to lunch because you guys are yeah we need to shift in energy yeah we felt the room turn against us we're like oh no we're gonna mess with everyone's lunch really find it hard to not laugh through what i call all these big group things like when andy bernard comes in singing sweeney todd i love that opening yeah so fun so fun that one you know they'd
put so much work into that i i mean i would just not make eye contact because i'm like i can't mess this up no yeah yeah but a conference room scene oh we were there all day and we would just get loopy yeah and we'd all go we'd all start just just dropping in laughter yeah all right let's talk about how this episode opens yes uh david brent who is the manager of warnum hog paper companies slough branch is interviewing someone about a forklift position the guy doesn't know how to drive a forklift though he doesn't have his license but it's not gonna be a matter it doesn't matter no he's gonna call
his friend sammy who he's just gonna push him through basically is how this is gonna happen can i can i point out one thing what that was cracking me up what there are probably eight outlets behind david brent and this whole scene i'm like how many they go up the whole wall like a strip to plug things in yes i'm like how many things are you plugging in this office was anything plugged in them no unused yeah now is it true you guys shot in a real office and that i heard a story That like at one point the business next door came over and told you guys to quiet down.
Like literally you were sharing the wall space with an actual business.
We were. Yeah. So this part of the office was disused, not used.
I don't know how to speak.
And so it was decorated for us.
And the original pilot, Brent's office, was actually what became our recreation room.
And so they kind of switched those around.
yeah so we were asked to keep the loft down and i was like is someone actually complaining about joy is someone actually complaining because someone's having if we were fighting and screaming and calling each other names sure okay have a go with this no what were they doing what was the other business i'm like if you're really grumpy at your job and all you hear is people laughing you might complain you know i don't know that's a good question i don't know but was Is it Ricky's laugh?
Because Ricky's laugh is really loud.
It's loud. It's really, really loud.
It's a cackle. They must know we were filming.
I mean, like maybe it was part of the scene.
Yes. It doesn't matter.
They didn't like it.
Did you film all the episodes at that same place?
All of them, except obviously anything on location like the nightclub.
Sure, right. Yeah. Well, I'm curious, like, you know, the first season aired.
Yeah. And then became very popular.
and then you had to go and do the second one and you had to do the Christmas special.
Did people figure out where you were filming?
Did fans come or did this other business suddenly become enamored with you?
Yeah, I don't think they complained in season two.
I don't remember any press or any fans coming to the studio.
That's good, you still had privacy.
Yeah. We wanted to ask you about the front reception desk where you sit because we were asked by Greg and our director, Ken Kwapis, to personalize our desk, to bring things in from home.
So it really felt like your workspace.
Yeah. So we brought pictures and little tchotchke kind of things.
Nice. There's a great shot when, you know, in the next scene, David Brent comes over to introduce you.
Yeah. And there's a great shot of your desk.
There's so many things.
And I made a list of what you have. What's on it?
I took a picture of it.
You have a monkey calendar, a snowflake cup.
You have two telephones.
Two telephones. Oh, that's greedy.
really. That wasn't nothing to do with me.
I don't know why you have two telephones, but you do.
So, did you put anything on that desk or was it all there for you?
I didn't personalize it in terms of what's seen on camera, but I had a ton of stuff that I brought in.
I was a bit of a medicine desk for people.
It was like, oh, have you got a paracetamol, which is like Tylenol, or Tums, or yeah, I just had, I don't know why.
I had so much stuff under that.
Oh, my gosh. You're the medicine lady.
Angela's the sauce lady.
Are you? If you need like a, she literally today brought in three little ketchup packets and a salt packet that she saves, and then she puts them in a drawer for us.
When you walked in, and the first person you saw was Jen, and you guys hugged, and I stood there holding my ketchup packets because you walked in right as I was putting them in the drawer, and I was like wondering if you saw me holding ketchup packets.
I didn't. But I do have a cupboard at home with things like that in.
Oh. Yeah, because I do love making a packed lunch. Yes.
And you need a portable sauce.
I get very happy when I go, oh, I really need some.
I've got it. Yeah. I've got a sachet of ketchup.
Do you remember when like all of a sudden you couldn't get like the sriracha sauce?
Remember? Like it was like in the stores.
Anyone else, Sam? Sriracha sauce?
I remember this, yes.
You remember it. Thank you, Sam.
I've never eaten sriracha sauce.
Well, let me tell you who has sriracha packets and they're not easy to come by.
I have a drawer. I have some sriracha packets.
I kind of covet them in my sauce drawer.
At least it's not an expensive habit you have. Thank you.
Thank you. Do you remember like, what was the first scene you shot?
Was it this scene where like, did you kind of shoot in order, like him coming up to your desk or no?
What do you remember from that scene?
sure we did film it in order except for like you know so here's a scene at my desk and then there might be a scene in Brent's office and there might be a scene in the rec room so we wouldn't necessarily have then gone in order but we definitely went as in order as possible which was why for me to play Dawn at the end where I get together with Tim the nice thing about that That is, everything was played so much in order that it felt like story that you were playing it out yourself.
And that was actually pretty nice.
That is really nice.
I loved that. I was curious about your wardrobe, your costume for Dawn, because I wore my own clothes in the pilot for ours, and I didn't really have a business suit.
I just kind of threw together what I had in a color palette of gray.
But I didn't know, did you have any input in your look for the show?
I mean, I don't think anyone came up and said, I think it was just like, you know, you've really got to just look office -y.
And so that might pretty much be a suit skirt and a shirt.
And it's dawn, so it's not, I'm not like the boss, like Jennifer Taylor Clark.
So it wouldn't be as smart or as expensive or as cute.
You know what I mean?
It was like soft colours.
And so we used to, before the season started, I would go and meet with the wardrobe designer and we would go and walk around Oxford Street and look for.
I hate shopping. Hate it.
And so wardrobe was always my least favorite part of any job because now I have to go around the shops.
So when I came here to America and I was like, they go to the shops for you?
Oh, you went with? I was delighted.
Yeah. Oh my goodness, I'm just putting that together.
That's so wild. Trying on 80 million things, spending the whole day.
I'd be like, anything, I'll wear anything.
You just tell me and I'll wear it.
So is that standard?
Like if you book a show in the UK, you go with the costume department?
I can't remember a job I've done in the UK where I haven't.
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I did a show in the UK for Sky TV, but my character was in prison and spent most of the show in a prison jumpsuit.
You said it was the happiest wardrobe you had ever on a show.
When I realized I would be wearing the same thing for most of the show, that I wasn't changing.
I didn't have multiple fittings.
Yep. I was so delighted.
And it was like pajamas.
It was like nice and like cozy.
It was. Didn't hug anywhere.
Yeah, that would be a dream.
You don't have to look at a ton of clothes.
But that does explain why you didn't go shopping for a prison jumpsuit.
Correct. They might not do that now.
It's been a while. It was 2009 when I last worked in England.
so well no it wasn't 2009 but it's 2009 when I last did a British job I did Wonder Woman in England in 2016 or something but again that was period wardrobe so you weren't and they were all made by hand so you weren't going shopping for it yeah oh so maybe period wardrobe yeah yeah oh yeah period wardrobe I wouldn't but regular wardrobe I've never not been out to shop for it Yeah.
Wow. Side tangent. Would you come back sometime and talk about Wonder Woman with us?
Because I'm also a huge Wonder Woman fan.
I love you in it and would love to have that conversation as well.
And my little curly ginger wig.
Yeah. I love that look.
I love that look. Of course.
Yay. Put that on our list, Cassie.
Well, in this scene at front reception, David Brent is telling Dawn about sort of his drunken night out and he's going on and on.
And, you know, we talked about the timing of how things are said, but for me, it was also about things that were just left out, like, and not said.
And one of my favorite quotes from this whole episode is David Brent telling you what professionalism is, telling Don that, and I think we should hear it.
Because I'm a professional, and professionalism is, and that is what I want, okay?
That's all. that's it and professionalism is and he has no idea what it is yeah and that is what i want was that the scene or was that episode where he says every guy is woken up at the crack of dawn crack of dawn yes and you're like what because i that's the thing that's quoted to me the most oh no really you must get sentences that you've said or something that's quoted to you oh yeah Yeah.
Yes. Yeah. I think we had, but we might have cut it.
Our version of that line, which I think might've gotten cut by standards and practices, I'm trying to think, is every man has sprayed on Pam.
Oh yeah. That was cut.
Like Pam was like, you know, a spray that you put in your pan before you cook.
Yeah. Yes. I'd forgotten that.
Yeah. There was this line, mine sprayed on pam yeah oh those standards and practices that didn't get past them for sure you could have said it would have to be bleeped or something all right so next up we're going to meet some more people in the office we're going to meet gareth keenan who was played by mackenzie crook and also we're going to meet tim canabary played by martin freeman who i read originally auditioned for Gareth which is so funny because John Krasinski originally auditioned for Dwight yeah look at that that's interesting all the similarities there are a lot of similarities especially
too with character names like everything's like one syllable it's like Tim Jim Don Pam that's true yeah lead characters with first names Michael Scott and David Brent yeah yeah well Gareth was um originally written as a large man who was like kind of a big drinker red in the face and very crude and they auditioned many many people all who they thought were there were some wonderful auditions but something just wasn't sitting right and the casting director Tracy Gilliam said what about Mackenzie Crook and they were like we love Mackenzie Crook but it it couldn't be more opposite than what we were originally wanting.
But eventually they auditioned him and it was just like that.
And he said the great I think Ricky said his words or something like the great thing with McKenzie Crook is because he's got such little bird like features.
You can make him much more crude and harsh and harsh because he's a little bird. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense.
Yeah. Yeah. And it's it's going against what you're expecting.
And I think it's really fun how like and this was true of the Dwight character on our show, too.
But like but especially with Mackenzie playing the character is just, you know, the military, like the interest in like all of the order and all of that.
It's like and the need.
I mean same as David Brent really that importance in ego in in how he comes across in how he's perceived and you know assistant two or assistant four yeah yeah McKenzie was very funny he made me laugh a lot we all did well they start the scene with the scene that we have it's the whole was that he actually hits Tim in the back of the head with this newspaper as he comes in I'm like I was like any wonder the rest of the episode Tim's trying to block his view of him such a jerk.
It's so true. Also, it's six minutes and one second.
The character of Tim is holding a very tiny dictionary.
I saw that too. He's working on something on his computer, and he's holding a teeny tiny dictionary.
And I thought, I looked it up because I'm like, when did this episode come out?
It came out in July of 2001.
And I was like, does he need a physical dictionary to check his spelling?
I think I would have used one at that time.
Maybe so. I did a lot of crosswords.
and I used a dictionary.
Yeah. Yeah. No, our shows, you know, they predate internet stuff, guys.
Yeah. So our desks had working computers.
Not at the beginning, though.
Not at the beginning, but eventually.
Did you play a lot of Solitaire?
You know, we did. I played so much Solitaire.
I didn't play that.
Or not Minecraft, Minesweeper.
Minesweeper, very stressful.
Minesweeper would stress me out.
Yeah. Sometimes I'd be getting into it and be annoyed if I was having to stop to film and work.
Yeah. All right. So now we're going to meet David Brent's boss, who, like you said, is Jennifer Taylor Clark and who was played by Sterling Gallagher.
Sterling Gallagher.
Yeah. Wonderful woman.
She's so no nonsense and she just does not care about any of David's shenanigans.
she stays focused she doesn't take the bait for any of his jokes and isn't she brilliant at it yes I think yeah sterling became a dear friend and we she's in England now so I don't really see her but but we are on um Instagram one of them anyway on one of the chats on one of them yeah she's so wonderful yeah this is the scene we were talking about earlier where Ricky kept kept improvising the opening line.
Yep. About his tie.
About his tie, random.
But she's trying to talk to him about the agenda for the day.
But of course, he made you throw it away.
But then we get into the news, which is there's going to be redundancies, a .k .a.
downsizing. And these two branches are going to have to merge.
And she hasn't decided who's going to merge with the other one yet.
They've got to sort of prove themselves.
Yeah. And then Chris Finch leaves a message in the middle of this meeting.
I mean, so much happens.
Also, David Brett is completely like panicking.
She's like, don't panic, David.
David, don't panic.
You just have to sit through all of it.
Yeah. I remember doing our version of that scene with Jan and Michael and me sitting in the chair.
I that it's one of my favorites from the series.
Took a long time. Yeah, I bet.
We can get through that.
But Rikki saying, did no get an agenda.
Yeah. Was every time I don't know that I could.
I think that was the bit where I was fired from the scene.
Did no get an agenda.
Anytime I got to watch Steve as Michael and Melora as Jan, like spar, I almost became an audience member.
I would lose my place in the scene.
So I can't even imagine how fun that was to be in those scenes.
Yeah, it was. Well, now, even though these branches are merging and people are going to be let go, David Brent has hired a temp, right?
And he's going to show him around the office.
I did have a question for you because, you know, there's been several David Brent talking heads by this point.
And we used to, every once in a while in our talking heads, because we would get multiple alts for the same talking head.
They called them the candy bags.
Yeah. We would get to improvise a little bit here and there in those.
And I was wondering what your talking heads were like.
Did you get to play around at all or were they really scripted?
I mean, everything was scripted.
We would do a lot of things like on action, we would often already talk, especially the few of the people, the easier that would be.
He would say, talk your way into the scene.
Yeah. Yeah. And then when the scene was finished, he wouldn't shout cut.
It would carry on. And I don't ever remember.
I mean, I'm sure the poor continuity lady had a nightmare because I don't remember anyone coming up and saying about continuity.
So, yeah. So really, we just got to like chat and nothing was exact and you could add things and not add things.
And they loved that.
What Ricky did, he would, you know, with adding things and doing new things, he would do the most of.
But for sure, we had the freedom to do that.
Oh yeah. I bet you guys, when I watch you guys, I was like, you know, I bet they have that freedom as well.
You can tell with the bloopers, you know, the amount of times a line will change just on take two or three or four.
Yeah. In this sequence where David Brent is showing this temp named Ricky, who was played by Oliver Criss around the office.
This is also when we're kind of starting to get background reactions from people.
We're seeing the scope of the space, the scope of the the office.
And I was really curious how you guys shot.
I looked up your cinematographer was Andy Hollis.
Yeah. And I love how the show is shot.
We obviously stole so much from that with like the low angles and the spy shots and all of that.
We had two cameras going at a time, right?
We mainly had the one.
Okay. Unless I mean, you know, menopausal here, unless I literally actually I don't even remember that I was in it at this point probably when we did bigger scenes out like at the pubs or the nightclubs we may have had more than one but I remember one yeah in the pilot it does look like you're following the one camera around yeah yeah you don't have sort of like two angles of the same scene you don't have a wide shot and a tight shot it looks like just the one yeah and I I know because obviously like with yours the office is one big big area so even if you weren't in a scene like speaking or part
of it you'd still be in it because you'd be caught in the background yeah so you had to be careful it didn't look like you're playing solitaire right well ladies why don't we take a break because when we come back david brent is going to introduce the accounts department those three over in the corner Jack Daniels is proudly served in fine establishments, questionable joints, and everywhere in between.
So, no matter where you go and every bar, you'll always know someone by name.
Jack. Jack and Coke.
Shot of Jack. Jack Daniels, please.
Right away. That's what makes Jack, Jack.
Please drink responsibly.
responsibility .org Jack Daniels and old number seven are registered trademarks copyright 2025 Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey 40 alcohol by volume 80 proof summer's here and Nordstrom has everything you need for your best dress season ever from beach days and weddings to weekend getaways and your everyday wardrobe discover stylish options under a hundred dollars from tons of your favorite brands like mango skims princess poly and madewell it's easy to too, with free shipping and free returns, in -store order pickup, and more.
Shop today in stores, online at nordstrom .com, or download the Nordstrom app.
Are you ready to dairy -free your mind?
This summer, melt away your dairy -free expectations with So Delicious Dairy -Free Frozen Desserts.
Enjoy mind -blowing flavors like salted caramel cluster, chocolate cookies and cream, cookie dough, and more.
For over 35 years, So Delicious has been cranking up the flavor with show -stopping products that are 100 % dairy -free, certified vegan by Vegan Action, and are so unbelievably creamy, your taste buds will do a double take.
Dairy -free your mind.
Visit sodeliciousdairyfree .com.
Well, we are back and David is showing the temp over to the accounting nook.
Now there's only an Angela and a Kevin over there.
There's not an Oscar.
there's not yeah who did we have over there we had keith the keith yeah and jane i think yeah and they have they have a little moment and they definitely have that same vibe that we we completely copied which is when david comes over and is like look at this crazy corner you know it's just like the most drab expressionless people yeah yeah first you're in accounts yeah Yeah.
You're in accounts.
What's happening over there?
Gareth is going to continue to bother Tim while David is pointing out all of the just genius details he's added to the office.
He makes a big show of a plant.
Yeah. We had a plant.
We had a plant. Planty.
Planty. Yeah. Then he shows off like a big mouth bass, which we had as well.
It came in Daryl's office us years later yeah i feel like i remember that little easter eggs there yes and then david is going to introduce ricky to gareth and we get into the assistant regional manager assistant to the regional manager yeah yeah and gareth is really upset because tim has pulled another prank on him he has put his stapler in jello and we both had a question about this scene we did at 14 minutes and 39 seconds the camera swings over to tim and he is eating you guys called it jelly yeah we call it jello yeah um but he's eating jelly out of a box out of a box and it's like is that a thing
thing. It looks like one big square.
So how do you make jello then?
In a cup with water and you have the little packet and you mix it up.
Is it like powder? Yeah, powder.
Oh, no. So ours is, it's like a rubbery hard thing that you put in a bowl and pour boiling water on.
And then it It melts.
The rubbery thing melts.
The rubbery thing melts.
So the thing he's eating, he's eating the concentrated.
But you can eat it.
I used to, when I ate, because it's not vegetarian, when I ate meat, I would eat it raw.
I loved it raw. Does it taste different than once you've put the hot water on it?
The flavor's the same.
It's just, it's harder.
Oh, my gosh. You just sort of like tug at it like you're eating an eraser.
Oh, my gosh. This is fascinating.
I loved it. we both were like, wait, what is he eating in the box?
It's like, I would buy it just to eat that rather than make the jelly.
Yeah. So this is interesting because in our episode, when we did this in the pilot and they swing over to Jim, he's eating some jello out of like a little cup that you, cause they make like pre -made cups, but they're just for eating.
You could put them in like a kid's lunch box.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it's not as good of a tell, I don't think.
because like Tim is eating the ingredient.
It would be like if Jim were holding a box of powdered Jell -O.
And then poured it into his mouth.
Yes, exactly. That's what I'm trying to get at.
It's very clumsily, but yes.
Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, because I remember that.
He was like, wasn't Tim saying something about, I have no idea what happened as he's eating the jelly.
Yeah. Yeah. I wonder how many people have put their staples in Jell -O and tried to do that since.
So many. I think a lot.
So many. We see so many pictures.
Not only that, I got as a gift a little mini stapler that had been put in a yellow mold that was soap.
Oh. And so you use the soap and slowly you get out.
That's really cute.
I know. People are really creative.
It is, I have to say.
Yeah. Soap. Geez. All right.
So now we have a scene coming up.
This is where Dawn is on her lunch break.
Yeah. She's trying to read a book.
She's eating a sandwich. Oh, is this in the pilot?
Yes. Oh, I thought it was later on.
Oh, that was really hard to do.
That was really hard to do because what you can't tell on camera is the close proximity with which Ricky was standing next to me talking about testicular cancer.
And grabbing his balls.
Yeah. And like you, since you're seated and he's standing, your face is exactly even with his crotch. Yes.
Yeah. And I didn't.
And because it was the pilot, we weren't so used to, you know, how this was going to play out and how this was going to be.
So when I sat there and I had already this bit of brie sandwich in my mouth, that's another line I get a lot of bit of brie.
and I turn what you can't you just can't you know this you just can't tell it on camera because you know on camera you have to stand closer to someone than you would in real life right in real life it would be like it's so awkward that you were this close but for camera you have to be close who was close I'm not gonna lie and um and the the I didn't have to hold the brie sandwich in my cheek it just wouldn't go down but i it was a wonderful wonderful little moment of seeing we shot that same scene for our pilot that was my other audition scene so i had the fake firing scene yeah as my audition scene
and then i had this eating lunch scene yeah but ours got cut I know it didn't make it in for time because we had to get our episodes down to like 21 minutes 30 seconds.
We were like 29. Yeah, you guys had extra time.
Yeah, yeah. But this sort of like physicality where you're in someone's space awkwardly, I feel like just kept coming back, especially for Michael Scott.
Like he would talk to Jim and put his foot up on the desk, like basically lean in so it's just like crotch facing you yeah and there are a lot of moments like that i love i love those things though especially when if they're not in the scripts and you're not expecting them at all yeah i mean obviously this brief scene was scripted so i knew what the script was and the lines were but i just didn't plan on having ricky's crotch quite so effect on my brain so close i didn't count for that that one ball to be so close to your sandwich speaking of not being able to swallow your brie and breaking you
know we broke all the time but there were a few people that broke the most like rain wilson cracks himself up he broke his Dwight a lot um Mindy broke in almost every scene and I I remember Mindy doing uh the character doing the um cabbage soup diet and looking awful and then and I I will do this now and I'll know who's someone if someone watches your show well because you go gonna look look amazing oh I love it okay so Mindy cracks up a lot yes yes but so on your set now we know you had to exit a scene but was there someone that broke the most was it Ricky probably Ricky but but he broke because he
would more because he would see us breaking or trying not to there was a scene I think you might have seen it in bloopers where Ricky and Martin are doing a scene it's the it's the job evaluation scene yes and I came in to do my job evaluation scene and they were already nowhere near finished and so we went over and over to over to lunch and then had to go back to it over lunch and so we because they couldn't they couldn't get through it I saw that blooper and they keep like clacking the clacker, and it was like upwards of like 30 takes.
Oh, my goodness. Yes.
And there was this moment that I remember from watching the show that was breaking them up, and it's so funny.
It's just a gesture where Ricky is saying like, you know, if you play your cards right, someday you might be in this chair.
You might be in—yeah, and he does this like point down to his seat and Like bites his lip.
He's like, yeah. And the first time he did it, they both broke and they're like, no, no, we got to get that.
We got to get to do that again.
Do that again. But they never I don't know how they ever got through it.
It was so funny. I remember doing a scene later where Ricky is playing the guitar for me in his office.
this yeah it's so funny it really is and that that was hard um I had written a song oh my god when I was 15 where I played the piano and sang this song it was for my GCSE music which is I don't know what whatever exams you take here when you're 16 and um I got an A for my music it's the but it was a really cheery ditty that I was like, and yet it was about the most horrific things, paedophiles.
And I'm not religious at all, but in the chorus, it would be like, at the end of the worry and terror, there's heaven not far away.
And I remember telling Ricky Steve this, and they were like, we have to have this in our show.
And they worked their asses off in season two to try and get it in and couldn't find a way to legitimately get it in.
It was so bad and it was so good because it was so bad.
Right. It was crap plastic.
This was, I feel like this story is why you were destined to be cast on this show because your senses of humor were so aligned.
This idea of like a song about all the things you kind of aren't supposed to say or discuss in a peppy manner, like a peppy show tune.
Never entered my head at 15.
It was like a peppy show tune that could have opened a sitcom.
Yes. And about the darkest stuff.
Yeah. But the darkest stuff, not religious at all.
And I go, Isaiah and Micah prophesied a friendly world of peace.
What? Did they? I have no idea.
But you got an A. I got an A.
You got an A. So bar was low.
They might have just been in shock, didn't know what to make of it.
I think it was like, poor girl.
She's going nowhere in life.
Let's give her something.
All right. There's going to be a conference room meeting.
We have to discuss conference rooms with you.
David, Brent is going to discuss these rumors of downsizing.
How was this to shoot?
Okay. probably very like your conference scenes, which they take a long time.
And at first you are genuinely trying to like be professional.
Let's get it done, guys.
Come on. Do you know what I mean?
This is fine. And then, of course, as Rick is doing his speech and all of this, he'll change his speech. And so you're listening.
And so you're doing it.
And then I have one bit where I was doing, I had a line, something like, well, Jennifer, I say something like, I'm like, well, Jennifer said there might be some job losses or downsizing or something.
He calls on you hoping that you're going to save the day.
But instead you like make it worse.
And Ricky was sitting and Steve was sitting at the monitors for me doing this line.
And I did it. The note was, a little less soap opera loose.
Oh, OK. I think because I had this one line in this long scene, I think I might have been trying Trying to really make it last a while.
Yeah, so I made it less soapy.
That made me just have a question.
So was he the one usually yelling things off camera to you guys?
Was he, they co -directed, but was Stephen Merchant more the one sort of like yelling action, giving notes and stuff like that?
Yeah, I think Steve would have done action more or our first AD more so if Rick is in the scene.
and if he's not in the scene, he's usually changed back into his sweats and chomping on a sandwich watching the monitor.
But yeah, so that would be Steve normally.
Yeah, that makes sense.
It's kind of fun, like co -directing and acting in the thing that you've written.
Yeah, I can't. Really?
That seems so stressful to me.
You would like that, Angela.
I feel like because you have the all creative brain.
I don't, I can't direct.
I don't know if I could direct actually.
I would love that, but I would love to have you there with me, Jenna, because then - What am I doing?
You're doing what Stephen was doing.
Oh, I'm your Stephen Merchant.
Yes, exactly. Oh, I did that.
Exactly. So you could sort of like be the I outside the scene and I'm in it.
Oh, but now I'm directing again, which I think I can't do.
Okay, well. I don't know if my brain goes there to direct.
I like producing. Yeah.
Yeah. I really enjoyed that side of my career.
And I obviously love acting.
But yeah, the directing, I'm like, my little brain, I don't know if I could take it all in.
You've got to be aware of every single area of everything going on.
Yeah. And I think my brain would explode.
I'm also such an inside out performer as an actor.
So like I'm very much about like, what am I feeling?
What do I want? What's motivating me?
And I'm not really aware of my surroundings.
endings like i'm not good at decorating a room like i don't know where to put the chair and the couch and the things and my husband who's a director like he's really good at that like he knows how to build a visual picture right um i just know how to like come from like sort of an emotional place got it yeah i think yeah so that's why i think i can't direct maybe i don't know i don't say never lady don't say never well i did sign this up i did sign us up to direct a show together, me and you.
No, I'm kidding. We'll all direct something together, but we'll really leave it to Angela.
No! I like this idea.
And we can sit and have coffee.
How many directors do you have?
Three. Technically one, but...
Okay, we have to talk about this moment where Don is attempting to fix Tim's hair.
And you have like these great fingernails and you're kind of going through his hair yeah how much of that moment was improvised between the two of you all of it yeah so what was the idea the idea was like okay we need to see you guys be kind of flirty flirt like yeah just watching you know that moment you know well you know when you fancy someone but you've never acknowledged it between you so really what you're trying to do is engage in some way and of course touch is always a nice thing to to kind of get in and I'll do anything for some I mean I remember improvising a scene and and I said to
Tim play with my hair like in the scene and and I was like oh this is a great way of getting like a massage yeah it's just telling him to do it in a scene um but yeah a lot I a lot of our scenes like that were improvised just just play together martin really helped me in those because i wasn't as confident then um now i'd love to do things like that and i've done a lot of improv at um groundlings ucb yeah but i used i was much more nervous of it then and um martin was just great chatting chatting away so i really i relied on him and i'm grateful to him yeah did you guys have to do like chemistry
reads as part of your audition process no really yeah so you how did they know you guys were gonna be so great together i mean i did two castings and the last one was with ricky and asha teller our producer and steve and casting and that was it yeah yeah oh you guys the chemistry between you two and it's just so like yeah oh my gosh you're just rooting for don Ron and Tim, you're just rooting for them.
It was a really, but Ricky always said people come for the comedy, but stay for the story.
And I think that's probably good in any comedy show.
I mean, you guys have so many great stories playing out your relationship with Dwight.
And you, you remember that the office is funny and you come for that and you laugh your head off, but you see all of these stories with characters you love play out and have time and have lengths of time to do it.
and it's why you keep coming back I think yeah for sure that's for me I'm like what is the heart of the show it's the people and the connections they make yeah yeah well unfortunately Don's fiance Lee is gonna arrive this is a big shock we're not expecting it no Lee with his giant garbage bag boxing thing yes because Tim was just suggesting that you all go out and get drinks So all of our hearts are swooning, of course, but no. And then they have that awkward, awkward silence.
Oh, it's so good. And then Tim says, what's in the, and he goes, just tell her I'll be outside.
It's so awkward. He's like, I'm not going to talk to you, man.
And I love that they never made the character of Lee a bad person.
He was never a baddie.
you know part of you might think well maybe he beats her or you know maybe he's cheated on her no he's just not someone you want her to be with he's not her person it's not her person yeah and you could call him things like a loser but he's not he's decent enough yeah yeah but it's one of those things where so many people settle because maybe they're looking for marriage and some some kind of continuity or consistency and and they settle and that's what dawn has done for all of her life until the very end you know she didn't pursue her dream with the drawing she didn't pursue tim and um and she
stayed with this guy just because it was easier to stay than go i think yeah and how many i mean i've done it before yeah yeah no and i i do like that that Lee's not a bad guy.
And I liked that Roy wasn't a bad guy.
And one of the things I did love, of course, we had many more seasons and time to show the storyline than you guys did.
But I love that Roy found his person.
Yeah. Right. Yeah. And learned how to play the piano for her wedding.
I mean, it just goes to show that he was meant to be happier, too, just the way that Pam was.
And but yeah, so I did like that.
They didn't make him like sort of this villain person yeah he just wasn't her person yeah he just wasn't her person and he wasn't a bad person you just looked at him and knew please don't end up with him right please don't because he's just going nowhere he doesn't have any he doesn't encourage her in any kind of dreams whatsoever yeah he doesn't have dreams for himself and i think that's a shame well she lights up around tim and her light goes out around lee yeah like yeah you know and you just see it in how you played the character and and when i talk about stealing things from you that was like
something that i really noticed in your performance and i thought okay yes i like this i like this way that you have different body language around these two different people right right and so yeah yeah I remember doing the scene at the end of the Christmas specials where Dawn goes home in the taxi yes yeah and then she's giving me chills just thinking about it she opens the paints yes yeah never give up and just before we film that Steve Merchant came up to me he said I'm gonna tell you how I'm gonna how imagining the scene I went okay then he said said imagine you open it and then we're gonna like
pull in on you the camera and just one solitary tear comes down your right eye and I went jeez aloo I said have a word go home but I think one did weirdly I don't know how many takes we had to do for me to like do that sometimes I can cry naturally and sometimes I have to stick Vicky in my eye crying.
Same. Yeah. Same. In this scene where David Brent fake fires you and you have to break down crying, how many times did you have to do that?
Do you remember? And was that more like, did you get yourself really crying?
You look like you're pretty upset.
I didn't really cry in that scene.
I think I put my head in my hands, right?
Yeah. I think I did that probably to disguise the The fact that I wasn't crying.
I know that trick. And then you get the breathing and you're like, yeah, yeah, sniffling.
Maybe the end of my pointy nail will stab my arm and then it will cry.
It's watering a little.
Yeah. Also, when I really let myself go and cry in a scene, it's not attractive.
Like I don't have the single tear.
It's just a big blubber fest. But I quite like that.
I like seeing Will crying.
crying. Emma Thompson always says you have to earn your cries.
And, um, you know, don't just, I've done shows where, you know, everyone's crying all the time.
And I'm like, aren't we, aren't we desensitized to it?
And I remember her in, um, love actually.
I don't know if you've seen it.
I love love actually.
You're speaking Angela's language.
That scene with Joni Mitchell and she opens it up.
She thinks it's going to be the necklace.
And then she makes the bed and it it has this resolve that she's going to go and go to the kids Christmas play and her dignified crying oh so good yeah I have to say just just her story with Alan Rickman in that movie alone was was worth watching it for oh my goodness and I was like yep you weren't you're crying yeah yes well listen yeah I want you to come back and I want us to do the Christmas episode Ooh, let's do that.
Wouldn't that be so great?
Because now I want to watch it again.
We're talking about it and I want to watch it again.
And also by that time, I've got things that I can certainly bring you guys.
You can't show it on here, but I, cause I didn't, I went to look, but I don't have the pilot script, but I do have some scripts still from the show and really cool focus.
We didn't then have, I didn't, but we didn't have cell phones where you could take a million photos.
No, we didn't either.
No. Um, so I do have some really cool pictures and stuff.
Oh, I would love to see those.
Yeah. We'll have to do a Christmas episode.
Okay. Done. Well, the episode ends with the David Brent talking head, where he's talking about how the most important thing about a company is not, you know, it's not the building.
It's not the stock.
It's not the turnover.
It's the investment in the people.
Yeah. We did a very similar Michael Scott talking head.
has the same sort of joke where he's like going to be godfather to someone's child yeah and then fires him yes it didn't work out that kind of completes the episode but before we go I have to ask what has it been like for you to be part of this legacy that is the office people ask us this all the time but I mean for you it's like you started it all it's in I think also Also, because we only did the 14 episodes, whereas you guys, how many episodes did you do?
201. Yeah. Oh, my God.
That's where I envy you guys.
I'd have loved to have done just to have that have been my life for several years.
So obviously, to some degree, because we started Much Before You and we only did 14 episodes, to some degree, it's a blip in the ocean.
but it isn't because of the impact that it had yes and I remember the first time we were nominated for awards it was for the comedy awards in England which are quite big award show and a really fun award show to go to um and we were nominated for best comedy and Ricky for best actor we were like what we've been nominated for the comedy awards and I remember chatting with Ricky on the phone own that night when we'd heard and he was like he said god I really hope this will become my cult following um like and he gave I can't remember what comedy he gave an example of and we're like wouldn't that be
amazing if like people actually watched us more and stuff like that so we just never saw this yeah and that lastingness of it yeah um but yeah I mean again I will know your show more than I will know mine but that's partly because I don't watch myself hardly ever now and I've done things that I've never seen um but obviously I've watched all the office just and I wrote a little diary through one of the season you had a journal a journal and I wasn't a big journal writer Lucy yeah you know I read from my journal that I kept while we were filming the office on here they love to make fun of me because i
my journal writing i write like i don't know what would you say well we don't know who it's for you it's like you're writing it to your future self so you don't forget things but with like a weird writing a letter you'll be like guess what i did today oh that's great you'll never guess rain came by my desk he farted it It was so stinky.
Oh, and then I'll say, and then I'll write something like this story for later.
Gotta go. Sorry for later.
Like to myself. But anyway, you're going to come back.
We're going to break down the Christmas episode and you're bringing your journal.
I like this plan. Okay.
I'll do that after we, I remember I did it for a few jobs and I remember thinking it needs to be written So that if God forbid it got into the hands of press or something, it's nothing bad.
It's just my day to day or something funny that happened or whatever that is.
Yeah. I can't wait to hear your journal voice.
Thank you. I'm really looking forward to what I'm feeling like.
Yeah. I mean, you are an office lady.
You're the original office lady.
You are. I can't tell you how excited I was to hear from you.
And I was like, I wanted to go on this show for ages.
switches. Oh my goodness.
Well, thank you so much. I mean, we should tell people how we met.
Yes. You were doing a show.
A pilot. Yes. Here in LA.
Yeah. And my manager had another client on the show and she said, Jenna, you were just cast on the pilot of The Office.
And I think it would be really neat for you to come and meet Lucy Davis, who originated the role.
And I did, I came to your set and I think I watched your taping.
Yeah, that was the Aisha Tyler project, I think.
Yes. Produced by Lisa Kudrow and Dmitry Kuzinski.
Yes, that's right. And I mean, I was so starstruck.
I didn't even know what to do.
You took a picture with me backstage.
She showed us the picture when she came to set.
I remember we were all abuzz that she had met you.
That I had met you.
Like, oh my gosh. And you were so sweet and you just were so encouraging.
you said like i wish you all the success i mean everything you were saying at the beginning of this podcast about like there's room for all of us and you can be just as big of a success with your version and it just you know we were so nervous about doing it and that really helped of our office we were all rooting for you oh we just we were no god yeah you said that and that meant so much and that gave me so much confidence so thank you i am so happy to be back in touch same yeah me too it's lovely to meet you lady yes so lovely to meet you and i can't wait to meet the journal version of you oh
my god yes lucy thank you so much for coming by yes what a wonderful day thank you bye lady bye original lady how lovely was that i mean i love that i'm back in touch with her we've been texting up a storm again.
And it's just, you know, this podcast, we get to reconnect sometimes with people and it just makes me so grateful.
And I'm so grateful that she came in.
She was so excited.
She's just such a wonderful person.
Like the minute you're in the room with her, I just was like, when are we hanging out again?
I know. All right. Well, thank you so much, Lucy, for coming in today and thank you guys for listening and we'll see you next week.
See you then. thank you for listening to Office Ladies Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey our executive producer is Cassie Jerkins our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer and our associate producer is Ainsley Babico Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton We'll be right back.
