Angela Kinsey and Ellie Kemper dish about “The Office”
Angela Kinsey of "The Office" - NBC Photo
Angela Kinsey and Ellie Kemper are as fun to listen to on a phone interview as they are to watch as Angela and Erin on “The Office.”
I was able to participate in an NBC conference call in which the actresses were asked questions involving everything from new “Office” Webisodes, the birth of Jim and Pam’s baby, what it’s like working on the show, and more.
Ellie Kemper was asked what the chemistry of the cast was like when she joined it and she replied, “Well, everyone there luckily is so welcoming and so kind. I would imagine that that sort of dynamic or warmth doesn’t exist on every set.
“And I have to say for a show that they have made – they did all the work to make it great and then I just got to come in in the fifth season and be a part of it, it’s like really lucky for me.
“So I don’t know about chemistry or whatever, I just feel really fortunate that they made me -they like wove me into the fabric really…”
Angela Kinsey then threw in, “And, I mean, come on, there was a hazing process….”
Kemper was also asked if there had been any surprises joining the show or was it as she would’ve expected it, and she replied, “The thing that has surprised is the fact that I’m able to be on it. I don’t know how. I always think I’m like, oh a year ago, what was happening. And, actually, a year ago I think was my first – when I start – when I was in the first episode. But I think, I mean, surprising in just the most wonderful way.
“I just said this so I don’t mean to repeat myself, but it is strange to have watched a show like on your futon for five years and then to be on it is completely surreal. And I think that it’s so weird because I go to work and I see these people every day, so now I’m like, you know, they’re real people.
“But then, every now and then, I have a moment where it’s just, oh wait a second, these are the people on the television show that I love. It’s weird. But they could – just everyone couldn’t – again be like more – couldn’t be warmer. It’s very – it’s a huge relief. Like I was stressed.
Another question posed was how would “The Office’s” baby episode differ from other series in the past, and if the show would change afterwards.
Kemper responded, “It won’t.”
Kinsey’s answer, “I think what’s the great thing about our show is that they find ways to make our characters grow without really changing a character’s arc, you know. And that’s always a fine line in television. But if you change a character too much the audience falls out of love with the character.
“But yet characters need to evolve and grow over the years. And I think our writers are brilliant at doing that. So I think Jim and Pam having a baby, you’re going to see like new aspects of them, but it’s not going to change the dynamic of our office, you know, and what’s funny within the office.”
When the two were asked about what they liked about shooting Webisodes, Kinsey responded, “Well, I know the very first Webisodes we did were the accounting Webisodes. And at that time was a very new genre, you know…
“…I mean, we came in on our day off and it was me and Brian and Oscar and we had such a small skeleton crew. I mean, I remember, you know, our crew – we were all just kind of cracking up. It felt very free and loose; it felt like something you might have done in college.
“And now they’re more organized, they’re more structured a little bit. But there’s still that real sense of freedom and a real sense of play because it’s kind of like going to school, you know, during off hours. There’s no one really there and you all kind of cut up a little more and maybe you get your work done but instead of sitting on your chair at your desk you sit on your desk, you know.
“So that’s kind of what the energy is like there. Like it feels like we’ve all come in on a day off and it’s a lot of fun. And our show, you know, we get to improvise on our show. We definitely do the script as it’s written, but we have this sense of play already on our show. And I guess come Webisode time that same energy is there.”
Kemper agreed.
When asked about playing a role that’s opposite of her own personality, Kinsey replied, “Well it’s definitely a lot of fun, because I find that when I play characters much closer to my own personality I’m a little bit more self conscious, you know, because I feel a little bit more exposed as myself.
“But when I play a character that’s very different from me I can – I really have fun with it because it’s such a departure from how I would react.
“I am horribly non-confrontational. I’m from the South. I usually start most sentences with I’m sorry, so, you know, it’s like very fun to play someone who would quickly tell you off or definitely knows exactly what, you know, her thoughts and opinions and is going to share them and…
“…I mean, it’s fun to be so different.”
Kemper was asked if she would be as clueless as her character Erin if she was around someone who was as vague as Andy or would she figure out that they were trying to tell her something?
Kemper’s response was, “I think I would figure out they were – I hope I would figure out that they were trying to tell me something. I think that I mostly go where I think, oh gosh, that person hates me. So any – in real life I mean, so any hint that, oh this person just said a nice thing, even if it’s vague, I think I would pick up on that. I’m a little more discerning I think than Erin is.
“I’m still – I still don’t completely buy that – I am a little convinced that Erin is playing a game as well, which it’s pretty clear to me that Andy is hitting on this anyway. So I definitely, though, in real life, yes, I would so pick up on a hint.”
When asked her thoughts about office romance in real life, Kinsey replied, “Sure, I think you – I think it’s very easy to fall in love at work, it’s very easy. And then I think, you know, it’s, you know, it’s – sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”
When the person asking this question mentioned that he was self-employed, so he didn’t have the option of dating someone he worked with, Kinsey responded, “You need to get some interns, come on.”
When the pair was asked if there was an episode that was hard for them to do because they had to keep from laughing, Kinsey replied, “Oh my – that’s every day for me by the way.”
Kemper agreed.
Kinsey continued,” I mean, you know, I crack up every day on set. And it’s not just me, I mean, we all have moments where we, you know, are – we’re trying to dodge the camera lens because we’re laughing so hard and we don’t want to ruin the take. I mean, Ellie, what was the… …biggest one for you? I’m thinking of…”
Kemper: I’m trying to think of my, yeah, actually there, well this hasn’t aired yet. There’s something Michael is doing – now I can’t remember what impression he’s doing. It’s maybe like – I don’t know what – I can’t remember. Like Jack Nicholson, he’s doing some impression but he was improvising it. But it was just – he and I were the only ones in the scene. And I just kept laughing.
When asked if there was a particular character that get to them more than other characters on the show, Kinsey said, “…… Oh gosh I think for me it just depends on the day and like who I’m in the scene with. But, you know, Rainn (Wilson) – I have to say Rainn – maybe because I’ve done a lot of scenes with Rainn but he cracks me up quite a bit, Erin.
“And, I think, I mean, if you’ve ever done a scene with Steve (Carell), you know, you think finally you’re like okay I’m not going to laugh, I’m not going to laugh. And then he improvises and then you’re just like… …aw crap, you know, here we go, you know.”
Kemper: “It’s so – it’s just like, of course, effortless and then it just comes out. And yes I think, oh, I’m fine, I’m like in the scene. And then it’s those improvised lines or looks or whatever, oh gosh, yeah.
Kinsey: “I have to bite the inside of my lip often. Or you know what I’ve started doing with Steve is I will look at the middle of his forehead and not in his eyes. Because I feel like if you lock eyes with him you’re done.
”
Kemper: “And he doesn’t ever seem to break. Not that I…”
Kinsey: “He rarely breaks. Oscar (Nuñez) and him are the two that rarely break. And when – the two of them if they ever break, forget it, put a fork in the rest of us, we’re all done.”
Four new “Office” Webisodes will start showing on www.nbc.com at 12:01 a.m. on March 4.
New episodes of “The Office” will return on NBC at 8 p.m. on March 4 with the arrival of Jim and Pam’s baby, so be sure and tune in for the mayhem and bliss.
– Melissa Hayer
Ellie Kemper of "The Office" - NBC Photo
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