The Office US star reveals fascinating secret behind the format of the set
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One of the stars of The Office (US) has revealed a fascinating secret behind the design of the popular sitcom’s set.
On the series – an American adaptation of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s BBC classic The Office – the titular office was divided into two rooms, with some characters working in an annexed section separate to the main office.
According to Brian Baumgartner, who played accountant Kevin Malone, there was actually a secret, entirely practical, reason for this.
Speaking on an episode of Joe Vulpis’s Lightweights podcast earlier this month, Baumgartner explained the reason for the seating divide.
According to him, those characters who sat in the annex were actually the ones who were involved with writing the show: Toby (Paul Lieberstein), Kelly (Mindy Kaling) and Ryan (BJ Novak).
“There was the main office, and then there was the other side,” Baumgartner began. “If your desk was in the annex, you were a writer.”
He continued: “They did this because the camera was always moving around. We were there all the time. So Greg [Daniels, the series showrunner] needed the writers in the writers room sometimes.”
Because their default in-universe workplace was separate to the main area, Lieberstein, Kaling and Novak were able to leave the set and go to the writers’ room without disrupting continuity in the background of shots.
“I did not know that,” Vulpis replied. “Fun fact.”
The Office did, however, manage to work the annex into its story, with those employees sat in the room looked down upon by the others in the main office.
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An Australian remake of The Office recently premiered on Prime Video, marking the third English-language iteration of the sitcom.
The series notably switched the gender of multiple key characters, including its lead. In the UK version, the centre of the show is obnoxious office manager David Brent (Gervais), while the US version focused on a similar character called Michael Scott (Steve Carell).
In the Australian version, the lead character is a female office manager called Hannah Howard, played by Felicity Ward.
Speaking to The Independent last month, Ward said: “I know that people are going to have very strong opinions about this regardless… [but] when people ask, ‘did you feel the pressure?’ I’m like, ‘no, not at all’.
“This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
