Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, who played Pam and Angela, respectively, on The Office, talked to the show's casting director Allison Jones in the Nov. 6 episode of their Office Ladies podcast. Jones, 69, revealed that NBC originally wanted to go for some big names when casting Michael Scott.
"I remember vividly the first meeting we had with the network when [creator Greg Daniels] had a list of names and they were like, Let's try Philip Seymour Hoffman. And then, you know, let's go for Paul Giamatti or whatever," Jones said. She said she was "so jaded" that she thought neither actor would be interested in the show, because at the time, "Nobody did TV. Comedy was the bottom of the barrel."
But Daniels, 61, wanted the new series to hew pretty closely to the original British series they were remaking. That show had used actors that didn't look all that dissimilar from actual office workers. Jones explained, "This was the first time other than [casting] Freaks and Geeks, I had the opportunity to get real people who didn't have to be, you know, vaudeville funny or sitcom funny, which is a very difficult thing to be."
Jones said that NBC's desire to attach a "big name" to the show was actually an outlier for the network. "NBC was more into standups at the time," she said. In fact, Steve Carell, who would ultimately be cast as Michael Scott, was part of one of those stand-up-led shows, Tom Papa's Come to Papa, meaning he couldn't audition for The Office.
"Nancy Perkins, who was the head of casting at NBC Universal, always knew Steve would be a top choice for this," Jones said. While they tried to cast the show without him, they auditioned others. "We brought in the best of the best," she explained. "Everybody was a different version of Michael Scott that could have worked. Patton Oswalt could have worked. Bob Odenkirk would have been amazing."
Come to Papa was canceled after four episodes, giving Carell the freedom to join The Office.
Kinsey, 53, revealed that she originally auditioned for Pam, and that Kathryn Hahn was also in the waiting room that day. Jones added, "We had famous people on that couch. I recall it was a small, crappy little couch."
Kinsey ultimately returned to read for the part that became Angela, though she almost didn't book it because she was married at the time to Warren Lieberstein, whose sister was married to Daniels. Jones told her on the podcast, "You did not get it because you were related to Greg. You got it because you were really good."
Jones' casting skills are legendary amongst comedy fans. She helped put together the ensembles for beloved shows like Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation, Veep, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Good Place as well as movies like Bridesmaids, Lady Bird and Barbie.
Jones said one of the secrets to her casting success is that she remembers the people who didn't book a job and calls them back in. She noted that Kristen Schaal, Zach Woods and Aubrey Plaza were all brought in for The Office. Woods ultimately joined the series late in its run, while Schaal and Plaza were cast in other shows she worked on.
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"If we meet somebody that we think is special or gives a good audition, you cannot wait to bring them again to get them a part," Jones said of casting. "And sometimes that takes 40 auditions before they get something and you have to just keep bringing them in and bringing them in."
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