Subtle Sexuality’s Male Prima Donna:

Pam and Jim wedding:

John Krasinski: 'I don't want The Office to go away'
He may be on the verge of movie stardom, but it's his leading role in the TV sitcom that truly delights him
Andrew Gumbel - The Guardian
September 18, 2009

John Krasinski is in the place where he has been happiest for the past four-plus years: on the set of the American version of The Office. The 29-year-old actor, on a short lunch break, cracks jokes from the go, very gently mocking the plotlines his character is involved in. In short, he turns out to be much as one might expect from his laconic, deadpan character in the show, Jim Halpert. He is personable, a little quirky and, above all, funny.

We talk in his trailer in the unlovely Los Angeles suburb of Van Nuys, which doubles with surprising aptness for the drab post-industrial chill of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where the show is supposedly set. "Yup, here we are in Van Nuys," he says. (It is home to a notoriously noisy airport for private jets, industrial warehouses and several offshoots of the porn business.) "It does a perfect job of doubling as Scranton – except of course if you were there." He lets the riff extend a little longer . . . "It's a little bit difficult to shoot scenes where you are supposed to be very cold, when it's 106 degrees outside."

Not that he is complaining: The Office doesn't feel to him like a stepping stone to a bigger career – although, increasingly, that is the way things are turning out – so much as his favourite place to be, even as the show enters its sixth season. "The Office is not one of those things you move away from," he says. "I don't want it to go away."

In the forthcoming season, Jim is set to marry Pam, the receptionist at the paper supply company where they both work. Krasinski says it is one of the best episodes to date – he doesn't want to give anything away but, equally, it is clear that the course of true love, as usual in sitcoms, does not run entirely smooth. "You can imagine, they're nervous they are going to get married . . . fearful of how they are going to deal with it." Krasinski immediately suspects he might just be stating the obvious. "A wedding with complications? Yeah, I hope that we break that mould," he deadpans.

Once upon a time, as British television fans are only too painfully aware, the US version of The Office seemed to be an ill-fated and hastily thrown together conceit – an American translation of a much-loved British comedy that went on air only because the show previously intended for the slot on the NBC network bombed mid-season. Now, though, it is one of the hottest shows on US TV, largely thanks to the brilliant improvisational acting of its ensemble cast. They found a way to take the premise of the Ricky Gervais original and turn it into something original and funny on its own terms.

One of the knock-on effects of this success is that its actors are starting to become visible as bona fide stars. Ed Helms, who joined the cast in the third season to play the pompous sycophant Andy, made appearances in two big film comedies this summer – The Hangover and The Goods. Krasinski, meanwhile, plays the lead in Away We Go, Sam Mendes's gentle meditation on the anxiety of expectant parents-to-be. And he has a feature project of his own about to launch in America – an adaptation of a collection of short stories by a notoriously unfilmable author, David Foster Wallace.

Away We Go has the potential to be Krasinski's breakthrough, in a part that is far from easy. He and his co-star, Maya Rudolph, play an essentially happy couple – a fine thing in the real world, for sure, but rarely the basis for anything that might be called dramatic. The interest of their relationship lies, or is intended to lie, first in the quirkiness of their private world, and second, in their reactions to a series of absurdly drawn friends and relatives. Krasinski – generally regarded as one of the sexiest young actors around – is almost unrecognisable, with scruffy beard and glasses.

He seems pleased by the way the film turned out. "Every single thing drew me to it," he says. "It has everything I would want to see in a movie, starting with a script by Dave Eggers and his wife Vendela Vida. The second thing – the greatest storytelling director that we have. Sam Mendes is it, for me . . . To be a part of a project that had those two stamps of approval . . . it's a pretty amazing combo to be part of. I would have been in the background of the movie if they'd asked me to. When Sam called and asked me to play Burt [the lead], I thought it was a practical joke."

The film has not done brilliantly. It disappeared from US cinemas with some haste earlier in the summer, and collected some singularly harsh notices from the country's leading reviewers. The Los Angeles Times called it "a self-satisfied film about insecure people". But the poor reviews haven't extended to the central performances of Krasinski and Rudolph. And Krasinski, for his part, sees a virtue in the central unorthodoxy in the writing – the happiness of the main couple.

"It was the number one thing I pulled out of the script when I first read it," he says. "It was so refreshing to see a story about two people who were in love and stay in love. There was nothing like an infidelity that would break them up and get them back together – which is the way it usually goes."

The Wallace project, meanwhile, is a very personal one for Krasinski – and not just because he wrote and directed it. A theatrical reading of an adaptation of Wallace's collection Brief Interview with Hideous Men, when he was in his third year in college, was the spur that pushed him into pursuing acting as a career. Wallace, he says, forces readers "to see the world in a different perspective".

And Krasinski has more up his sleeve – a Nancy Meyer comedy coming out later in the year in which he has the unenviable job of trying to impress his future mother-in-law, played by Meryl Streep.

Clearly, life is treating Krasinski very well these days. But he is still connected enough to his days as a struggling unknown to appreciate the headiness of it all. It was, after all, less than five years ago that he was ready to leave Los Angeles and admit his attempt to break into acting had failed.

That was just before he went for his audition for The Office. Someone in the waiting room asked him if he felt nervous, and he said he didn't feel nearly as nervous for himself as he did for the makers of the show itself. It was a smart, throwaway line – until he realised that the man he was talking to was the executive producer.

Perhaps he got the job because he was in fact pretty close to the mark. To this day, Krasinski and the rest of the gang feel in awe of the British original. "Just today I saw a billboard advertising the original office coming to BBC America. It had a big picture of Ricky Gervais with an office Post-it notice stuck over the title so it read 'The REAL Office'.

"I have to say I laughed out loud. It was incredibly funny and perfect."

John Krasinski delivers the goods
By James Mottram - Metro.co.uk
September 16, 2009

It's just as well John Krasinski didn't listen to Sam Mendes. If he had, the Massachusettsborn actor probably wouldn't have ended up playing Jim in the ultra-successful US version of The Office.

It was British director Mendes – while working with Krasinski on Gulf War movie Jarhead – who told him that playing in a remake of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's hit Slough-set comedy was a terrible idea.

'Anybody in the States who had seen it said the same thing,' says Krasinski, as we kick back over coffee in his hotel suite. 'Americans have a tendency to screw up good stuff.'

Luckily, with The Office they didn't. And with the boy-next-door- handsome Krasinski emerging as one of the stars of the show, he's now rising steadily up the Hollywood ladder with roles in hit films such as The Holiday, Leatherheads and Dreamgirls.

He evidently doesn't hold any grudges against Mendes either, for the two have reunited for the director's latest film, Away We Go.

I was days away from pulling out of the business altogether. In those moments, you do think: ‘What am I doing?’

Unlike his blinkand- you'll-miss-it part in Jarhead ('the best seven seconds of my life,' he laughs), he takes the male lead, Burt, who – together with his partner Verona (Maya Rudolph) – is imminently expecting his first child.

With the couple uncertain where to settle down in the US, they set out on a road trip to find their place in the world, visiting all manner of friends and relatives along the way.

The script was written by husband-and- wife authors Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, and Krasinski admits he found its gentle nature refreshing.

'I'm sure my parents are saying: “Finally, somebody wrote a movie about two people who are actually in love,”' he says. 'What I liked is that it's not a relationship movie about the two of them. It's the two of them together taking on the world.'

Currently engaged to British actress Emily Blunt, Krasinski – who turns 30 next month – admits he can fully relate to the issues the film raises.

'This movie deals with what I'm going through and what my friends are going through. We're all looking to find that someone and we're wondering: “Are we going to have kids some day?”'

So is he? 'I am lucky enough to be surrounded by people who make parenting look very easy,' he replies. 'My parents were incredible. And then I think it rubbed off on my two brothers, who have great kids. I get to be Uncle John and the best part about that is any time they start crying, you can hand them over. Fantastic! So I've always looked at having children as an amazing opportunity – just not yet. It's not one of those things I want to do until I'm fully ready for it.'

Still, Krasinski, who is as genial in real life as he is on screen, seems the sort of person who turns on a dime. With his father a doctor and his mother a nurse, he had dreams of becoming an English teacher until the day he graduated. 'I totally thought I'd have the leather patches on my elbows,' he grins.

But after the acting bug bit – he had already been cut out of David Mamet's State And Main while still at college – he changed direction. Even then, he spent three years waiting tables in New York rather than getting roles. 'I was days away from pulling out of the business altogether,' he reveals. 'In those moments, you do think: “What am I doing?”'

This early instability is arguably why Krasinski is now quite happy to continue playing The Office's lovelorn Jim. Having just completed romantic comedy It's Complicated with Meryl Streep, he's now shooting the show's sixth season.

But he's not complaining about the punishing workload. He recalls his time on the George Clooney-directed comedy Leatherheads. 'I didn't have a day off for two-and-a-half months and I remember one of the crew said that was a crazy schedule and I said: “Yeah, but it's all part of the game.” And George leaned back and was, like: “You're goddamn right it's part of the game! This is your shot. You've got to take it.” And I know better than anyone that at any time this whole thing could go away.'

NBC UNIVERSAL DOMESTIC TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION HAS SOLD EMMY AND GOLDEN GLOBE WINNING COMEDY "THE OFFICE" IN MORE THAN 93% OF U.S.
Released by NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution
March 30, 2009

Hit NBC Sitcom Sold In 50 Of The Nation's Top 50 Markets And Set to Make Syndication Debut in Fall 2009

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA March 30, 2009 NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution has sold Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning sitcom "The Office" to local broadcast stations representing more than 93% of the U.S. for its initial run in off-network syndication starting in fall 2009, it was announced today by Barry Wallach, President, NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution.

"The Office," produced by Reveille, Universal Media Studios and Deedle-Dee Productions, has been sold to stations from many of the nation's leading broadcast groups, including Fox, CBS, Tribune, Peachtree TV, Sinclair, Gannett, Meredith, Hearst-Argyle, LIN, Local TV and more.

"The Office" has been sold to the Fox Television Stations in the nation's top markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Washington D.C.,

Phoenix, Minneapolis, Orlando, Baltimore and Memphis. Additional markets include the CBS Television Stations in Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle, Miami and Pittsburgh. The series has been sold in 50 of the nation's top 50 markets.

"In the tradition of NBC's legendary Thursday night comedies, 'The Office' is set to debut in syndication next fall with a tremendous loyal 18-49 fan base that's eager to watch their favorite series five days a week," says Wallach. "Our broadcast and advertising partners alike are eagerly anticipating the arrival of 'The Office,' which has continuously grown its highly desirable audience each season."

"The Office" is NBC's top-rated comedy series and it's the #1 comedy on all networks among Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34, according to Nielsen Media Research. "The Office" continues to grow its audience each season, gaining double-digit growth during the current season vs. last in Adults 18-34 (+15%), Adults 18-49 (+11%) and Adults 25-54 (+18%). And the series continues to be appointment television, growing on its lead-in by 86% in Adults 18-49 this season, the most lead-in growth over a network show of any sitcom on any network.

Since its premiere on NBC in March 2005, "The Office" has established itself as a genuine hit, earning prestigious television honors such as the 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, 2006 Peabody Award, 2006 and 2008 AFI Honor, Producers Guild Award, Writers Guild Award, SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy, Ace Eddie Award for editing and a Television Critic's Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.

A fly-on-the-wall sitcom about modern American office life, "The Office" delves into the lives of the workers at Dunder Mifflin paper supply company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Regional manager Michael Scott (Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee Steve Carell, "Get Smart," "Little Miss Sunshine") is a single, middle-aged man who is the boastful tour guide for the documentary.

"The Office" is executive-produced by Ben Silverman, Greg Daniels, who developed the series for American audiences, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Howard Klein and Paul Lieberstein and Jennifer Celotta.

About NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution

NBC Universal is a leader in providing entertainment programming to the domestic and international marketplaces. The NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution division is responsible for the distribution of NBC Universal product to all forms of television throughout the United States and Canada. This includes distribution of current and library film and television product, including formats and non-scripted programming, in the pay, free, and basic markets, as well as the domestic syndication of first-run syndicated TV programs and theatrical and TV movie packages.

Current first-run strip syndicated programming at NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution includes Access Hollywood, Deal or No Deal, The Jerry Springer Show, The Martha Stewart Show, Maury and The Steve Wilkos Show. Current first-run weekly syndicated programming includes The Chris Matthews Show, Lyons & Bailes Reel Talk, The Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo and the off-network distribution of The Office, Heroes, House, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and many more series.

The Office: TV's Funniest Show
By Doug Krentzlin
DC Classic Media and Performing Arts Examiner
April 1, 2009

“You have no idea how high I can fly.” - Michael Scott, “The Office”

In case there was any doubt, let’s state this right up front. The Office is by far the funniest show on American television today and the current fifth season is one of the best ever, rivaling Seasons 2 and 3 for sheer quality and laughs.

It’s also clear now that the American version of The Office has successfully broken free of the shadow of the UK original to the point where comparing the two versions is pointless. Yes, both shows portray a regional branch of a wholesale paper company being supervised by a clueless dolt without any social skills who not only desperately needs to be liked, but also wants to be the coolest, funniest person in the room.

But there the resemblance ends. Creator Ricky Gervais’ David Brent in the British version may talk about how much he loves the people who work for him, but as the audience learned at the end of the first season, he would sell them all out in a heartbeat if he could benefit from it. Michael Scott (Steve Carell), on the other hand, really does think of his co-workers as his de facto family and will fight like a tiger protecting her cub for them.

Which brings us to the incredible story arc this season’s The Office is wrapping up with. Anyone who’s ever had a Michael Scott for a boss knows that there are worse people to work for. Especially when the alternative is someone like the new Dunder Mifflin VP Charles Miner (played by guest star Idris Elba). To put it simply, Charles is an officious prick, the type of company man whose only concern is the bottom line, the feelings and sensibilities of the employees be damned. In other words, the anti-Michael Scott.

After loyally serving Dunder Mifflin for fifteen years (and having the most successful branch of the company in terms of sales), Michael is outraged to be subjected to Charles’ heavy-handed micromanagement, so he does something unthinkable: he quits. Even then, the humiliation continues. After learning that Michael plans to start his own paper company, Charles won’t even let him serve out his two weeks’ notice and has him thrown out of the building by security. (This, by the way, was the moment when Charles went from being just a jerk to Evil Incarnate.)

I don’t pretend to know where the show’s writers are going with this arc, but here’s my prediction. Charles’ by-the-book methods will eventually backfire and the sales of the Scranton branch will plummet, forcing the DM executives to beg Michael to come back. Whether my prediction is accurate or not, I’ll still be interested to see how the rest of the season plays out. Like SCTV and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Office has gone from mere TV show to insatiable addiction.

'The Office' banks on a Merchant - From Inside the Box
By Rick Porter
Zap2it.com
September 8, 2008

One of the original minds behind The Office will be visiting the offices of Dunder Mifflin this fall.

Stephen Merchant, who co-created the British series with Ricky Gervais and directed all of its episodes, is going behind the camera for NBC this week. He was scheduled to begin shooting the show's Halloween episode Monday afternoon.

"He was in the writers room with us rewriting over the last several days," Office writer-producer-actor Paul Lieberstein said in a conference call with reporters Monday. "It was really exciting having him there."

Gervais and Merchant co-wrote an episode of the NBC series during the third season, but this will be the first time Merchant has directed for the American show. Lieberstein says Merchant has been strict about keeping the "integrity of the documentary," making sure that the show doesn't stray too far from the idea that a film crew is filming the lives of the characters.

"He calls us out every once in while -- like, 'How are they gonna do that with a little documentary?'" Lieberstein says of Merchant. "When we seem to go a little too far or get too personal with them or set a scene in the bathroom, he's like, 'Really? I don't think they follow them.' But he's extremely funny, and it's been great working with him."

Lieberstein's Toby, who departed for Costa Rica in last season's finale, won't be on camera for the first part of the season. But he'll eventually find his way back to Scranton (though he wouldn't say exactly under what circumstances, or how it would affect guest star Amy Ryan's Holly, who replaced Toby as the Dunder Mifflin HR rep).

"What brings him back is a failure to escape," Lieberstein says. "There was a friend of mine ... who about 10 years ago collected enough money to live poor in Hawaii. He was gonna just do it and surf, because he loved to surf. He made a big deal of it, had a going-away party, and he was back in two weeks. He was lonely, no one talked to him, he was robbed on the beach, and that was it. So that was our model."

The Office premieres with an hour-long episode on Thursday, Sept. 25.

'Office's' Robinson pleads guilty to drugs - UPI.com

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. actor Craig Robinson, who plays warehouse supervisor Darryl on NBC's "The Office," has pleaded guilty to felony drug possession, authorities said.

Los Angeles prosecutors said Robinson, 36, agreed to one felony count of ecstasy possession while another felony charge of methamphetamine possession and a misdemeanor driving while under the influence charge were dropped, People Magazine reported Wednesday.

"The judge allowed him to enter a drug-diversion program," Los Angeles District Attorney spokes woman Jane Robison told reporters. "If he completes counseling and stays clean for 18 months, the case will be dismissed."

"Mr. Robinson really appreciates and takes seriously the opportunity which has been given to him by the court and the prosecution to have all of the charges against him dismissed, upon successful completion of a counseling program," Robinson's attorney Blair Berk said in a statement.

Office co-star Novak lines up Bastards
By Steven Zeitchik
August 7, 2008

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - B.J. Novak could soon be going from pushing paper to fighting Nazis.

The co-star of NBC's "The Office" is in talks to play one of the soldiers in "Inglorious Bastards," Quentin Tarantino's long-gestating film about a band of Jewish resistance fighters in Vichy-era France.

Novak is expected to play Private Utivich, described as a soldier of slight build who comes from New York.

Novak is best known for his role as Ryan, the temp-turned-crooked manager on NBC's "The Office." He also has served as a writer and producer.

On the big screen, Novak has had small parts in the September 11 drama "Reign Over Me" and Judd Apatow's "Knocked Up."

Casting is being finalized on "Bastards," which is expected to shoot in the fall in Europe and wrap in time for a potential Cannes debut in May. Brad Pitt is in talks to play the leader of the band of fighters.

The Office to be remade in Russia
BBC NEWS | Entertainment
July 25, 2008

A Russian version of award-winning comedy The Office is to be made, after a licensing deal was agreed between BBC Worldwide and Russia's Channel One.

A total of 24 half-hour episodes will be recorded and producers can develop their own scripts, which do not have to follow the original British plots.

No details of the new show's cast have yet been announced.

The UK version of The Office has been seen in more than 70 countries and there have been several spin-offs.

The first episode of the American remake attracted more than 11 million viewers in 2005.

Steve Carell played the role of Michael Scott, the regional manager of the Dunder Mifflin paper supply company in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

The show completed its fourth series in May and has won a series of accolades, including an Emmy Award for outstanding comedy.

France became the first country to produce a foreign-language remake, in 2006.

Francois Berleand starred as office manager Gilles Triquet in Le Bureau, set in Villepinte, a business area north of Paris.

Other local versions have also been licensed in Canada and Chile, with the latter airing next month.

Ricky Gervais won two Golden Globe awards for his original version. He and co-creator Stephen Merchant are executive producers on the US show.

BBC Worldwide head of sales for Russia, Ben Donald, said he was "obviously very eager to hear about the cast members, including who will be the David Brentski of Russia, and the location of their 'Slough'" - the town where the British version was set.

60th Primetime Emmy Awards
Sunday, September 21 - 8:00 p.m. Eastern/7:00 Central p.m. on ABC
NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE, Los Angeles

The complete list is available at the web site below.

These are my favorites....

23 Nominations - John Adams

16 Nominations - Mad Men

8 Nominations - The Office

7 Nominations - Lost

6 Nominations - Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale

5 Nominations - Dexter

4 Nominations - Breaking Bad

Rainn Wilson enjoys day out of 'The Office'
By Mallory Simon
CNN.com
July 18, 2008

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Rainn Wilson had a good day.

On Thursday morning, the actor learned that he had earned an Emmy nomination for his performance as Dwight Schrute, the toadying sidekick on NBC's "The Office." Thursday afternoon, he fulfilled what he characterized as "my fantasy come true" -- doing the weather on CNN.

Wilson was at CNN Center to promote his new film, "The Rocker," which will be released August 20. (Doing the weather apparently was a bonus.) In the film, he plays a former heavy metal drummer who joins his nephew's high school rock band.

CNN.com's Mallory Simon talked with Wilson about "The Office," the value of improvisation and what it's like being strapped to the roof of a van for a movie. The following is an edited version of that interview.

CNN: First of all, let me congratulate you on receiving an Emmy nomination for your role as Dwight Schrute on "The Office." What was your reaction?

Rainn Wilson: Thank you. Just, "Woooohooooo."

CNN: Dwight's such an extremely popular character that the bobblehead doll of your character is in cubicles all over the country. What do you think of the bobble craze?

Wilson: I think outrageous. It's the best-selling thing in the history of the NBC Universal store, and I have no idea why anyone would want to get my big weird bobbling head on a doll.

CNN: How much of what you do is improv?

Wilson: Well, we have the best of both worlds on "The Office." Because we have brilliant scripts, we usually don't need to do that much improv. Usually, when they ask actors to do improv it's because the scripts suck and they want to make it better.

I'd say what ends up in the final edit is about 75 percent scripted, so if we improv stuff it'll be like little stuff thrown in. It's very hard, because improvisation adds time and doesn't move a story forward -- it's always a side tangent. And when you are doing a show that has to be 21 minutes and 45 seconds long, you have to stay on story, and sticking to the script is the best way to stay on story.

CNN: "The Rocker" [is] your first time as a lead in a movie. What has the transition from TV to film and now being a lead in a film been like for you?

Wilson: I've been doing films for a long time, since before "The Office." I've done "Sahara" and "Baadasssss," but doing a lead role was quite challenging because I'm usually in reaction to the lead character and part of the ensemble. Being the guy who drives the story forward and kind of is the center of the action -- my character's needs and wants have to be the motor of the story -- that took some getting used to.

CNN: In the movie, you play a failed drummer nicknamed "Fish" who gets another shot at fame. What about "Fish" drew you to play the role?

Wilson: Well, there's so much. I love rock 'n' roll movies, I love physical comedy but above all, the fact that there was a lot of heart and great, real characterizations, and it really was a story with a character with an arc. That really sealed the deal for me. The fact that it has all those things together makes it the awesomest movie ever made.

CNN: It's also got a lot of nudity. After your skin-showing appearance on the MTV Movie Awards and now in the movie, I have to ask, do you enjoy being filmed nude?

Wilson: I do, I do, very much. I couldn't get my porn career going and so I have to settle for international superstardom on television and film.

CNN: There's a scene in the movie where you are strapped to the car. What was filming that like?

Wilson: It was an outrageous stunt where I really was strapped to the roof of a van that was speeding around the downtown streets of Toronto. ... It was pretty cool. I mean I really felt like a stuntman in a big movie, flying down the road. It was a hoot, but I did get nauseous after a little while.

CNN: So how much musical experience did you have before filming this movie?

Wilson: I've played a lot of musical instruments. I've played the guitar and I played the bassoon in high school, but this was the first time I've played the drums. I had about two or three weeks of intensive heavy metal drum lessons.

I [also] spent a lot of time on revisiting the '80s, which is awesome, just going back and looking at all those music videos from Whitesnake and Ratt and Twisted Sister.

The Office's Darryl Reveals On-Set Info and Why His Stand-up is 'Like a Picnic'
By David Silverberg
DigitalJournal.com: The Power of Citizen Journalism
July 12, 2008

Playing the likable Darryl in NBC's The Office, Craig Robinson knows all about sharp delivery and comedic timing. And now Just for Laughs and Hollywood are embracing the actor. He spoke to DigitalJournal.com about stand-up, Steve Carell and porn.

Digital Journal - It’s been a banner year for Craig Robinson: in the recent season of The Office, his character Darryl inches further into the spotlight by dating Kelly; he is starring in two upcoming comedies from directors Kevin Smith and Seth Rogen; and Just for Laughs invited him to rock the stand-up stage in Montreal and Toronto in late July. Momentum is swinging in Robinson’s favour and he tells DigitalJournal.com this is just the beginning.

If you’ve ever watched NBC’s The Office, the warehouse worker Darryl stands out as a caustic outsider: he sarcastically welcomes the suited staffers to the warehouse, delivering snarky jokes to Michael Scott (Steve Carell) as if he’s truly unhappy to see the dopey boss. He embarrasses other workers with like it’s second nature, and he displays a nonchalant attitude that instantly makes him a likable character.

As an actor, his comedic timing is dead-on. His lines are offered with deadpan expressions, varying nicely from the contorted facial expressions exhibited by Rainn Wilson who plays Dwight, for instance. There is an understated comedy in Robinson’s performance that is winning him attention in other venues.

In July, he will performing stand-up at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal and Toronto. He will also be hosting a sketch comedy show in Toronto, which is comfort food for Robinson. “I graduated from Second City so I love seeing sketch,” Robinson says in an interview with DigitalJournal.com. “I’d relish the opportunity to hit the stage and try out sketch, something I haven’t done in awhile.”

When it comes to stand-up, Robinson says audiences should expect a relaxed vibe. “It’s like you’re in a basement chilling with friends and family. Like a picnic. Hey, you might as well bring some watermelon.”

He adds that he is anticipating his return to Canada, where he recently shot the film Night at the Museum 2. “It starts with the people,” he remarks when asked about why he likes Canada. “They’re so nice and sweet. In the States, people don’t talk to you if you’re in an elevator. In Canada, they’re asking how you’re doing. It’s very different.”

Born and raised in Chicago, 36-year-old Robinson worked as a music teacher in high school before he moved to the west coast to try his hand at comedy. After winning the Oakland Comedy Competition, he soon started earning some TV love. He scored minor one-time roles in The Bernie Mac Show and Friends in 2004, and then auditioned for The Office. Since 2005, Robinson has played Darryl and he loves every moment of his time on set.

“I just go in and watch the genius happen,” he says. He has lots of praise for the writers: “I read the script and think, ‘Yeah, this is exactly how I’d say this.’”

Many Office fans think the show is partly improvised but Robinson dispels the rumours. “The script might look improvised, and yeah, there’s room to play around, but these writers know what they’re doing. It’s so good it looks improvised.”

Robinson mentions one of the most memorable moments he’s had on The Office so far. In the episode where Michael is researching on Wikipedia on how to fire employees, Robinson’s character Darryl chats with the boss about the online encyclopedia. “For the first two takes, I was deadpan, I didn’t laugh,” Robinson remembers. “But Steve was too funny, making faces and what not, and I was cracking up. If you look closely at the episode, you’ll see me smiling a bit.”

Maybe there’s another reason Robinson is smiling. His star wattage on The Office has won him attention in Hollywood, and now major directors are turning to him to add some comedic edge to their films.

Seth Rogen’s Pineapple Express features Robinson as gunman looking to murder two potheads who witnesses a crime. On working with comedy star Rogen, Robinson gushes, “His improve skills are amazing. You truly got to be on your game working with him.”

Robinson is also starring in the recently wrapped Zack and Miri Make a Porno, directed by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats). Robinson gets to flex his acting muscle by playing a porn flick financier who has been married for 18 years and is in desperate need of “seeing some new titties,” as Robinson describes the character. Working with Smith was also a learning experience: “He’s laid back and knows exactly what he wants. He is truly one of the coolest dudes ever. Kevin isn’t the type of director who’s going to be out of there as soon as the shoot is over. We went out for dinner, went bowling, it was great.”

When asked if he could picture The Office becoming a Hollywood blockbuster, Robinson laughs and says, “I been thinking about that lately, since Sex in the City is a huge hit. Just picture how great The Office would be as a movie!”

He’s also passionate about the TV show. He has no plans to leave for other jobs, even though he has a dream of starring in a one-hour special featuring his comedy and musical talents (Robinson plays a mean keyboard).

He says he is enjoying the best job he ever had. “The Office producers would have to pry my cold dead body to get me off the show,” Robinson declares, only half-jokingly.

Craig Robinson performs at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal on July 18 at 1594 St-Denis and at Metropolis (59 Ste-Catherine E). He performs in Toronto on July 26 at Massey Hall. For info, visit www.hahaha.com

'THE OFFICE' WEBISODES PREMIERE ON NBC.COM ON JULY 10th
Released by NBC

Second Installment Sponsored by Comcast, Sony Electronics and Priceline

BURBANK, Calif. July 8, 2008 NBC.com today announced that "The Office" webisodes will go live on Thursday, July 10th at 3pm (ET) on NBC.com. The second series of webisodes for this popular NBC comedy are sponsored by Comcast, Sony Electronics and Priceline. The announcement was made by Vivi Zigler, President, NBC Universal Digital Entertainment.

"'The Office,' the show that pioneered webisodes two years ago, is back with another clever installment," said Zigler. "The huge online fan base will love seeing the exploits of Kevin, Oscar, Darrel and the gang as they figure out Kevin's financial future. It's a great summer treat for anyone who likes the show."

In "Kevin's Loan," the second series of "The Office" webisodes, Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) pursues a unique solution in an effort to pay back his looming gambling debts. This installment also stars Oscar Nunez, Leslie David Baker and Craig Robinson.

NBC.com, the Emmy Award-winning broadcast network website, is a leading online and mobile destination for television and interactive entertainment. With both derivative and web-exclusive programming, NBC.com pioneered the "360" experience with "Heroes 360," which gave viewers a way to extend their entertainment experience beyond the broadcast, and the first weekly social networking experience attached to a primetime entertainment program with "Dunder Mifflin Infinity." The site offers full episode streaming of many NBC Entertainment shows as well as short clips, interactive games and social networking, including user-generated content. NBC.com continually develops new ways for consumers to experience entertainment content on both existing and emerging platforms. The site is the recipient of multiple Emmy and Webby awards for its content and applications. Please log on to www.nbc.com to learn more.

From Deedle-Dee Productions, Reveille and Universal Media Studios comes the hilarious documentary-style look into the humorous and sometimes poignant foolishness that plagues the world of 9-to-5 in the half-hour comedy "The Office," based on the award-winning BBC hit. Since its premiere on NBC in March 2005, "The Office" has established itself as a genuine hit, earning prestigious television honors such as the 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, 2006 Peabody Award, 2006 AFI Honor, Producers Guild Award, Writers Guild Award, SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy, Ace Eddie Award for editing and a Television Critic's Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.

"The Office" is executive-produced by Ben Silverman, Greg Daniels, who developed the series for American audiences, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Howard Klein.

GOLDEN GLOBE AND OSCAR NOMINEE, AMY RYAN, CLOCKS-IN AT DUNDER-MIFFLIN, REPRISING HER GUEST-STARRING ROLE AS THE NEW HR REPRESENTATIVE IN THE EMMY-AWARD WINNING COMEDY "THE OFFICE"

Released by NBC

Universal City, CA June 30, 2008 Golden Globe and Academy-Award nominee Amy Ryan reprises her guest-starring role as Human Resources representative, Holly Flax, for multiple episodes in season five of the Emmy-Award-winning comedy "The Office." Amy Ryan's character, Holly Flax, was introduced in the season four finale episode, "Goodbye, Toby," as Toby Flenderson's (played by Paul Lieberstein) human resources replacement.

"The Office" season five premieres Thursday, September 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on NBC and picks-up from last season's finale, in which Holly Flax (Amy Ryan) joined the Dunder-Mifflin office the day of Toby's big going away party and seemed to strike a special friendship with Michael Scott (Golden-Globe Winner, Steve Carell) and Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner).

"Amy gave the character of 'Holly' an openness and matured innocence that exposed a new side of Michael (Steve Carell). She placed her character right on his level. With her, we now go into our fifth season with the possibilities of our first," said Paul Lieberstein, who was recently promoted to executive producer for season five and previously served as co-executive producer of "The Office."

Amy Ryan returns to the big screen this October in Clint Eastwood's "Changeling," opposite Angelina Jolie. She will also star in Paul Greengrass' adaptation of the novel "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone," opposite Matt Damon, which is set for release in December. Ryan also completed the independent films "Bob Funk" written and directed by Craig Carlisle and "The Missing Person" also written and directed by Noah Buschel, both due out in 2009.

Ryan received critical acclaim for her role as Helen McCready in the 2007 film, "Gone Baby Gone," opposite Casey Affleck, Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris. Her sympathetic portrayal of an otherwise despicable character was recognized with Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG nominations in the Best Supporting Actress categories. Additionally, Ryan garnered Best Supporting Actress awards from the National Board of Review, Broadcast Film Critics Association (Critic's Choice Awards), New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics and the Film Critics Societies of Boston, Washington D.C. and San Francisco. Ryan's previous film work includes; "Dan in Real Life," directed by Peter Hedges, "Capote," directed by Bennett Miller, "War of the Worlds," directed by Steven Spielberg, "Keane," directed by Lodge Kerrigan and "You Can Count on Me," directed by Kenneth Lonergan.

In television, Ryan's credits are extensive, with over thirty guest star performances and over eight series regular or recurring characters on primetime television shows. Most notably, she starred for five seasons as Officer Beatrice "Beadie" Russell on the critically acclaimed HBO drama "The Wire." On Broadway, she is a two-time Tony nominated actress for her performances in "Uncle Vanya," in 2000 and "A Street Car Named Desire" in 2005, opposite John C. Reilly. She also starred in "The Distance from Here" in London's West End.

"The Office" is executive-produced by Ben Silverman, Greg Daniels, who developed the series for American audiences, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Howard Klein and is a production of Deedle-Dee Productions, Reveille LLC in association with Universal Media Studios.

Carell & Hathaway on 'Get Smart'
By Angela Dawson
Entertainment News Wire
June 13, 2008

HOLLYWOOD - Steve Carell is no stranger to taking established pop culture characters and reshaping them into his own image.

As the star of the American version of the hit British series The Office, Carell plays the pompous and deluded boss at a paper company, a variation of a character created by Britain's Ricky Gervais. For the big-screen adaptation of Bewitched, he tackled the role of Uncle Arthur, played on the 60s TV series by the late great comedian Paul Lynde. And when Jim Carrey passed on reprising his Bruce Almighty character, Carell stepped up from supporting player to star in the sequel, Evan Almighty.

No wonder Carell jumped into the shoes of special agent 86 in the film adaptation of Get Smart, based on another famous 60s TV series. Created by comedy giants Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, the James Bond-inspired spy spoof ran from 1965-70, initially on NBC, and later on CBS. The late comedian Don Adams played secret agent Maxwell Smart, who worked for the super-secret spy agency CONTROL.

Partnered with his gorgeous colleague, Agent 99 (played by Barbara Feldon), Smart kept America safe from the evildoers, though he was a bit of a bumbler.

The series was irreverent and relevant to the times - the era of the Cold War and Vietnam. Now, with the U.S. once again engaged in an ongoing conflict, the filmmakers thought the time had come to bring the iconic spy out of the cold.

"Once Steve signed onto the project everything sort of fell into place," says director Peter Segal, who previously helmed another spy spoof Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult.

Though the adaptation has plenty of references to the TV series, including Max's shoe phone and the spy agency's "cone of silence," Get Smart isn't just a retooling of the classic; it's an action-filled thriller as well.

"Steve and I refer to it as a comedic Bourne Supremacy," Segal says.

It's an origins story as well, though set in the present. Smart (Carell) is a CONTROL analyst who spends his days monitoring enemy chatter on the Internet and writing long, sleep-inducing reports. What he really wants is to be a field agent like his idol, Agent 23, a smart and suave spy (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson).

Unfortunately, his boss, Chief (Alan Arkin), thinks Smart is too valuable as a pencil-pusher. So despite his best efforts to advance at the agency, Smart is going nowhere fast. That is, until the agency offices are attacked. The suspected culprit? KAOS, CONTROL's arch enemy.

With nearly every other CONTROL agent's identity compromised, Chief has no choice but to promote Smart to Agent 86 and send him on a mission to destroy the enemy. Smart is paired with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), a beautiful field agent who is unimpressed with her rookie partner. Nevertheless, 86 and 99 embark on their mission, combining his tenacity with her experience.

"The humor springs from Max's unbridled enthusiasm combined with a woeful lack of practical experience," says Segal.

But it's the wannabe spy's unwavering confidence in himself - even when things goes awry - that sets him apart from other spies. That, and dumb luck.

Carell, 45, is a fan of Don Adams and the original TV show. But he purposely avoided watching old episodes when he was cast as Smart.

"I didn't want to do an impression of Don," he says. "There was no way to improve upon what he had done, and I thought the more I watched him, the more I would be inclined to do an impersonation."

Hathaway says she too is a fan of the TV series. Unlike Carell, she chose to go back and look at some of the old episodes before she tackled the role.

"I was one of the last people cast," recalls the 25-year-old actress. "I wanted to make sure I understood what tone we were trying to achieve."

Hathaway enjoyed playing "the girl" in the mostly male cast. "I was so indulged on the set every day by these guys," she says, sitting alongside Carell and Arkin. "I would just tell the dirtiest joke I could think of just to put everybody at ease."

The action-filled comedy provided physical challenges. But running around in high heels while fighting and dodging bad guys wasn't all that tough for the actress.

"I had excellent training in Devil Wears Prada for how to run around wearing heels," she says with a laugh.

Carell says he had to try and keep up with Hathaway. Both agree the toughest scene to shoot involved being dragged behind a swift-moving train.

"Being pulled by the train was definitely our Titanic moment - 'you jump, I jump,' " recalls Hathaway, looking over at her co-star.

"We just did it," adds Carell.

Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember, the writing team behind the hit romantic comedy Failure To Launch , co-wrote the screenplay and incorporated classic lines from the series - like "missed it by that much."

Arkin, a comedy veteran, says he usually improvises a lot of his dialogue in movies, but in Get Smart, he found no need to change it. "I improvised one word: nuclear," he says. "I was bowled over by what Matt and Tom did."

As the competent, suave Agent 23, Johnson says he thought a bit about James Bond while preparing for the role. "He's a pretty successful guy at what he does, yet he has a dark side," says Johnson.

The former World Wrestling Federation champ also shares his first same-sex kiss on-screen in Get Smart. Without giving away the circumstances, let's just say that he and Carell may be up for an MTV Movie award next year.

Johnson quips that fellow thespians Jake Gyllenhaal and Will Smith have done it, so he figured "it was my turn to kiss a man."

Hathaway doesn't see the big deal.

"Making out with Steve is like the yummiest lollipop," she deadpans.

"You are so full of it," Carell retorts.

"Dipped in sunshine," she continues.

"Stop it," he asserts, obviously relishing the praise.

Unfortunately, recalls Hathaway, she was sick on the day they shot their kissing scene. "I had a sinus infection, so my eyes were puffy and red and dripping green," she recalls, trying to control her laughter. "I had to go up to Steve and say, come here.' "

Carell, who has been nominated for two Emmys for his work on The Office, is ready to get back into production on season four of the Emmy-winning comedy series.

"I have at least three more seasons," he says, smiling. "Beyond that, I have no idea."

Rainn Wilson in for 'Transformers 2'
Actor to play a small role in the sequel
By Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit
THR.com
May 29, 2008

If you've ever wondered just how Dwight Schrute would handle himself in a brawl with a gigantic robot, well ... it looks like you're going to get an answer.

Rainn Wilson, who plays the intense (and intensely funny) Schrute on NBC's "The Office," has revealed to MTV that he has been cast in DreamWorks' "Transformers 2." The sequel to last year's megahit about a race of automotive automatons smashing it out on Earth reteams director Michael Bay with returning stars Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro.

The story was conceived by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who wrote last year's "Transformers," as well as Ehren Kruger, who wrote the screenplay. Filming began in Los Angeles in recent weeks and is moving to Pennsylvania and then overseas.

Although a small part, Wilson's casting -- his first in a big-budget studio franchise -- could be a shrewd play for a comedy crowd that might not otherwise patronize a bombastic Bay extravaganza. He will play a college professor to LaBeouf's new undergrad. Discussions with Jonah Hill to take another small role did not pan out.

The writer-actor, who also had a small role in "Juno," stars in "The Rocker," opening Aug. 1, and is working on the screenplay for "Bonzai Shadowhands" with Jason Reitman for Reitman's Hard C. Wilson is repped by 3 Arts and WMA.

Steve Carell on How to Act Brilliant
Wired.com
April 21, 2008

Steve Carell is no dummy. In fact, the man who plays hapless half-wit Michael Scott on NBC's The Office and equally hapless gumshoe Maxwell Smart in this summer's big-screen redo of Get Smart is nothing short of a genius - a genius wrapped in a doofus, hidden by an idiot. Here's his advice on how to attain Carell-level smarts.

Engage in Reading-Type Behavior:

If we were meant to read for enjoyment, would God have created television? Read as it was intended - for exercise. The more you read, the more you expand your - what's the word I'm looking for? - your stockpile of words. You must have a stockpile of words that you can pass along to your children for their stockpile.

Appear to Listen:

I've learned to appear scintillatingly intellectual by asking people questions ("Do you like pizza?"). Then I just look at them, nodding and saying "Hmmm" and "Um hmmm" every few seconds. Try and keep one or two things in your head to regurgitate later. After all, what is knowledge, really, but high-resolution regurgitation?

Just Say Yes:

I've been injecting human growth hormone into my brain for several years now, with no ill effects. I feel smarter, and I often feel compelled to show people - really show them - just how smart I am. HGH has also colored the way I perceive the world, which is now a sort of bloodred.

Get the Abs of Einstein:

A healthy body means a healthy mind. You get your heart rate up, and you get the blood flowing through your body to your brain. Look at Albert Einstein. He rode a bicycle. He was also an early student of Jazzercise. You never saw Einstein lift his shirt, but he had a six-pack under there.

Don't Chew Your Food:

I recommend tuna melts. Fish is very healthy, as is cheese, and toast. I also recommend eating peeled baby carrots. Carrots are very good for the eyes, but they absolutely must be baby carrots so you don't chew too much. I don't think I have to explain crunchwaves to people who read wired. They already know that when you chew something too hard, the vibrations fire up those crunchwaves, which shake the neurons in your brain. Do that too much and those brain cells shake loose and die. I usually gulp my food, and you should, too.

Practice Thinking by Yourself:

Your brain, like your tongue, is a muscle. Practicing thinking by yourself really helps develop your brain, which you need throughout your day. I like to practice my thinking in a darkened room, alone. I focus on one thing, such as Tree. I think about Tree. Then, after that, I think about Cloud. Then later, as I walk outside, I see Tree and since I have practiced thinking, I avoid hitting it. I try and have six or seven thoughts a day.

Match Your Shoes to Your Belt:

If you don't look good, you don't think good.

Know Things:

It's important to be well-rounded - not purely scientific and analytical. Explore the arts: poetry, music, decoupage (a visual art form I've been developing since the first grade). And remember, it's always better to have a cursory knowledge of a lot of things than to actually know a lot about any one thing. This is called a liberal arts education.

Act "Human":

When I go to parties, people often look stunned at how smart I am. But nobody wants to talk about astrophysics at a dinner party. Hey, when I want to talk like that, I head to the lab! Instead, I talk about "human" things they enjoy and understand: midrange wines, movie trivia, and mundane subjects like family and emotional fulfillment. I like to end my conversations with a quote, usually something in French, like "c'est la vie," which means "down the hatch!" But don't overdo it: Nobody likes a show-off.

Retain Your Childlike Sense of Wonder:

Children are very smart, in their own stupid way. A child's brain is like a sponge, and you know how smart sponges are. My children are like little processors. They pick up all kinds of things, then process that into information. And what is knowledge, really, but processed information? We must always strive to be overly processed, like our children.

'Leatherheads' was a day in the office for Krasinski
By Jerry Crowe
Los Angeles Times
March 31, 2008

Actor John Krasinski, best known as the sardonic sales rep Jim Halpert on NBC's "The Office," says sports "always have been a major part of my life."

In "Leatherheads," a George Clooney-directed, 1920s-era screwball comedy opening Friday, the 28-year-old former high school basketball player and distance runner from Newton, Mass., plays a World War I hero and college football star who is recruited to play on a struggling professional team. The film also stars Clooney as the team's aging star and Renee Zellweger as a journalist pursued by both men.

Question: Did your athletic background come into play in making this movie or in helping you land the role?

I don't know if it helped me land the role. I would assume that George probably figured that if I played any sort of sport that I'd at least be athletic enough to look like I knew how to play. That's the actor's thing: We all look like we can do whatever we're doing, and we probably don't have the first clue. As far as helping me with the role, I've played pickup football my whole life with family and friends and, believe it or not, that's actually more like how the game was played back then than putting on pads and actually playing organized football.

Did you play organized football?

I played one year -- in seventh grade -- and it was pretty clear that I was better at playing for fun. I could never really get past the facemask. I could never catch the ball with the facemask on. So, with this movie, problem solved.

Clooney, nearly 20 years older and a few inches shorter than you, says he won a $2,000 bet by outscoring you in a one-on-one basketball game. True?

Yes, it is. I'm going to be the bigger man and admit it. All I'll say is, I thought I had him and then, all of a sudden, he throws that "People's Sexiest Man" smile on you and you're stunned for just long enough for him to run by you.

You'd like a rematch?

Oh my God, I've tried to yell it from the rooftops, so if you want to print that, we'll do this in Vegas. We can charge money, all proceeds to charity.

Renee Zellweger has attended Lakers games and starred in "Jerry Maguire" and "Cinderella Man" and now "Leatherheads." Is she a sports fan?

Yeah, I think absolutely. She's definitely an athletic girl; she runs every day. And as far as being a sports fan, when you're from Texas I'm pretty sure that football is literally in your blood; they give you a shot when you're young. So, when we talked about doing the football scenes, she actually knew what she was talking about.

As a moviegoer and sports fan, what do you like about sports movies?

What I love about sports movies is when they're able to capture the nostalgia that everybody experiences and wants to continue experiencing with sports, whether you're playing or just watching. You never really remember the days where you had a mediocre game or when your team won by 30; you always remember the one that was down to the final tick of the clock. And I think there's something awesome about capturing that feeling. Movies like "Hoosiers" did that for me. That's probably my No. 1 sports movie. And "Leatherheads" is definitely a similar type of vibe. It's shot like an older-time movie. It's from the golden era of film, so as much as it is a sports movie, football is the backdrop for all these characters to come together.

The Super Bowl must have been a downer for you, obviously, but has there ever been a better time to be a New England sports fan?

Absolutely not. I think all Boston fans probably feel like this is the dawn of a new era. We're ecstatic to be in this position we're in now, as far as fans go, but I think we're all shocked. I don't think any Boston fan can believably say, "Yeah, we knew this was coming." To be not only competitive but dominant in almost all the sports, it's a day that I don't think we ever even dreamed of.

Is Jim Halpert an ex-jock?

Yeah, definitely. I think he probably played basketball at the University of Scranton, or in high school. Very similarly to me, he didn't get a chance to excel at it all the way. It wasn't really in the cards.

You live in L.A. now, so who do you root for if the Lakers and Celtics meet in the NBA Finals?

Without a doubt, the Celtics. Not only am I Celtics fan, but I've got to say, I went to a game over Thanksgiving with my family and there's an energy in the Garden now that I haven't seen since I was really little. I remember going when Larry Bird was playing and they were incredible, but I remember going when I was in high school in the '90s and it was the most quiet I've ever seen a basketball game.

Do you go to Lakers games?

I actually don't. I think I made a promise to a bunch of Boston fans that I would try not to be caught dead in Lakers Stadium.

'Office' star John Krasinski suits up for the big gamez
By Donna Freydkin
USATODAY.com
March 27, 2008

NEW YORK — Scoring the lead in George Clooney's third directorial effort, the football comedy Leatherheads?

Simple.

Taking the Oscar winner on in a one-on-one game of basketball, for money?

Simple-minded.

Living proof of that is John Krasinski, who won a plum part in Clooney's sports flick but lost a chunk of change to the actor/director while on location in North Carolina.

"It was like White Men Can't Jump. I was like, movie stars can't jump. This dude can't play. And he Woody Harrelsoned me," recalls Krasinski, 28. "I basically was conned there. He beat me handily."

True enough, says Clooney, who gives Krasinski credit for being a gracious loser — to the tune of $2,000.

"He's a really good athlete. He said, 'I'll kick your butt.' I thought, he'll take me because he's younger and taller," says Clooney, 46, who's 5-foot-11. (Krasinski's 6-foot-3.) "But I beat him straight up. And he paid right there, but I didn't take his money."

No hard feelings, though, Clooney says. "He put a basketball rim up at my house in Italy. He still comes to my house on Sundays and we still play — but not for money because he can't afford it," says Clooney. "He's a good friend. He's a guy's guy. Couldn't be more of a guy's guy. He's just fun."

And professionally, at the top of his game. The affable Krasinski scuffles with Clooney in the period gridiron comedy Leatherheads, opening April 4. And on April 10, Krasinski's understated cutup Jim Halpert is back to romancing receptionist Pam (Jenna Fischer) on NBC's The Office, which returns for six episodes after a hiatus forced by the writers' strike.

And on a personal level?

"He really is that nice, unfortunately. It makes it hard to yell at him and beat him," says Clooney, who nevertheless pummeled Krasinski aplenty as his coach in Leatherheads. "He's 6-3 and doesn't have that dominating quality. He's incredibly funny. He lights up a room."

In person, Krasinski indeed comes across as nice and normal. He's polite and personable, asks plenty of questions and listens to answers. His wide-eyed enthusiasm for his job could easily come across as disingenuous, but when Krasinski repeats that he's so lucky to be a working actor — and it's all thanks to his parents' support — it becomes hard not to believe him.

"He's the nicest person in the world and everyone loves him," says Krasinski's Office boss, Steve Carell. "It's not like he's a veneer of a nice person. He is honestly one of those guys that people just gravitate to and care about."

Even when he's being what is, for him, demanding and difficult. During a breakfast at the always-crowded Bubby's in Tribeca, a freshly showered and slightly embarrassed Krasinski orders off the menu.

"I'm totally going to be that guy — and I apologize, but is there any way I can get egg whites, scrambled?" he asks. "With goat cheese, and do you have spinach? Awesome. Perfect."

Those two words about sum up Krasinski's life right now. In Leatherheads, Krasinski is a World War I golden-boy hero who joins Clooney's band of rough-and-tumble players and vies with Clooney for the affection of a reporter (Renee Zellweger). Clooney cast Krasinski after seeing him on The Office.

"We needed a Jimmy Stewart type of character," Clooney says. "He has to be likable and a worthy adversary and very different from myself. He looks much more athletic than me. He's a good athlete. John knows how to deliver a punch line like crazy. That's rarer than you might think."

He's definitely not a war hero, but Krasinski sees shades of himself in his character Carter. The guy is more tightly wound and reserved than Krasinski, but both are coming to terms with being the center of attention.

"He's trying to experience fans and playing in the big game. It's an exact metaphor for where I am in my life," Krasinski says. "When I met George, I said that this mirrors my life in a way. It's so surreal to be playing in the big game. Having people recognize you is not a bad thing, but it's something you have to get used to."

Mostly, Krasinski still seems shocked that he's the lead in a Clooney film. Perhaps that's because he worked on The Office in Los Angeles during the week, and on weekends, jetted to North and South Carolina for Leatherheads. And there's also Clooney's well-known penchant for practical jokes, which made Krasinski doubt his career coup to begin with.

"It sounds crazy, but for like the first week, I thought he was pranking me," Krasinski says. "The first weekend we didn't shoot. I just came down and got my hair cut. I got introduced to the crew and we all had sandwiches. And I thought, 'He will go down in history for convincing a kid that he got his big break and then coming out and being like, nope.' I'll go down in history as the kid who was used in that George Clooney prank, where he faked a movie. He would do that."

Ask Krasinski what he learned from watching Clooney in action, and the answer has nothing to do with sports.

"It's crazy that someone that high up, at the top of their game, can be such a nice person. So that's what I strive for. I strive to be someone who's allowed to do incredible roles but always keeps in mind how much fun it is and how important it is to everybody that it's like a family affair."

The Massachusetts native credits his stable upbringing, and his two equally tall older brothers, with keeping him sane. He graduated from Brown University and en route to stardom, tended bar at Manhattan's Odeon and waited tables at Sushi Samba. His parents are based on the East Coast, and whenever possible, Krasinski jets back to New York to see plays and art-house films.

He calls his career "completely ridiculous. I can joke about it, but the truth is, I'll be home with my parents for a weekend or a holiday and there will always be a moment where I stop and go, 'What is happening?' I think that's a huge part of it. My parents and my brothers and their wives are incredible and formed me as a person long before I got to Hollywood."

The day he learned he got the Leatherheads part, Krasinski shared the good news with Carell.

"We just laughed out loud. It has been a wild ride for all of us. Rainn (Wilson) is doing The Rocker and Jenna (Fischer) just did Walk Hard. There's no two ways about it. We would not be doing any of this stuff without the show," Krasinski says. "I truly am the luckiest guy in the world. I was waiting tables when I got the part."

On The Office's set, Carell says, the real Krasinski sounds a lot like Jim Halpert. "He's not a brooding sort of self-aware guy. He just enjoys what he's doing."

And why not? His next project, which starts shooting in late April, is yet another pedigreed, as-yet-untitled production. This time, the director is American Beauty's Sam Mendes, and the movie stars Krasinski as a would-be first-time father who is trying to figure out where to settle down.

"I worked with him for five days on Jarhead, and it's bizarre that he still remembered me and was super nice to me," Krasinski says.

Krasinski's career could be seen as a series of smart moves — small but memorable parts in Jarhead, For Your Consideration, Dreamgirls— coupled with a misstep here or there, such as his leading role in the critically reviled comedy License to Wed, which he calls his "first big movie experience." But to Krasinski, it's all a series of happy accidents. Take his turn in Dreamgirls as a Hollywood director meeting with aspiring actress Deena Jones.

"That was me being a super fan. I love (director) Bill Condon, and he asked if I'd do a scene with Beyoncé and John. John Lithgow and Beyonce— I'm there," Krasinski says. "It looks like I've been smart about it, but truly, I've been incredibly lucky to have the right people notice me and want to work with me."

Attracting the right kind of notice is key for Krasinski, who never is spotted on the Hollywood party scene and rarely makes the tabloids — save for speculation about his relationship with his former Office co-star Rashida Jones, who says they're just "very good friends."

"He's not only super cute, but he has tons of energy," she says. "He's boisterous and fun and energetic. He's absolutely hilarious. He's an intelligent person to be around."

But all the newfound fame hasn't translated into adoration from the ladies, the single actor says.

"You might want to put out a memo. People come up and say they love the show, but it's never a pass at me. Either that, or I'm totally oblivious," Krasinski quips. "OK, now I'm worried that someone totally made a pass at me and I didn't realize it. People aren't throwing themselves at me, but I also don't go out very much. Like when I do go out, it's for breakfast, so it's a little hard to throw yourself at me during breakfast."

Even Krasinski's idea of a wild night out sounds decidedly normal.

"I usually come home from work, immediately call my four good friends out there, close friends that are in the proximity, and all we do is sit around and talk and have a glass of wine and listen to new music," he says. "It's extremely fun. It keeps you interested in what's going on. I don't go out — ever. I'm lucky enough to have awesome friends, and we always end up at someone's house. We're big house-party guys."

Surely there's a dark side in there somewhere?

"You can dig for it, but I don't know that you're going to find it," Carell says. "What's not to like? Plus, he smells really good, like fresh-baked cookies."

The man who made geeks great: Why Steve Carell is a cool guy
By Lina Das
The Daily Mail
March 21, 2008

Steve Carell is so normal he is positively freakish. If ever there was a celebrity less suited to the grim and mucky task of modern-day stardom, then he would have to be it.

The star of films such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Little Miss Sunshine, as well as of the U.S. version of TV sitcom The Office, Carell's very ordinariness makes him seem positively subversive.

He wanders into the Ritz Carlton hotel in California's lush Marina del Rey resort - hair neatly combed, hands clutching a soft briefcase - looking for all the world like a successful golf club salesman.

No fawning entourage, no security, his demeanour is what it is - that of an affable chap who wears his success, like his tawny, corduroy jacket, extremely lightly.

Pleasant-looking rather than movie star handsome, and genuinely self-effacing (no one in the industry, it seems, has a bad word to say about him), the person most surprised by Carell's overnight success, after more than 20 years of peddling away in virtual obscurity, is, apparently, Carell himself.

"I'll see posters everywhere for whichever film I'm in at the time," he says, "and I'll think to myself: 'God, is that really what I look like? I look like such an idiot'!

"But this fame thing really is the weirdest experience. One time, I did a talk show in New York and I had to get to New Jersey which was about an hour and a half's drive away.

I had to get out at a service station to go to the loo and when I did, all these paparazzi and autograph hunters started following me inside.

"It's not like I was Angelina Jolie returning from abroad with a new baby and, I admit, I felt remarkably stupid going to the toilet with all these people in tow.

"I do feel grateful that I got my success later in life because I think if I'd had it when I was 20, I could have turned into the most enormous jerk."

That Carell in real life is no jerk, enables him to channel what inner jerk he has into his celluloid characters, who tend to be an array of sad, confused creatures, rendered hapless and befuddled by the complicated workings of the world around them.

In the U.S. version of the successful British sitcom The Office, which can be seen here on ITV2, Carell did what many considered impossible - taking on Ricky Gervais's perfectly drawn, yet exceptionally British, creation David Brent.

Carrell transported him perfectly into a Pennsylvanian paper supply company (an achievement which has won him countless TV awards including a Golden Globe).

And, in his most memorable role to date in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, he imbued the titular sexual abstinent with such pathos and heart that one wondered where Carell had been hiding his acting talents all this time.

Even in the animated world, it seems, Carell has trouble shaking off his befuddled yet good-natured persona.

For in his latest film, Dr Seuss' Horton Hears A Who!, his character, the Mayor of Whoville is similarly all at sea.

Based on the Dr Seuss novel, Horton Hears A Who! features Jim Carrey as the voice of Horton - a kindly, big hearted elephant who hears a cry of help from a passing speck of dust.

The speck is home to the Whos - a group of microscopic creatures who inhabit the city of Whoville, which is led by the Mayor (voiced by Carell).

Unable to see the inhabitants of Whoville or indeed to convince his friends that it exists, Horton nevertheless decides to protect them and in so doing, arouses the ire of a disbelieving Kangaroo (Carol Burnett) who gathers the other inhabitants of the jungle together to try to destroy the speck, and thus Whoville, forever.

The Mayor, meanwhile, similarly struggles to convince his people that they are in imminent danger and so he has to work with Horton not only to convince the inhabitants of Whoville to believe him, but also to protect them from being destroyed by Kangaroo.

It is a lovely film, with that rare gift of appealing to people of all ages with its simple yet complex themes ("a person's a person, no matter how small" is Horton's frequent refrain).

Carell says that he particularly enjoyed making a film his young children - Elisabeth Anne, six, and John, three - could finally see (they may have to wait a few years before they can bear to watch Dad in The 40-Year-Old Virgin).

"Every actor who does an animated movie will tell you that a big part of it is the cool factor it inevitably gives you with your children," he says.

"It gives you so many Brownie points with them, it's hard to turn down."

It also enabled him to star in another film with Jim Carrey - their last film outing together being in the 2003 smash hit, Bruce Almighty.

"We never actually got to voice our characters together in Horton, but truthfully, I'm in awe of him, so that was another big thrill for me."

On its release in the U.S. last weekend, Horton Hears A Who! made more than $45 million - the biggest opener for a film so far this year.

It's the warm-up to what looks like being a big summer for Carell with the release later this year of his much-awaited movie, Get Smart, and as he says now: "I know - isn't it great? I'm huge!

"Honestly though, this level of success has only happened in the past few years and it's still kind of amazing to me, but it would be terrible to believe the hype.

"Reading comments about yourself on the internet though keeps you from believing the hype too much because you can read a hundred nice things and it'll be the one comment that goes: 'Wow! His eyebrows are so bushy!' which will be the one that sticks in my head, and then I'll have to go and look in the mirror to make myself feel better.

"And as I said before, if this had happened to me when I was younger, I'd be such a huge ass."

That the career of 45-year-old Carell has blossomed so incredibly over the past three years is something of which the habitually modest actor is almost obsessively aware, "so much so," he adds, "that I don't trust it to continue and I certainly don't anticipate it getting better".

Is he, in common with so many comedic talents, a worrier and a depressive, unable to enjoy his successes when he does get them?

"Actually," he laughs, "I think I'm just pragmatic. I've been doing this job a long time and I've experienced the highs and lows, so I know never to take anything for granted."

Prior to his success, he was known primarily for his ability to steal scenes in bigger stars' films, as he did in Will Ferrell's Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy and opposite Carrey in Bruce Almighty.

Then came the decision to remake Ricky Gervais's hugely successful series The Office for the American market.

Carell was cast as Pennsylvania's answer to David Brent, the priggish-but-trying-ever-so-hard-not-to-be Michael Scott.

It was a task beset with difficulties, the most obvious of which being how to take a phenomenally successful British creation and transport him seamlessly - and humourously - to a very different U.S. market.

But it was a task achieved with considerable aplomb by Carell.

His incarnation as the socially inept Michael Scott has won him numerous awards for his performance, with lines such as: "This is our receptionist Pam. If you think she's cute now, you should have seen her a couple of years ago."

"But it wasn't a task I relished," admits Carell.

"Having seen the British version of The Office, doing our version was pretty daunting, to tell you the truth."

He adds: "I don't think anyone expected anything of the American version, and added to that was this awful anger at the fact that we should have been presumptuous enough to even consider making an American version at all.

"It was scary and I did worry, and that only made everything worse. But once I took the pressure off myself and didn't monitor everything I did so closely and compare it with the original, then things went much better."

It was for Ricky Gervais himself, the show's executive producer, that Carell had to audition, "which was pretty nerve-racking in itself", says Carell.

"But Ricky has been nothing but supportive the entire time.

"He'll pop in from time to time while we're filming the show and occasionally, I'll hear him honking away with laughter in the viewing area, which is very gratifying.

"But it certainly helped just to lower my expectations, keep my head down and just do the best job I possibly could."

If The Office got Carell noticed, then his appearance in the 2005 film The 40-Year-Old Virgin cemented his appeal.

Playing Andy Stitzer, the virgin of the title, whose secret is unearthed to his male friends when he cluelessly describes a woman's breast as feeling "like a bag of sand", Carell could easily have played the role purely for laughs, turning the tale into a running, one-gag film.

Instead, he depicts Andy not as a figure of ridicule but rather as a man who has simply let life slip away from him, and the film proved a hit with both male and female audiences, grossing more than $177 million worldwide.

Of course, one of the reasons the film fared so well with women could have been something to do with the movie's funniest scene - where Andy is advised to wax his chest hair in order to make himself look more presentable.

In true method acting fashion, Carell opted to have his real (and very hairy) chest waxed, and although female audience members regarded him with grudging respect, Carell himself immediately lived to rue the decision.

"When it came to filming that scene all the women on set, who knew it was going to hurt like crazy, were saying to me: 'Are you sure you don't want to just trim your hair down a little bit?

'Do you want to take a painkiller before you start?; and I was casually going: 'No, no, I'll be fine, really'."

"I thought for it to be funny, it had to be 100 per cent real. But on reflection, I can now see how stupid I actually was.

"The actress who did the waxing actually listed waxing skills on her CV, so I thought I'd be OK.

"Then she got started and the pain...".

Carell closes his eyes at the sheer horror of it all.

"Let's just say the method acting thing was starting to look like a really bad idea.

"In the end, I was left with these hairless, bleeding patches all over my chest, which made it look like I'd carved a face into my chest hair. Needless to say, when I got home my wife was horrified."

Carell's wife is the actress Nancy Walls, who has appeared alongside her husband in The Office playing Carol, the ex-girlfriend of Carell's character, Michael Scott.

They have been married for 12 years and Carell clearly dotes on their two children.

"I love to work," he says, "but my family is the most important thing to me.

"I would never want my six-year-old to turn to me and say: 'Dad, you're such a jerk', which is why I'm so glad that any success I've achieved has happened later in my life, otherwise I don't know how I would have turned out.

"But changing nappies - and I've changed thousands - is a tremendous way of keeping your feet on the ground.

"What I do for a living is great, but I don't want it to be too much a part of my kids' lives, and I don't want it to really impinge on them in any way.

"It's funny, but the day my daughter was born changed everything," he says.

"Prior to that, I was very career-driven. I was always in work but big success eluded me.

"But when Elisabeth Anne was born six years ago, something inside me just snapped and my perspective on what was important changed overnight because I just wanted to get home and be with my newborn baby.

"Of course, the greatest irony was that after that moment, I got everything I auditioned for.

"Casting directors can smell desperation a mile off and that just wasn't there any more."

He shrugs: "Basically, I just want to be Dad. I'm sure at some point I'll scale back on work just to be with my family because I'd love to go exploring with them, and go to places I never went to as a kid while my kids still want to be with us. Work is great, but it's not everything."

Steve Carell was born in Acton, Massachusetts in 1962, the youngest of four brothers, who enjoyed, "a very happy and very normal upbringing".

"I think in some cases it certainly applies that a dark, twisted upbringing helps breed that comedic element, but it didn't apply in my case and I can't credit my parents for abusing me, as much as I'm sure they'd love to see that in print," he laughs.

"I was very lucky in that having older brothers already cleared the path for me, so that by the time I came along, I was pretty much left to my own devices."

Bizarrely, given his talent for dry comedy, Carell had originally considered pursuing a career in law, "because I wanted to pay back everything that my parents had invested in me, both financially and emotionally", but his parents, seeing that their youngest son had his heart set on anything but being a lawyer, encouraged him to follow acting - a pursuit he had always loved as a kid.

He eventually moved to Chicago to enrol in the Second City Theater Group - a group which specialised in improvisational comedy and which is renowned for producing talent for hit U.S. TV shows such as Saturday Night Live - and from there, not only did he get a regular slot on the popular satirical programme, The Daily Show, but he also got to meet his wife-to-be, Nancy.

"There was certainly an instant attraction on my part," says Carell, "but it took a while before I realised it was reciprocated.

"I just never assumed that a woman that smart and attractive would be even remotely interested in me.

"Or, in fact, that any woman would be interested in me," he chuckles.

"But I've always had that kind of in-built mechanism, I think - the less you expect, the better off you'll be."

It is an attitude he seems to have incorporated just as successfully into his professional life and although occasional turkeys have cropped up (last year's Evan Almighty being one of them), Carell's career is looking pretty healthy indeed.

We will see him starring as agent Maxwell Smart in Get Smart - the film based on the popular Sixties' TV series - and June will see the DVD release of Dan In Real Life, a well-received romantic comedy in which he got to snog Juliette Binoche, "which was everything I could have hoped for and more".

"I just always assume the success won't continue, which makes everything good that happens a bonus," says Carell getting up.

"And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a Brazilian wax appointment scheduled."

He leaves the hotel, barely noticed by the other guests. Maybe he's not so normal after all.

Jenna Fischer, left, Steve Carell, center, and Rainn Wilson go on stage to accept the award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series,"The Office,” at the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008, in Los Angeles. (Photo: AP)

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Jenna Fischer and cast members accept the award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, "The Office," at the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008, in Los Angeles. (Photo: AP)

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The cast of “The Office” gather backstage at the14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008 in Los Angeles. They were awarded Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

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The Office SAG Quotes:

"Good evening everyone and welcome to the most glamorous and exciting evening in the history of the world." - Steve Carell, introducing Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards.

"I remember from last year that when I went back to work I couldn't extend my biceps." - Jenna Fischer, who shared an award for comedy series cast for "The Office," commenting on the heft of the Screen Actors Guild award, which weighs in at more than 20 pounds.

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Steve Carell holds 'The Office's' SAG award for 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008 in Los Angeles

Steve Carell Jokes About 'Tension' with Ricky Gervais
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2008, Red Carpet
People.com
January 28, 2008

Backstage at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday Steve Carell (whose The Office won for best ensemble comedy) joked about his sticky relationship with Ricky Gervais – who starred in the British version of The Office.

"[He's] very scary. He's a very intimidating human being and none of us like him very much, and he doesn't like us either," cracked Carell, who was surrounded by the rest of his show's cast. "There's an awkwardness. You can cut the tension with a knife."

Added Carrell, "I actually saw Ricky in the men's room just before the ceremony, and I swear to god, he leaned over the urinal and said: 'I knew it!'" - Jed Dreben and Marla Lehner

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Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Pictures

John Krasinski plays the field in George Clooney's 'Leatherheads'
By Susan King - Staff Writer - Los Angeles Times
January 13, 2008

John Krasinski fumbled as a football player in junior high school.

"I played one year organized football . . . and it was only one year because I wasn't very good," says the lanky 28-year-old best known as the sales rep Jim on NBC's "The Office." But that hasn't kept him away from the pigskin. "I have played tackle football with my friends all my life," he adds.

So when George Clooney cast him in his screwball football comedy, "Leatherheads," opening April 4, Krasinski "finally felt like the hero of the backyard game where the clock is ticking down and you are running through the field and you score a touchdown. I thank George for giving me all my childhood fantasies back."

A throwback to the vintage snappy patter comedies of Preston Sturges and Howard Hawks, "Leatherheads" casts Krasinski as Carter Rutherford, a World War I hero and college football star who is recruited to play on a struggling professional football team.

Clooney, who also directs, plays the aging star of the team; Renée Zellweger plays a journalist pursued by both men.

"It's tough to vie for any woman when you are around George Clooney," Krasinski says, laughing. The actor says the comedy in "Leatherheads" is far more frenetic than the dry, low-key humor of "The Office."

"I think it's a different type of comedy than what we have seen in a while in movies," he says. "It sort of breathes this Americana...you sort of feel like you were back when all was well and everything was good."

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Amazon Sells Tax Prep via NBC's 'The Office'
By Michael Cohn, Editor in Chief
WebCPA
January 9, 2008

Amazon.com has come up with an unusual way to sell its tax prep packages this season, featuring characters from NBC's TV series "The Office" as examples of the kinds of taxpayers who might try out different packages.

The e-commerce company has set up an online store devoted to tax prep called Tax Central where Amazon customers can download copies of Intuit's TurboTax and H&R Block's TaxCut. Users can click on the profiles of different characters from the TV show such as Pam Beesly, identified as an E-Z Breezy Filer, and Dwight Shrute, known here as a Fancy Filer.

Clicking on the profiles brings up a humorous description of each of the characters with references to some of their misadventures on the show, and how they might relate to their tax-prep issues. For example, for Dwight, the profile notes, "The right tax software will help you get through even the most intricate tax return--alone and on your own time over a bowl of Count Chocula--without ever having to divulge private information."

For Angela, who recently organized a holiday party on the show, her profile says, "It's not surprising that you're filing for an extension. As leader of the Party Planning Committee, you've got an overwhelming number of celebrations to conduct. And ever since your cat Sprinkles' unfortunate demise, you've been a bit preoccupied."

The profiles look like employee badges from Dunder Mifflin, the paper products company portrayed on the show. It's a good bet the Dunder Mifflin employees would not be in favor of either a paperless office or electronic filing.

The tax prep product choices vary a bit from character to character, but not by too much. Each page also includes a link to where customers can buy episodes of "The Office" on DVD, along with links to office products like scanners, printers and shredders. There's also a section called "How You'll Want to Spend Your Refund" that includes interesting, but probably unlikely, choices such as karaoke systems, cat toys and Harry Connick Jr. CDs that Angela might want to buy. The character of Jim Halpert, whose tax type is identified as procrastinator, would supposedly spend his refund on items such as deli meat, mountain-biking gear and Philadelphia Phillies merchandise.

"The profiles were intended to marry 'Office' characters to types of software," Alana Kelton, editor of software at Amazon, told me. "The secondary piece was what to buy with the refund." She said it took about a month to put together the site after she watched every single episode of the series from the past few months.

But the main goal is to sell tax software. Amazon's gambit may help broaden the appeal of consumer tax prep by encouraging fans of "The Office" to buy the package supposedly identified with their favorite characters. It's a different way to sell tax prep software, for sure, and could even help fans of the show cope a little better with the writers' strike, which has sent the series into premature reruns for the foreseeable future. Taxpayers might as well work on their tax returns while they wait for new episodes to come back on the air.

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