Posted in: Peacock, TV | Tagged: the office, The Paper

The Paper: Impacciatore & Frei on Expanding "The Office" Legacy & More

The Paper stars Sabrina Impacciatore and Chelsea Frei discuss joining Peacock's "The Office" spinoff, working with Domhnall Gleeson, and more.

As two of the stars of The Paper, Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus) and Chelsei Frei (The Moodys) are looking to expand on the legacy of The Office as the first true live-action original spinoff series, not just another international reimagining. As the empire was built by creators Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais, the two took their talents to NBC to develop the American adaptation with co-creator Greg Daniels. After its successful nine-season run from 2005 to 2013, Daniels recruited Michael Koman to develop the spinoff The Paper, which follows the same mockumentary crew that initially wanted to follow up on the Scranton, PA-based Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The crew ends up at the Toledo, OH-based The Truth Teller, a newspaper that just hired a new editor-in-chief in the hopeful Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson), who's looking to bring the publication back to prominence with bare minimal resources, an inexperienced staff, and a can-do attitude. Impacciatore, who plays managing editor Esmeralda Grand, and Frei, who plays Mare Pritti, spoke to Bleeding Cool about entering The Office universe and how Peacock's The Paper distinguishes from the NBC series, how their characters contrast with Gleeson's Ned, original The Office stars Steve Carell and John Krasinski's set visit, and who else from The Office they hope will appear in future seasons beyond holdover Oscar Nuñez, who reprised his role as Oscar Martinez.

The Paper: Impacciatore & Frei on Bringing Series to Life

Sabrina, Chelsea, I read that when you guys prepped at a real newspaper before filming 'The Paper.' How much did Greg want an organic take from your characters, and was it hard not to feel overwhelmed being in 'The Office' universe?

Frei: I think it was always separated from 'The Office.' The universe is the same, the mockumentary style is the same, but in terms of the stories and the characters, it's completely different. I hope viewers take that into consideration. 'The Office' is one of the most beloved and iconic shows of all time, and we feel so lucky to be in that world. Our show is quite different.

Impacciatore: Yes, I mean, that's the spirit. Working with Greg, who is such a genius (co-creator), Michael Koman, and all the writers. Being in the actual office, we felt the spirit of the project, and because we are sensitive people, we followed this flow. We lived in this bubble of reality that looked real. It looked believable, at least to me. I believed everything, and so we were playing like kids altogether and reacting to each other, not even acting, I would say.

Frei: Totally.

Can you talk about the dynamic you both built with Domhnall's Ned? Sabrina, can you talk about Esmeralda's rivalry with him? Chelsea, can speak about Mare's journey of bringing Ned's vision of 'The Truth Teller' to life.

Impacciatore: The show starts with Esmeralda as the editor-in-chief, and then she's also responsible for TTT Online. She feels empowered, and then suddenly, this person arrives and [becomes] a big threat to her, so she must neutralize him. She foresees that this could be a huge deal for her life; she could lose everything, and she must fight to survive. That's why she's so sneaky, manipulative, bossy; she does everything she can to survive.

Frei: With Mare, when we meet her, she's coasting through her career, figured that she'll never really amount to a journalist, which is what she always wanted to be. Ned comes in and knocks her off her feet in a lot of ways. It reminds her that she had dreams and hopes and…suddenly, she has this partner-in-crime of making something special out of this newspaper, and we meet her at a very exciting time.

I read that Carell and Krasinski appeared on set to wish you guys good luck before filming. Was there any alum from 'The Office' you had any wish lists of potential guest stars for 'The Paper,' perhaps in like season two on?

Frei: Anybody who wants to come say hi, we'd be happy to. The door is open!

Impacciatore: My God, please!

Frei: We love them all.

Impacciatore: Come, please!

Frei: They can say hi to Oscar. Yeah, we can do the whole thing.

The Paper, which also stars Ramona Young, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Duane R. Shepard Sr, and Tim Key, premieres September 4th on Peacock.

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