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

The Paper: Nuñez on Daniels' Pitch for "The Office" Universe Return

The Paper star Oscar Nuñez discusses how creator Greg Daniels pitched his return as Oscar Martinez for Peacock's "The Office" spinoff.

Oscar Nuñez has seen it all in terms of the wild ride that is The Office across all nine seasons from 2005-2013 as beloved Dunder Mifflin accountant, Oscar Martinez. Twelve years later, we get to see him return in a similar capacity in the upcoming Peacock spinoff series The Paper, with the character taking his talents from Scranton, PA, to Toledo, OH, for the regional newspaper, The Truth Teller. Nuñez spoke with Variety about how The Office co-creator Greg Daniels approached him for his new spinoff alongside Michael Koman about a ragtag group of reporters led by their new editor-in-chief, Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson), trying to bring The Truth Teller back into prominence under a much tighter budget than its heyday.

The Paper Star Oscar Nuñez on His Return as Oscar Martinez from 'The Office' After 12 Years

Nuñez recalled when Daniels was initially developing the series and asked him, "I'm working on a new show. How would you feel about coming back as Oscar?" The Firebuds star responded, "I'm game. Of course," before meeting a few more times as The Paper started to flesh itself out. The actor remembered thinking, "This is really happening." The premise of The Paper follows the same documentary crew that followed the employees of Dunder Mifflin, trying to follow up as their path takes them to The Truth Teller, and as they tour the company, they discover the familiar face, Oscar, who's initially not too keen on their presence. "I was a little nervous when we first started," Nuñez said. "I didn't know who the characters were, what the episodes would be, how it would all roll out."

As Nuñez's Oscar had to deal with going from one boss, Steve Carell's Michael Scott, for the bulk of the NBC series, he now deals with the far less intrusive and insensitive boss in Gleeson's Ned. "He's a very thoughtful young man," he said of his costar. "He really cared about his character and asked a lot of questions. I thought that was very cool." For more on Nuñez talking about how Oscar ends up at The Truth Teller, his resentment at being featured before, his character's ongoing motivation, embracing the character's gay icon status, his favorite The Office episode, and more, you can check out the entire interview. Serving as executive producers for The Paper are Daniels, Koman, and original UK The Office creators Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais. The series, which also stars Sabrina Impacciatore, Chelsea Frei, Ramona Young, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Duane Shepard Sr, and Tim Key, premieres September 4th on Peacock.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!