Paul Lieberstein is “probably most famous for playing Dunder Mifflin’s HR rep, the character everybody loved to hate. Or maybe just hated,” Brian Baumgartner says on this episode of The Office Deep Dive. “But Paul – nobody hated Paul!” Since Paul was one of the original writers, as well as a director, an actor, and the eventual showrunner of the beloved series, he knows more about The Office than anyone. So they dig into everything from how he knows Greg Daniels (very well, it turns out – they’re brothers-in-law), how he landed the role of Toby (and how Steve Carrell surprised him with some improv during his first scene), how it felt to take over, why the writers becoming actors was such a game-changer for the show, and so much more.
Paul got one line as Toby when Greg “had the idea to break down the wall between the writers and actors” so there would be more communication between them, and the writers would have a better idea about what it was like to be on set. “I don’t think the show would have come out the same way if there was a strict wall between the writers and actors,” Paul says, pointing out that it put everyone “on the same page” about the characters. When there was one line to give to someone, Paul got it, and Toby Flenderson was born. He’d been up since four in the morning writing, so he was very tired during his scene, which “infused my performance a bit.” The hatred Michael Scott had for Toby was all Steve Carrell: During “Diversity Day,” he was just supposed to tell Toby to get out, but “he relished the moment,” Paul says. (Steve even wrote his speech in “Casino Night” when he tells Toby, “I hate so much about the things you choose to be.”)
When Greg left the show, he handed the showrunning duties over to Paul – right as the network changed hands, as well, to Comcast, and right as streaming was taking off, tanking many shows’ ratings, including The Office. He discusses the myriad challenges to trying to find someone to put in Michael’s seat after Steve left that would work for both the show and the network. “It was not easy….to find out what the glue was,” and “the network wanted a big gorilla” (a big-name star) to help boost the ratings. But he always knew what Greg’s vision for the end of the series would be, like having the documentary crew break the fourth wall. “That was an idea that was early that we just put away,” Paul says. “We knew it blew up the show.” Plus, his disappointment over the Schrute Farms spinoff not getting picked up, what he learned about directing from Paul Feig (and acting from Brian!), and much more; hear the entire fascinating conversation with Paul Lieberstein on The Office Deep Dive.
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