More than 12 years after saying goodbye to the thorny practical accountant who played in the acclaimed NBC mockmentary “The Office,” actor Oscar Nunez is redefining his career as Oscar Martinez with a new spinoff from the same creative team.
However, the Cuban-American actor wants to be abundantly articulated to the stubborn fans of the original Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. “Paper” premiered on Thursday at Peacock and has already been updated for the second season, but is a more spiritual successor than a direct derivation of “The Office.”
“We’re in a new place in that universe,” Nunez told NBC News in a recent interview. “It’s a brand new show with an entirely new cast, because other than I’m there, when they bought the paper company, I was part of the deal.”
Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Coman, who developed the American version of “The Office,” “The Paper” found the crew of the same invisible documentary.
In the early minutes of the pilot episode, the documentary’s crew reveals that Dunder Mifflin was purchased in 2019 by Enervate, an Ohio conglomerate that sells paper-made products.
Oscar is one of the only Dunder Mifflin employees who have decided to move himself to the company’s headquarters after sale, but he is not excited to meet the same people who wander around his old workplace. “God, again! I don’t agree with this,” he says in the pilot. “You can’t use my voice, my likeness, my face, anything!” (The title card suggests that not: “Yes.
Seven years after the show ended, in 2020, “The Office” became America’s most streamed show, earning a total of over 57.7 billion yen, rekindling reunion and reboot talks. According to Daniels, the typical reboot of “office” was openly “not interested,” he said, “who took Nunez to lunch in the hotel rooftop pool in Beverly Hills years ago, and conveyed the idea of a new paper-centered show.
“Twenty years after the show debuted seemed like a good excuse for the Doc crew to return and stumble on new topics and explore with new characters,” Daniels told NBC News. “I’ve always been worried that the spinoff would have a negative impact on the original show, but when I was talking to the original cast in recent years I realized I’m still anxious about it.”
From the beginning, Daniels knew that Oscar wanted to be the connective tissue between the two shows. “The reason Oscar works for me is because, in addition to his great comedy talent, he was the only person whose character in ‘Office’ had not evolved,” explained Daniels. “He didn’t run the bar, he didn’t move to Austin, he didn’t enter sports management, he didn’t get married. He didn’t get a PhD. He didn’t reveal his self-dight at the end of the day.
Nunez recalls Daniels asking “very roundabout, in a general way,” and recalls whether he’s interested in returning to the “office” universe. The two met multiple times as Daniels fleshed out the concept, but after Daniels invited him to meet the “paper” writer last year, Nunez realized that the show was actually happening.
The horror he felt about returning to his on-screen alter ego shoes was quickly eased on the first day of filming.
“It was very exciting. I think Paul Lieberstein could have been there (to visit),” Nunez said. “It was fun to see Paul and Greg, and a lot of the crew was there too. It was a bit strange, but I play the same character so the part was easy.”
“I know” accountant lands in the newsroom
“I love that he is a snob, that he knows everything, that he knows everything. I love people with epic delusions, and that’s a very interesting feature,” the actor said of his character. “It’s the same character, but maybe you’re trying to feel new people in a place where there are fewer friends. He’s just trying to make friends, but he hasn’t had any major changes to his mind.
But that doesn’t mean that Oscar is exactly the same person he was in the “office.” In “The Paper,” Oscars are encouraged to take more risks by Domhnall Gleeson, the new idealistic editor-in-chief of Oscar’s former boss, self-absorbing manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell). NED initially wanted to hire more reporters to expand coverage of his paper, but after encountering budget constraints, he persuades office staff to volunteer as amateur reporters along with payroll work. While working as an accountant, Oscar ultimately develops his enthusiasm for reporting on the arts.
Since the end of “The Office,” Nunez continues to embrace the role that transformed him from a little-known guest star to one of the most popular shows of all time, Fixture, appearing at fan conventions alongside his former castmates. He was particularly moved by the response he received from young fans who are primarily responsible for the show’s streaming renaissance.
“I forget the gay character. Time has passed, years have passed, then I went to a convention and the young man came to me and said, “Hey, thank you, man. I came out for you. And I said, ‘Oh, yes’ “I can get all these thanks from these young people.
Nunez, who has been critical of President Donald Trump’s decision to roll back legal protections for LGBTQ people, said he considers his character “more important than ever” to be gay. “I like to represent, defend and celebrate gay culture, especially when it’s under attack,” he said. “That should not matter at all – your skin color, or what religion you are, your sexual orientation. It should not be anyone’s business. Don’t legislate against people.
Nunez knows there’s nothing to compare to the “office,” which he believes to be a “freak show” because of “great writing” and “great cast,” but he believes “paper” is appealing to newcomers and stubborn people.
However, as to whether former Dunder Mifflin employees could appear in the future seasons of “The Paper,” Nuñez argued that those decisions exceeded his salary grade. “It’s off my hands. It’s off their hands. It’s off their hands. It’s not up to us,” he said. “It’s the writing room and whatever the ideas they come up with!”
