Hello, friends, I'm back and if you're listening, he well, so are you.
And it's a good thing that.
We're both here today because guess what, I have an extra special episode of Off the Beat. Oh yeah, and it's your host, Brian Baumgartner. Now, if you follow at off the Beat on Instagram, like I have very politely asked you to many many times, or even if you follow me, you might already know what's going on here on social media. I asked all of you, my wonderful listeners, to send in your questions for a little mailbag episode of Off the Beat. That's right, ask me almost anything episode. Boy,
you guys delivered. I got so many great questions. There's sadly no way that I could answer all of them. I do wish I could, truly, I'd love to get to all of them. For example, what a day? Four fifty asked? How are babies made? Now, this is an important question. It's very important for you all to know. I'd love to be the one to teach you. However, that would make this a very very different podcast. So I encourage you to ask your parents. Some of your
other questions I just truly cannot answer. As in it's Sid asked how to stay sane? Sid, Listen, We're in the midst of a one hundred day actor strike that was preceded by a nine hundred and seventy four day writer strike. I wish that I could stay saying I wouldn't have chosen to be an actor. I don't know what I would have chosen to do, but truly, if you figure that one out, how to stay sane? Well, you have an open invitation to come on this podcast and tell each and every.
One of us.
Luckily, many of you ask questions that I actually can answer, so I'm excited to do just that. Let's start off with one from z f d A l WO eight. The question is hello, Brian Well, yes, hello, indeed one down. I am on a roll.
Bubble and squeak. I love it, bubble and squeak, bubble and squeak. I could get every mon lift over from the nine before.
A lot of you, when submitting questions, ask me some very thoughtful questions about me, about my career and my journey, like Amanda Bashuk, who asked, first or worst job you ever had?
This is? This is? This is a good one.
Maybe I'm going to start asking this in my interviews of other people. First job, ever, I was a host at a restaurant. I wasn't smart enough to be a server, I don't think, and I wasn't qualified enough to be a bartender. I was a host at a restaurant, The Black Forest, in a German restaurant that I believe to this day still exists in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I had a good time at the Black Forest in I would say my worst job I have referenced this before was an
office job. I was a paralegal at a law firm. I think that there are high level paralegals that really deal within important things for lawyers. What I remember doing was counting pages. This is not a joke. I would count pages. So they worked on huge corporate cases and there would be documents that would be into evidence. And when you submit these documents into evidence, you have to
make sure that the entire document is there. So they were numbered and I had to ensure that every page actually was there before they were sent to the I don't know the court or whatever. So yes, that I would say that was my worst job was counting pages as a low level paralegal in a law firm. This move asks do you have any regret concerning your choice of career, Like, have you ever dreamed about a football career or something else? Well, listen, if I could have had a football career, well, I.
Don't know if I would have done that. I think I'm too off for that.
What I wanted to be was the first basement for the Atlanta Braves. That's what I wanted to do. That was my dream when I was a kid. Some kids dream of being you know, firemen and women or I don't know. I wanted to be the first basement for the Atlanta Braze. It was a very very specific dream of mine. I think I needed to expand it. Maybe just professional baseball player. Maybe that would have been a little more attainable, but not really. No, I don't have
any regrets. I feel incredibly lucky to be doing what I'm doing now and to have worked with the people on the projects that I have had the opportunity to work on thus far, and I hope for many many more. Have No, I have no regrets.
I'm glad.
In fact, I can say today in twenty twenty three, I'm glad that I was not the first baseman for the Atlanta Braves. Thomas Lendon three asks a very insightful question, does your fame hold your life back?
Thomas?
I saw your question come across. We have a great team here at Off the Beat that actually selected these questions, and I knew this would be one that they were going to select. It's a difficult question because do I feel like it holds my life back? No, it just makes my life different. Eric McCormick, the great actor who has become my friend. Eric McCormick, I believe this was his quote, asked what was the downside for having will
and grace end? And his answer was it's going to be harder for me to get reservations at restaurants.
Now.
I don't think that's true for him now. In fact, having worked on a project with him and having had him arrange some reservations, I think he still doesn't have trouble getting reservations. So there are some certain perks on the outside. There are also certain downsides, which I think is true for everybody, regardless of their line of work. I never want to complain about certain things that are not so fun about my chosen line of profession or fame or or whatever.
You call it.
But most of the time I have to tell all of you it's about the approach and the timing. I mean, if I'm out to dinner with my family and we're sitting down and someone comes up and interrupts that meal and wants to take a picture, I mean, this is obviously not fun. This is not a positive thing. This would not be a positive thing I don't think for anybody. But most of the rest of the time, I feel
like I signed up for it. It's a part of my chosen work and whatever the celebrity or fa that came along with it, and I choose to try to make every interaction that I have with so many of you and others positive. I live by this, and I think I've talked about this on the podcast before. I honestly believe it's just as easy to be nice as it is to be an asshole, So why not be
nice and try an attempt to spread some love? And ultimately it's people who are very kind and appreciative of the projects that I've been a part of, whether it be this podcast or a television show, and so I'm grateful buy and large for the interactions and look, I have said this The greatest gift that I believe I was given from the Office is the human connection that I have been able to have with people who feel the need to tell me what that show has meant
to them. And I do consider that a gift, and honestly am often overcome with emotion when those of you do come up and talk to me and tell me about your experiences with the show and how it maybe helped you through a bad time or relationship or medical issue, or if you were a service member serving overseas and the show helped. This is a gift that you all give to me. So thank you, by and large most of the time for coming up and saying hi and having such kind words.
Thank you.
MAXI Byrne asks was there ever a role that you considered turning down after auditioning or offered a role, and if so, why did you turn it down?
Now?
I don't know that I've talked about this specifically. There was a period of time after the Office where I had the opportunity to play a lot of.
That were Kevin.
Malone adjacent, very similar in terms of in terms of the type of role, and I decided that I did not want to do that. Now, let me be honest without naming anything specifically in this regard, most of them were not written by Greg Daniels and Mike Sure and Mindy Kayling and bj Novak and Paul Lieberstein and all of the great writers that we had, so they were never quite the same, which was part of it. But two, yeah,
I did. I wanted to distance myself. I found myself saying yes almost instantly to a drama regardless of what I thought of it, just wanting to play a different type of character. And I found myself saying no to a lot of roles that were like Kevin Malone. To answer your question slightly more specifically, I didn't turn this role down. But when I was offered the role of skip Wick in Electric Jesus movie I shot, I don't know,
three or four years ago. I was concerned about it because the movie was called Electric Jesus and I have my own relationship with spirituality and religion, and I wasn't quite sure. I wasn't quite sure if this was a movie that.
I wanted to do.
I knew the role after reading the script was incredibly interesting to me and something I definitely wanted to play, but I felt like I needed to be sure about the movie and the message that the director, who also was the writer, the message of the movie from him and how he saw that character within it. So that was that was something that was that was very important
to me. And we had a long conversation Chris White and I about what he saw, his feelings about religion, his experience with organized religion and spirituality, and what he felt like the message was of this movie or what was his reason for making it. And you know, we talked. I don't know, we talked for a couple of hours, and after my conversation with him, I was very very sure that I did want to do the movie. So that doesn't that wasn't something that I turned down, which
was your question. But you know, that was really important to me on that film, asking those questions and making sure that it was something.
That I wanted to do.
Tupac's White son, Oh Boy, asks if you could be a superhero in a movie, Yeah, who would you be? I like the bad guys? Is that wrong? I feel like the bad guys in the movies are way way way more complex and interesting at least to play. I don't know Superman, he has the most power. I do get asked periodically, like what would be the superpower that I would most want? Teleporting? The idea that I could teleport from place to place, that would be.
That would be an amazing thing.
But that has nothing to do with acting as a superhero in a movie. Look, I'm not supermany. Let's be clear. He has the most power. I think Batman's pretty complex, I would say, but you know, really, for me, I would rather be Lex Luthor or I don't know, the Joke or the Penguin than one of the superheroes. I don't know, call me crazy. I think they're they're more interesting.
As a kid, you know, when we used to not watch screens all the time and we played Imagination Land, I was always the bad guy because I thought they.
Were more interesting.
On hid Trey Diez America asks which president do you see yourself portraying in a biopic? And why is he LBJ? Because you said so, my friend, because you said so, We're gonna go to a little fast round here some quick answers, hopefully to some questions. At least that's what my producers tell me.
This is a rapid.
Fire round of mailbag. The crazy Dude forty four says what's your favorite scary movie? Exorcist the original, that's the movie that scared me the most. My favorite is The Shining by far easily top ten movie for me all times. D D one one two nine asks favorite girl scout cookie thin mint d D. I'm a traditionalist. I also like those samoas. You know they try to do the new ones. Doesn't work for me. Just give me some thin mints, and if they were in the fridge, even better.
Tony Santo Spirito asks what's your favorite adult beverage. It's whiskey, my friend, and if it's black market rye, it's even better. I'll take whiskey over just about anything else. I also, let's be honest, I do like the red wine as bigger and bolder as possible. Nice cab franc or Cabernet savignon, nice brunello from Italy. I should be drinking wine, right. Why am I not drinking doing this? I'm answering the questions I should also be drinking. No, it's the middle
of the day and I'm being safe and responsible. M Y Souf Top five favorite songs, Oh boy, actually, top five favorite songs Your last meal on Earth. And if you could have a fast chain restaurant built into your home.
What would it be?
That one's easy in and out. If I could have an in and out at the house, that would be But then people there would be a line down my driveway.
That wouldn't be great.
But I think the point is what would I want? And it would definitely be that I'm going backwards. Last meal on Earth? Well, now I'm thinking about Gabernet Savignon. I would say, a nice big Napa cab with a beautiful steak, some very small cut up fingerling potatoes and broccoli on the side.
That would be my last meal on Earth.
And you can't talk to me about whether or not it's healthy or not, because guess what, it's my last meal on Earth.
So I can have what I want to.
And then finish it off with an with an in and out, and then it would definitely be my last my last meal on Earth. Top five My favorite songs. Oh Boy, here we go. I'm an enigma wrapped in a variety pack. I like a lot of different types of music. I like to say, oh, I always say, but this is not what I always I stole this from someone, but now I say it very regularly. By the way, I did not win on Jeopardy. In case you missed it, I was on Jeopardy. I didn't win
on Jeopardy. And here, my friends, is the reason why a great person once said to me that I don't remember who it was said that your brain has the capabilities of remembering one of three categories. You can't do more than that. One are sports facts, teams, statistics, just sports information.
That's the one that I have.
The second is songs, song lyrics, song titles, albums, artists. I love music, but I'm not good at that. It could be a really recognizable song that I could be singing along too, and someone would be like, who sang? And I don't even I can't even pull it. And then the third is useless trivia. See that's why I didn't win at Jeopardy. I don't have the useless trivia. And by the way, over three rounds, no sports categories,
absolutely none. I think it was rigged against me. Don't tell anyone I said that, but I think it must have been because they all knew I liked it. Anyone who says that Jeopardy, by the way, that there's a way to cheat. There's no way to cheat.
You know.
I was once the captain of Family Feud and we won, and it was me and Oscar at the end and we won the big money. Much less serious over at Family Feud. By the way, Jeopardy they're very serious over there on Jeopardy. They don't mess around. They'll take you to court if they think that you were messing around. They told us, anyway.
What was it?
Top five favorite songs? So this is for me because I like a lot of different things, no particular order. As you may know, Willie Nelson is the person I've seen in concert the most, and I would say is my number one favorite person. I'm gonna give two for him, but it just counts as one always on my mind.
And of course Georgia that's song one, which is the two and one Bob Dylan, Like a rolling Stone, I mean, I think for me, the songs that pop into my head are the ones where if it comes on, I'm going to try my best to sing it because it just it transports me and it makes me feel differently. So like a rolling Stone is on there, Purple Rain, Prince that's got to be on there. Greatest Concert I ever saw By the way, Prince, all due respect to Taylor Swift, Prince, you can't you can't beat it. Don't
Stop Believing. But I think that one for me is about the Pranos. I'll be honest, which everyone knows is my favorite television show. I was never on Don't Stop Believing because it obviously ends The Sopranos. I got to put that on my list. Bohemian Rhapsody Queen the craziest, most courageous, bold insane song ever do. I think that was five. But I can't leave off Lennon's Imagine.
Because it makes me cry always. So there you go.
There's my top six or seven favorite songs of all time. Chris Lee Photography. Second favorite food to cook after chili, Well, this is easy because it really probably is my first favorite thing to cook. I am fortunate enough weatherwise that I live in southern California, so grilling season goes all year long, and if I'm home, I would say that I'm at the grill four nights a week. Yeah, four ish nights a week, depending that's on average. I love
to grill, and it doesn't matter what it is. Vegetables, meat, the beef, chicken, sausages. I love to grill, and this is not really intended to be a plug. I do have a grilling cookbook.
I mean, what are these these?
It's just a master at transitions today. A grilling cookbook, seriously good barbecue cookbook that's coming out this spring, just in time for next grilling season.
Check it out.
I'm compiling recipes right now.
I hope you saw.
If you have a great barbecue recipe, get it to me. It's the deadline is rapidly approaching or passed, but try it out. You can find I'm sure the link on my Instagram to get your recipe if it's not too late into the book. But yeah, I love to grill. And I will say this also because I haven't talked about this. During COVID, there was a big movement for baking, and I was never a baker and I still am.
Not spoiler alert, but I started doing the pizza thing and making my own dough, experimenting with that, with doing it, letting it sit multiple days. So I really did enjoy the therapeutic nature of that. I mean, it takes a long time. You got a plan ahead, and usually I am not great at planning ahead. But if you haven't gotten into the dough making for pizza craze, I know my old co worker Jenna Fisher's she's on the baking train there. I was doing the pizza dough. I really
do enjoy that as well. And that ends our rapid fire, our rapid fire questions. I didn't rapid fire it very well at all. Sorry, producers, don't fire me. But let's take a break. I'll catch my breath and we'll be back after this.
Here we are.
We're back, and we've come to another very popular category of questions.
Yes, chili.
Now I get a chili comment or a question regardless of what I post. So if I post asking for any questions, well I'm no doubt going to get some chili questions because your mind's they go straight to beans. I'm ed seven three five two four says who has made the best chili you have ever tasted?
Besides yourself?
Well, I've told this story before, but I don't think on here. I'm here in my office and I actually have the seriously good chili cookbook written by yours truly, one hundred and seventy seven of the best recipes in the world. Page eighty six in this Bible of Chili Recipes. I was at the World Championship Chili cook Off, where I just was last month, by the way, but this is back a couple of years ago one of the inspirations for this book. I was there. I was asked
to judge. I went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and there was a smoked white chicken chili that mister Chuck Edwards made. That was transformative because I thought of chili as why do you need a bunch of recipes. It's either mild, medium, or hot. And his chili opened up for me what chili could be. It's a white bean chicken chili.
But it was just delicious.
And so when I decided, and I had the International Chili Society who puts on the World Championship Chili cook Off, when they agreed to let me use or include some World champion recipes, I said, I ain't doing it unless this guy, Chuck Edwards allows me to put his chili in here, because I need it in here. So I make a lot of them. But I was asked for the best, and that that for me will I will never forget that chili, and I will also never stop making it. So there you go, stars for css Y
who actually made the chili. Now, I assume you're referring to the chili that was featured in the office episode Casual Friday that I spilled all over the floor, or rather Kevin spilled all over the floor that was the prop department. And let me be honest, it was not homemade. It was it was it was not home. It was chili, but it was not hot, and it would not have been a that I would have wanted to eat. Let
me just put it that way. But they made so much of it, and we had so much more because, as I'm sure you all know, we did it in one take or there was a lot left over. So I'm sure a lot of people got to enjoy chili, the stuff that didn't end up on the floor for days or weeks to come.
I did not. Now.
I also had a ton of requests here for my chili recipe. As you know, Kevin's is to undercook the onions. Actually mine is to undercook the onions as well. Well. My secret recipe is not secret, it's here in my seriously good Chili cookbook. I'm gonna drop a link to the recipe in the notes for this episode of Off the Beat, so you all can give it a try, and then you're gonna love it so much you're gonna need Chuck Edwards and everyone else's in the book. So
I will include recipe. I mean, I'm not saying, I'm just saying it's the best you've ever had. It's not a brag, it's if it's true, it's true. Now, there's some other secrets that I've I've never told anyone before. This is some top secret stuff. Okay, I'm I'm finally going to get to reveal this for you today. It's a two part question.
Here we go.
Brandon seal Knew asked, how does one attain so much handsomeness and life is shit at it? How do you not age? Like, don't be shy. Drop the skincare. Let me just say this, it's just oh natural baby, combined with a lot, a lot of plastic surgery.
So there you go.
Those are my tips for how to stay handsome and my skincare routine. Get surgery off.
And no, don't to that. Actually, maybe I should write it in a book. There's a new book idea for you.
Well, now that I've covered my first two passions, acting and of course skincare. There are plenty of questions submitted about one of my other passions, sports raw B number seven. How long have you been playing golf? What do you normally shoot, and what's your favorite club in the bag. I didn't start playing golf as a kid raw B number seven, And actually my raw number is about seven. My handicap is it fluctuates between a six something and a forty seven. No, that's my handicap I'm referring to
when I say my number. You know, I want my first number to be a seven, meaning in the seventies. It's usually not. For a while, it felt like no matter what I did, it was an eighty one. I haven't been playing so well recently, we'll see. I love the game, as you all know. My favorite club in the bag sixty degree wedge. Yeah, I hit it from almost anywhere around the greens, and I would say, if I had a best shot, it would be one hundred yards an end. Most of the time that sixty degree
wedge is in my hand. Funk twenty four asks what are you using on a par three two oh five yard center pin? If you say no, there's no wind and there's no uphill downhill elevation change. I'd be using my hybrid twenty four. I think that's right. That's what I would use, and I wouldn't step on it.
As they say.
If I got to wind at my back at all and I can play it to the front easily, then I'll hit a six iron. But I appreciate your specificity. Phil in m N. Phil in Minnesota says, resolve this issue. We see you show up for Roger cheering for the Jets, So where is your long standing loyalty to Title Town USA?
Well?
As many of you know, guest of the program here and good friend of us on off the beat is Aaron Rodgers. And I was there at the Jets' first game against the Bills. I have talked about it on Dan Patrick's program and maybe a little bit. Here is the most exciting open for a sporting event that I've ever seen in my entire life, bar none. Twelve years since the playoffs, twenty two years, since nine to eleven. On nine to eleven, fifty five years. I believe that
my math is right. Since their last Super Bowl victory I won, and only super Bowl victory the anticipation was incredible, and I feel very lucky that I was there, and of course was completely heartbroken at what transpired in that game. But of course I still love the Packers. And burn Berner asks, what Packers game are you going to this year? I was just there. I was just there in Las Vegas for the Packers Raiders game before their bye week. I really was disappointed at the end of that game.
It was a great game and by the way, the Raiders, hats off to the Raiders. That stadium there is incredible. Do you ever have an opportunity to go see a game there at Allegiant Field? Do it because it's fun. It's fun, it's beautiful, it's Vegas. But the Raiders fans are loud, the visiting fans obviously Packers they're loud. It was a really fun game. I was very, very disappointed the Packers couldn't win, but my love is still there.
I still bleed the green and gold. Now I just have just got some green and black in there as well.
We'll see what happens.
The Jets, by the way, they're looking good, so we'll see what happens. It's going to be a very exciting last back half of the season. B Geittman asks, when are you coming to Lambeau for a game? I'd love to see you there. Look, I had a lot of questions about when I'm coming to Green Bay this year.
As I just said, I was.
Able to see my beloved Green and Gold in Vegas a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure when I will be out. I hope to make it out there, you know. I always love to go to Lambo when it's cold. Most people are the opposite, and I don't like cold weather, but man, there's just nothing like it. The frozen tundra and you really can see and feel that home field advantage.
I love that.
So I'm hoping to get out once the weather turns and see a game this year. But I'm very glad I got to see a game already. Stash Mountain asks how do you feel about the conference realignment and expanded playoff in college football? Well, first off, about the extended playoff, it's about time. There are some people that think that it's going to destroy the regular season because every game
won't be as important. I don't think that's true because I think there will be enough incentive to be ranked higher. Even if you believe you're going to get into the playoff, that you're still going to be playing. The game's hard. The game this last weekend, Penn State and Ohio State, I know, had huge college football playoff implications, and people talked about how that game wouldn't be as important. But look, I think that the higher you end up, the better
it's going to be for you. And I think it's going to give some more teams, some different teams. And I say this as a fan of the University of Georgia, more teams an opportunity to just be in it. And I think that's good. Do I think it's going to alter tremendously who ends up winning the national championship. No, but hopefully we'll have a surprise here and there and some more people involved. So I'm excited about that conference realignment. I don't know what it's all crazy town to me.
I mean that the PAC twelve is no longer exists, that you've got sixteen, eighteen, twenty teams in these mega conferences. You know, I am I would say a traditionalist in a way. I mean, look, things like the playoff, things
that make sense. I'm in favor of but I do think whereas the expanded playoff is going to give more teams an opportunity, I think that the conference realignment and expanding these conferences, I think there's going to end up being another tier in college football and there's ultimately going to be fewer schools that have a chance, and I think that's unfortunate.
I do.
I'm hoping that it will that there'll be something left there for the bowl games. I don't know, in a lesser tier conference or our new league that will be born, so there will be more than just Division One.
Maybe there'll be a Division one A and one B.
I don't know, but I think that these mega conferences are not good, certainly not good for the fans and not good for the schools that aren't in them.
So we'll see.
D Hoppy twenty six says, will you tell the Clemson FaceTime story?
I don't know the Clemson FaceTime story. I don't know.
I don't I don't know what story we're referring to. I'm so sorry, but I will tell you. I was asked when Joshua Brooks, the athletic director of the University of Georgia, was named the athletic director. Someone in the department asked me to send a video A cameo I believe to Joshua congratulating him. I guess he was a big fan of the Office and I had lost touch with the athletic department at the University of Georgia for a long time. I've been gone from Georgia for a
long time. Man, he brought me back into the Fray in a big way. He's been so kind, reaching out to me and inviting me to games and inviting me to sit with him, and was with him the SEC Championship game last year. And actually we'll see him this weekend in Jacksonville. So I don't know about Clemson, but I'm very glad that I got re reintroduced and realigned with the University of Georgia athletic program, that's for sure. Ray Mitton asks, are you still in a fantasy football
league with other cast members from the Office. How is your team doing? Who is in first place now? And who drafted Joe Burrow? Well, look, I am still in the Office Fantasy football league. I believe if this is year eighteen or nineteen.
Of the league.
I am pulling up my stats as we speak. This is real time here on off the beat. I'm not doing great. Let me be honest about that. I've had some injuries. It's been a little ugly. I will be clear. Lee Kirk a director on the Office, you had to have worked on the Office in order to be in the Office Fantasy Football League also, incidentally, husband to Jenni Fisher is in first place, only one loss.
I am down.
I will report mister Krazinsky, having an uncharacteristic positive year, is in third, so Krazinsky making a run reign there in sixth place, I'm in tenth, tenth out of twelve. My point total is high, but I'm down. Yeah, I'm sorry to be honest. I don't know who has Joe Burrow. I did not draft, even though I love him, think he's an absolute top quarterback. I thought the calf was going to be a problem for him. But I'm in tenth place in the Office Fantasy Football League.
So what do I know?
Speaking of the Office, Well, of course, everybody's got questions about the Office, especially with a little blurb from one publication that was listed online in the last few weeks. Stick around and come back. I will answer your office questions and more well, here we go. Let's finish it off with some office questions, shall we. Mister fantasy two four seven asked, Okay, did you really make all those shots in a row in the basketball episode or was it a double?
Was it a double?
Who looks like me? Nobody? If that was you, you got some game. Well, thank you, mister fantasy guy two four to seven. You're damn right I do. You're damn right. I can shoot the JAYH. No, it was me, and it was unedited, and it was thirteen in a row. Check the DVD extended. They had to cut baskets that I made because they only had twenty two minutes of airtime on NBC at the time.
And uh and yeah, they didn't.
Have time to show them all. But thank you so much. Fifteen feet free throw line around the arc, thirteen in a row. How many people have done that on network TV. I don't even think Steph has done that. He's probably dunked a few, but thirteen in a row for yours, truly? Gladyso asks, what is this is one thing you and Kevin Malone have in common?
Well, our basketball skills, obviously.
I think in the beginning Kevin and I were pretty far apart. But that was the good thing about our writers. They wanted to try to bring some of who we are as people into the characters that we were playing. So, you know I had an affinity for poker and maybe some gambling. Well that suddenly showed up for Kevin as well. I will say this, I know I've said it before. I'm not a drummer, so let me be clear. Kevin is a way.
Better drummer than Brian ever was.
I got some help, but I also had some tutoring as we got into later seasons. I was playing it, but it was a struggle, that's for sure. Tiny dunder Mifflin asks, Hi, Hi, did you come up with Kevin's voice or was that the writer's idea? Tiny dunder Mifflin, It's hard for me to answer this question because it was. I guess it was a combination of what the writers
were writing for. I think that through our co creation of Kevin Malone as a character, the writers began to lean much more into his let's just call it childlike sensibility in terms of his sense of humor and attitude and behavior. I think he was originally intended to be more of a Wallflower. I think that's what you call it. More of a Toby. I think I think he was intended originally to be more. You know, the original character description was the only thing remarkable about Kevin is he
is remarkably unremarkable. And I think there was plenty in the end remarkable about Kevin. I don't know if there was about Toby. So the writers fell in love with his childlike sensibility and way of speaking, and I certainly leaned into that as well. Andrew Smoky Pickles fifty two said, if you had to recast someone as Kevin Malone other than you and Ashton Kocher.
Who would it be.
Well, I guess I would tell you the truth or the last three people who had the opportunity to play Kevin Malone. Alison Jones gave me a piece of paper at one point in time. Obviously, Ben Silverman, Greg Daniels, Ken kwappas director had a short list that I was chosen, and the other two names Jorge Garcia of Lost Fame and Others and Eric stone Street, Emmy winning actor from
Modern Family. So look, if those were the other two guys on Greg and Ken and Ben's and Alison's list well, they'll be on mine as well.
Give it to Jorge or to Eric. Well, as long as.
We're in the fantasy casting question section, it seems like a lot of you guys are really really interested in Kevin's love life. Emily wore three in if you could invite any actress to play Kevin's love interest in an office reboot, who would it be? And how do you see the storyline unfolding?
Wow? Great question.
Well, you know who I hope would do it, Hillary Swank. That's who I hope would do it. I think that would be good for all of us.
That's all I'll say about that.
D marsh fourteen says, if Kevin ended up dating anyone on the show, who would it have been?
And why? You know?
I dressed this a little bit in my the previous iteration of the podcast. Not only did I want, I actually pitched the writers to have Aaron and Kevin end up together because I I thought that was a genius combination of characters. I describe Ellie Kemper's portrayal of Aaron as like a little hummingbird that just never stopped moving, total energy and positivity and light, and Kevin.
Was like a rooted tree with a little bit.
Of a childlike sensibility, and she had a childlike sensibility. So I thought that two of them together was perfect. Ellie agreed on my podcast just for the record, she agreed the writers didn't lie. They had they sort of had the thing with Andy kind of worked out there, and they wanted to explore the situation with her parents. I understood all of that. It's just that's what I wanted, and you asked the question, so I answered it.
Oh, I got defens him about that.
One more Kevin related item. I want to settle once and for all before we move on. Haint Blue Creative, please define the numeric.
Value of akeleven.
This is what is perfect about a coleven. It is exactly what you wanted to be. Let's move on a few questions about the show the Office in general, Jar Blue twelve. What did you look forward to the most when filming the Office episodes? Filming special episodes like holiday ones, or something else that you enjoyed. You know, I wasn't as a big a fan of the Halloween episodes as a lot of people. They were traditionally difficult in terms
of hair and makeup and costume. I think the longest costume that I was in was Michael Moore costume, which I was very itchy, the facial hair, very very itchy and uncomfortable. The Christmas episodes I loved. They were a ton of work. They were longer, very long days, fourteen sixteen hour days trying to get it finished, especially with
the big parties and stuff. When I'm told now that people go home or there with family and what they do over Christmas time, much like I watch I don't know the Grinch or the Christmas Story that they watch the Office Christmas episodes. It's very odd. That's just cool. There's just there's no way, there's no.
Way about it. That's awesome.
And so the Christmas episodes for me are some of the most special episodes and ones that I have the fondest memories of now, benin O two, what are your top three favorite episodes you shot in the office? Me and my brothers love you guys, well, I love you guys, Thank you so much. Top three episodes. I'm gonna go Stress Relief, I'm gonna go Niagara, and I'm going to
go Goodbye Michael. Those are the ones I don't know if They're my favorite episodes, all of them in the end, but those are the ones that I treasure and guess what I got it two from one times three. There were all two part episodes, so that's actually six episodes. So I cheated the system, but somehow I still won. I work at Walmart ten twelve. What's your favorite memory from the Office. Well, some of the episodes I just mentioned memories came flooded back as I just as I
just said them. But mostly it's about my favorite memories now are about the moments when we weren't shooting, going to the Golden Globes or the Emmy Awards, or being at someone's house early on, watching the episodes, wondering if we were ever going to get to do them again, believing we were done after six episodes or twelve episodes, and then being back for two hundred whatever. Yeah, those are those are my favorite memories now. And you know when when my text goes off and it's from our
our group text chain, yeah, the memories are right there. Man, feels like so long ago. And also just yesterday. Emily Jones fifteen, who was someone you wished made a guest appearance on the Office Wow, that's a great question. We had so many, really, so many great guest appearances. Oh, it just popped into my head. I was told we made the first network television joke about Barack Obama when he became president, when Michael said to Stanley, Barack Obama's president.
So I'm gonna say Barack Obama. That would have been pretty cool. We made the first joke, so we we should have let him on and say hi, alec Olsen five on The Office deep Dive. You always ask your guests why they think The Office now is more popular than ever, But I've always wondered what your answer is, Why do you think the show still holds up? Because it makes you feel good and it's funny. Thank you, by the way for being a longtime listener if you
heard all those interviews. But I think that's I think that's the answer for me. It's funny, and it holds up and it makes you feel good. Ultimately, it wasn't an accident that we ended in Oral History of the Office with that quote, there's beauty and ordinary things. Isn't that kind of the point. I think it's a celebration of ordinary people doing ordinary things, but given value and wait and told you may be ordinary, but you're important and deserve to be celebrated and focused on on a
television show. You don't have to just beautiful to be focused on. That's why I think it is because it makes people feel good to Biac Maniac says, could you have played Kevin for another five seasons? I'm glad that we ended where we did because we told a complete story. But sure I missed the guy. You know, I missed the guy. And Gregory Seewald asks, well, I guess we've saved the real question for last. Any comment on those
rumors of an Office reboot. Look, there was a story a few weeks ago in one publication that indicated that an Office reboot was eminently going to be announced as soon as the writer's strike was over. I probably would
not have answered this question. I would have told my producers no. However, Greg Daniels just yesterday did an interview an indicted that the announcement that there was an Office reboot by this publication and that it was going to be announced after the writer's strike was settled, might have been a little premature, but he showed appreciation for there being so much interest in it. I too appreciate how interested people seem to be in this. I have no
idea if there will be an Office reboot. But more than that, I don't know what an Office reboot means. And what I really think is the people who are writing articles about it doesn't know what that means.
Either. Is a reboot a reunion? Is it a reimagination?
Is it a continuation of the story.
I don't know what they think it means.
But you know what, whatever Greg Daniels decides to do and whatever story he wants to tell, I have full belief in that. But as to whether there is an imminent Office reboot coming, well, no one's called me yet, so we'll see what happens.
I'll be hanging on just like the rest of you.
Thank you for all of your questions, everybody. I could have kept answering your questions for another five seasons. That was very fun. Hopefully you didn't get tired of the sound of my voice. I need somebody else in next week so we don't have to just listen to me. But I got to wrap things up here. I did want to get to one more thought provoking question from HB. Cely One, Why ask many words when.
Few word do trick well.
I could have asked less words, but then I would have gotten a lot less questions from you. That's a sacrifice. I'm willing to make one more question here, Spooky Kangaroo Rats thirty three.
Did you have a good day today? Spooky? I did have a good day.
I had a fantastic day because I enjoyed doing this with all of you.
Thank you for your thoughtful, your.
Fun, your interesting questions. I've said this before, these mailbag episodes. They make me feel like I get to know many of you a little bit better as listeners because nobody's ever interviewing me here. Hopefully you get to know me and at least what I'm thinking a little bit better as well. You're the best. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed this little ask me almost anything copyright. I hope you have a good day too, and until next time,
take care Off. The Beat is hosted an executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Lang Lee. Our senior producer is Diego Tapia. Our producers are Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan, Papa Zachary and our intern is Ali Amir Sahim. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed by the one and only Creed Bratt