Laverne Caracuzzi

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Listen to Trapped in Treatment on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi am Laverne Karacuzi and I was the department head makeup artist on the Office. Hello everybody, and welcome back. Uh. It's a new week and that means it's time for another episode of the Office Deep Dive. As always, I am your host, Brian Baumgartner. Today we are bringing on a guest that I don't have to make up because she made me up, because she does make up, get it.

She is also the one who made us look fresh, well, sometimes made us look like we had extremely bad sunburn or in my case my worst week on the show, like Michael Moore. Let me tell you, fake hair on the face not comfortable. Uh. This woman had all the skills to give you a black guy or to make you look good even if you were, say, under a waterfall at Niagara Falls. Laverne Kara Kusi Laverne was the makeup department head on the Office, which, let me tell you,

this was a huge task, right. We had a huge cast, so there were a lot of people to get ready every day and not a whole lot of time. In fact, the battle plan she used then is still used across the board on so many shows. But she was so much more than that. She was a friend, a a therapist, a shoulder to lean on. Really just someone to look forward to seeing every single day, usually around five o'clock in the morning. And honestly, she probably knows more secrets

about the Office cast than anyone. I mean, think about it. She got hours of one on one time with all of the actors day in and day out, just getting closer and closer all of the time. But don't get any ideas our secrets are definitely safe with her. You'll find her work on so many shows, from Judging Amy to Monk to The West Wing and Animal Kingdom. But perhaps her greatest professional achievement thus far was getting her name on a Volunteer of the Year plaque that was

placed behind Creed's desk in one of our episodes. So there's a fun little Easter egg for you. But in all seriousness, Laverne I love her. She was a joy to have on our crew. I was so happy to reconnect with her for the first time in many years. So get ready to be dolled up with the one, the only Laverne Karakuzi Bubble. I love bubble, aging bubble and squeaker cookie every moment lived over from the nut. Yeah, I know, it's been so long. Oh my god, I'm

so happy to see you. My boy. I knows changed. I remember when I used to give you cof God, I have to put glasses on too if I have to look at it to look at No, you don't have to look at anything. I just have to look at you now. You when Okay, when did you start on the Office? Okay, So I started the Office when it was the pilot and the first six episodes, which you guys considered to be a first season, which in as we know in the normal TV world, is not

the first season. So I started after that sixth episode, So you you was just the first six that you weren't there, correct, But I was there from the very beginning, Like I remember specific things, like I remember exactly where I was on the freeway when my telephone rang and You're like, I hear You're not coming back to the office. What's going on? And you started talking to me and I was like, well, I guess I'm not invited back.

And then it started this whole big thing. And then when I spoke to Ken Zivornac, he was like, well, you know, Brian and Leslie David, and I think it was mostly you two were really rallying for me to go ahead and be there, which I was so grateful for it. And then I remember you and I were still on the phone even by the time I got home, and I was kind of like walking around in my front yard like thinking about it. Like, yeah, I still want to be there if I'm welcome back there, you know. Right?

And then what were you doing right before you did Freaks and Geeks? Right? I did Freaks and Geeks. I shot that at Raley Hollywood, and I always thought when I did Freaks and Geeks, I always thought, God, what a great experience. Am I ever going to experience this same kind of feeling again. It's kind of like when you finish a job and you go like, oh my god,

am I ever going to work again? Yeah? I feel that, But it was that kind of feeling that I thought, Okay, Freaks and Geeks, Am I ever going to experience that again? And then, as you know, we're like siblings, you know, everybody's almost kind of arguing with one another, and it's like everybody was getting in everybody else's business because they felt like they were entitled because we had been around

each other for over twelve hours a day. I mean, that's the thing is that the the hair and makeup department. What people don't realize maybe is like in terms of people on the crew who are closest with the cast, there's nobody closer because you you hear and see everything, right, I think that hair and makeup are deaf aitely the

closest to the cast. That's why I try to run as tight of a ship as I can, where it's like whatever information you hear from anybody, regardless of who it is that walks in and out of that door, is not to be left from that trailer or to you know, you know what I'm talking about. You know, I know, yes, we're the first person you see in the morning, and so you know, you could be having

a bad day. But at the end of the day you have to leave that outside the trailer doors and kind of go in with a smiley face, and then when everybody leaves you can break down in tears or

whatever you need to do. It's it's intimate work at times, you know, to be working with someone on their face or an issue that they might have or whatever else, and and it it just sort of it's not intentional, and I don't know, maybe it violates rules, but it does become almost a therapist type situation too, when you're talking about people's outside lives getting neglected at times, and you know, the work being so important and on that show,

I think also the work was really important to everybody. Everybody wanted to be good, not for themselves, but it really was more a team. I feel like, I feel like everybody wanted to be there. It wasn't like they were forced to be there. It wasn't like, oh, I need a job, so therefore I'm going to go ahead and you know, just take this job. Everybody truly wanted

to be there. And you know, gosh, there were plenty of times that not only did you know you have that one on one with an actor where they are spilling their guts to you, but you're also spilling your guts to them because you feel that bond with them. I mean plenty of times, you know I had been in tears for whatever reason, you know, I would be like, oh,

we just sit there and talk. It's almost like the old timey hair salons, right, I mean, I understand you did make up, but right like the or like the barber shops for sure, or like you go in there and it's this like safe zone that you can talk about anything absolutely, because it's like when you see those old school movies. You know, you see like the girls that are in the nail salons and they're getting their nails done and they're talking very privately to their person

that's doing their nails. Right, That's what we did. You guys came in early in the morning, and because we had everybody working and up at one time, we pretty much had everybody in the trailer. And even when we didn't, you guys would still go back to your trailer and do something, and you knew your friends were going to come in an hour later. So we'd always have like this big commotion of things kind of going on in the trailer and always have the A. D s come

in there and say, okay, how much longer, how much longer? Well, we have to finish this story, and then we listen to Rain and Oscar go back and forth at one another. Yeah. That's what people don't realize is you know, on our show by the end, we had four makeup artists and

four hair people. Right. Well, we originally started out the show where they thought that we could go ahead and get everybody ready at one time, would just I think it started out two and two, and then it was like, oh well, we'll just go ahead and have three and three, and then it was like four and four, and then

remember we had that chart. It was our battle plan where it was color coded as to what actor was going to get their makeup done and who was going to get their hair done, and then the swapping of the chairs and they were done in fifteen minute increments, which makes me laugh now because since after The Office, I've gone on to other shows where they have that same chart and they'll go, oh, we have a battle plan, and I go, oh, well, that's interesting because I think

you took that from our show way back when it's kind of like when you see these shows that are doing, you know, talking heads, I'm like, oh, really the talking Heads started originally with us. I almost kind of get a little bit territorial, right, Well, we had what I mean that times like sixteen to twenty actors that needed to be ready at the same time. So there are four you know, there's four hair and four makeup and then people have to flip flop, but that's still only

eight people. So you guys would create this grid that people had to start coming in at you know, five o'clock, four thirty in the morning just to get everybody ready on time, right exactly, And there was no type of buffer scene like a normal TV so to speak, not that our show wasn't normal TV. But you never had like those buffer scenes where you could go like, oh, let's go ahead and get half the people ready, and then we have a buffer scene to then go ahead

and get more people ready. It was like our buffer scene was a talking head and that literally, as you know, it was only one person. So that only gave us a certain amount of time. So I thank the office for that very reason because it's forced me as an artist to go ahead and really gain my speed. Because when they'll be like, oh, we have eight people we need to get ready, I was like, oh, that's a walk in the park. I can go ahead and do that. We used to get sixteen and twenty people ready at

one time. How did you get into makeup? Um? Well, I always painted as a kid. You know. I used to go with my face just painted, so I knew like the idea of light color theory and how like different materials kind of worked with each other. And I would walk from my house in Toluca Lake to this woman's house and she used to paint in her garage, and uh so that kind of started. And I always wanted to be in the arts in one capacity or another.

And then after I graduated high school, I went to community college and then I moved to London, and then I got a degree in fashion design, and then I still kind of dabbled a little bit in the arts and you know, doing makeup and stuff like that. I started originally doing commercials and I worked with one director for many, many years um in commercials, and then my

first real TV job was Freaks and Geeks. And Freaks and Geeks was where I met Paul Fie and Jake Kasden and Seth Rogan and on and on and on. So how did you get that job? I got that job from I was doing a commercial and in between going ahead and doing commercials, I had been day playing on movies and TV stuff, and a friend of mine called me and said, hey, by the way, I need somebody to work with me on this new TV show called Freaks and Geeks. It's really simple makeup. These kids

are young. And I thought, okay, and so I had to be really straightforward and said, well, I just want to let you know that I'm pregnant with my first daughter. I would love to go ahead and do the show. So basically, I that's how I got the job, and I did Freaks and Geeks, and um got to know

everybody there. Then I had the baby in January, and then you know, years later I started running into like Linda Cardellini and Jason Siegel and people like that, and they would always ask how Savannah doing, How Savannah doing, and just because I was, you know, pregnant with her and I had worked the whole show being pregnant, So

that was like a special moment for me. Whereas it was like even on the office when I would see like Angela being pregnant, it reminded me of when I went back to Freaking Geeks and when I was pregnant right right, and the hair and makeup world, I mean, it really is about the relationships, right Like you met this makeup artist who brought you onto Freaking Geeks, and then you you meet people and that's how it happens, right, it pretty much does. I mean, I feel, if you

have a good attitude, it's really about relationships. Because as we know, there's a lot of you know, jobs that you often say to yourself, I wonder how they got that job, you know what I mean? And that's no disrespect to anybody, it's just the way that it is. You know, if you are a people person and you can do your job sufficiently, you know, and you have a good attitude, then obviously you're going to get brought onto the next one. Right. Yeah, do you remember anything

about those early years? We had did six episodes and then we did six more and we were sent home. And I mean it occurs to me that the tremendous amount of trust and courage that you showed kind of stick with it over periods where you know, we were working oddly and we didn't know if we were going to keep going, but there was a trust in you to kind of stick with it through that time. Well. I just kind of feel as freelancers, whether you're above the line or below the line, you're a gypsy. You

take your stuff, you show up at work. You know, you don't know. I've been on plenty of shows prior to the Office where they're like, okay, we shoot up till Christmas, you know, and then sometimes they would come to and be like, oh, sorry, it was picked up for the back nine, but now we're canceled, you know what I mean. But there was I think it goes

back to the whole trust thing. I just always felt like you know, especially with Greg being our leader, I always felt that he was always so genuine and he would have said if there was anything that he could foresee that was coming up, that he would have said something to us. But I loved the whole cast, so there was no reason for me not to be excited about coming back. It didn't matter which way you went,

because it was always an uncertainty. You know. I don't know if that's just something that we as individuals in this business thrive on, like oh gosh, you know that almost like an angst all the time, right right right, right right, you know. And I truly believe that if you're good at what you do, you will always be provided for. It may not be the ideal job, but you don't know who you're going to meet along the way that's going to go ahead and take you onto

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seventy five dollar credit before March one. Indeed dot Com slash Office Deep Dive terms and conditions apply. Need to hire, you need indeed, I'm Emilia. On this podcast, I'm taking you on a search, a search for love. Hard working Latina seeks cool, down to earth guy slip swipe slide. It's hard out there for a girl to find Mr Right. I have to meet a lot of Mr Wrong's. He'd invite me over to have dinner with his family. I

knew he didn't tell them that it was transgender. Dating as a trans woman can be complicated, but there were other reasons. I felt like I couldn't always be myself, and he's asking me things about my family, like my mom's in prison and my grandmother was arrested for working with the Mexican drug cartel. This scrumbs my love story. It's a show about the things we set up for and the bits of ourselves that make us who we are.

Listen to Crumbs as part of the Michael Luda podcast Network, available on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the latest season of the Next Question with Katie Correct podcast, Katie dives into Well Katie Here, exclusive podcast only conversations between Katie and the people who made her memoir Going There possible. We spent a lot of time together around a dining room table here and in the city, and you know, it

was a very intense experience. All episodes of Next Question with Katie Curic are available now. Listen on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What differences are there between being a makeup artist in fashion or whatever? Like what makes TV and film different and or why do you like to do that or

why have you chosen to do that? I think that compared to say fashion or commercials, you work at a completely different pace, whereas in television and film, as you know, we don't shoot, you know, day one, night one, day two, so you have to remember continuity basis. So when it comes to, say a commercial, it's like I'm getting somebody ready and I'm doing their makeup for a Taco Bell commercial,

let's say. But when you're doing television or film, there's sometimes script wise where you may get them ready for day one and then say day two there's something specifically scripted, like a person gets hit in the face with the ball and they need to have a black eye, or you know, they have a split lip or whatever it happens to be. So you have to be really diligent and stay on top of it. And you're also you have a script that you're going by in television and

film opposed to fashion or commercials. But also in the fashion world sometimes it's super high fashion, so it's thinking outside the box opposed to going ahead and doing maybe

a straight makeup. It just all depends. And then there's also differences between going ahead and doing a regular beauty makeup opposed to doing special effects makeup, or you know, so times a tattoo is required, or I mean, you know how it was when we did our certain episodes of the Office where it would be like, oh, it's Halloween, so and so it is gonna look like blah blah blah blah. You're gonna make me miserable by by putting by putting hair all over my face as Michael Moore.

But oh my gosh, because I had a I had to listen to you wine about the fact that I had to have this stuff on my face one more time. However, okay, now listen, when your manager saw you, what was the response that your manager had to say, Oh my god, I thought that was Michael Moore. So I rest my case. Well, here's the thing. People think you guys are nice and you all you do is torture us. That's really, That's

what it is. No. I it's so crazy because on the office, so much of it was straight makeup, you know, and downplayed, and you know, them not wanting to come in or touch up or do anything because they wanted this very sort of realistic look. But along with that, there was a lot of crazy stuff that you guys had to do in terms of that, or in terms of injuries or when Kate got burned because she fell asleep from the yeah burned or yeah, I mean that

must make it fun, right, Oh? Absolutely. Every time I would look at the script, I'd get super excited and be like, oh, what's in the script this week? And I always knew that when Halloween rolled around that there was always going to be something fun to actually do. But also to there's like this misconception of when people say to you, we want no makeup, okay, well you need to be a little bit more specific when you

say no makeup. There's a difference between a no makeup look where you're actually putting on makeup but making them look like they don't have makeup. Opposed to not putting anything on their face. Right, What was this specific direction that you were given in terms of how they characters should look. They're supposed to look natural their everyday people that work in an office. Also to keeping in mind Scranton.

Because of Scranton, there's a very different everyday look in Scranton as there would be to an everyday look in l A or New York or Dallas or wherever it happened to be. So I think, you know, we never got any notes saying oh it's too much. You know, when we go into do a you know myself as an artist, somebody sits in your chair and you kind of look at them and you're given the direction of natural. Then at that point say, okay, do I just conceal

under their eyes? Are we going to keep the facial hair, We're going to shave the facial hair, A We're gonna whatever it happens to be. Are there eyebrows to light that we might have to darken a mint a bit. I think that Greg was so great at going ahead and giving saying a natural look, but then not micromanaging, you know what I mean. He let us go ahead and have a free range within parameters of what it was that we as individuals felt. And you know, Greg,

he was always such a great leader. I mean, how do you not love him? And you know, we had a little bit of leeway and we just kind he kind of left it up to us. Um you know, because obviously, when you're in a trailer, going ahead and getting people ready is very different to when you then take them outside onto the set, of which I'm a huge advocate for. If you're in a trailer, you try to go ahead and have your lighting set up to how your lighting is on the inside of a set.

Did you do that? Yeah, we would. We would call in the electric department when we would start the new season and say, we need to pull these lights because they don't hold the trailer from season to season. So we would have the electrical department come in take those lights out because they'd always put in those lovely fluorescence and put in what was color accurate to what it

was that we were actually shooting inside the set. And then there were some times that because as you know, certain people were always sitting in front of a computer, sometimes having certain colors on a computer screen always plays a little bit with the coloring on people, skin tones, underneath their eyes, any little things that you maybe want

to color correct. So we would have a collaboration or I did with Steve hutch to go ahead and make sure you turn the screen to white so that you almost are blowing out the color in somebody's face, and then it will be my job as an artist to go in and deposit the color back into the face because the blue would be really throwing you off. Right, that's so interesting. I had no idea that you guys were doing that with the electric department. That's that's super cool.

I mean, that makes that makes a lot of sense. Well, I try to go ahead, and I figured that out kind of early on, and I do that now moving forward on different shows. I try to be, you know, go to the electrical to and be like, oh, by the way, can you just let me know what it is, what type of lighting you're using on set, so that you're not having to go ahead and make corrections. It's like, why go ahead and make a step forward and then

have to go a step back. Right, And obviously, if you know we're shooting outside or you know, in a different location, like things are going to change. But when you have a show like ours that takes place largely in this one space, obviously they know the gist of

how it's lit. I think that there were times that, you know, I would we would be so early in the morning and they would take us on our little road trips down you know that one street that we would always drive down um or we would be shooting on the back side of the stages to implement wherever it was that we were supposed to be shooting, and you'd put a foundation on somebody's face and then you'd get outside and it, you know, takes a minute for the skin to warm up and for everything to kind

of settle. And then there were times that I would get people outside and be like, oh, no, what have I done? I think I need to correct us a little bit because this doesn't look quite right. How was the office different than any show you had been on before that? Do you remember anything different? I just felt there was always that great feeling of of being with your family. You know, you're away from your family all

the time. We would walk into the trailer, there was always that feeling of like, oh, there's my there's my other brother, there's my other sister, and you know how it was like over nine years, of course there's going to be those things that we all like, we all start getting in each other's business, and that's just what happens. I mean, over nine nine years, that's obviously what happens.

But there was just I think across the board, you know, you always felt that level of you could go and talk to on a one on one with an actor and you knew that whatever you were talking about was always kept secret and it was just between the two view you know, walking into editing, we could always talk to them and they were always great about showing us stuff that was being edited together of what we had shot before. And the doors in the writer's office were

always open. We could always walk upstairs and walk in on them and they would, you know, greet you, Oh hey, Laver, and how you doing, you know, blah blah blah blah, and then I would be like, I'm so sorry, I'm interrupting in the middle of writing, but I had this question. So I always felt like there was an open door policy for everybody across the board. Is that unique, very unique?

And I think I think it's because of the actors that we had the crew that we had because we were only really located in two buildings that we had to like just cross a parking lot to go into editing or the writers or whatever. And when you work in these bigger studios as you know, you know, Universal, Warren Brothers, whatever, everything's kind of spread out all over the place, and I feel like everybody was always open to listen to you. They of her were like, oh god,

I don't have the time right now, you know. I always felt like there was an open door policy. Yeah. Eventually, once we sort of broke the CEO with the big super Bowl episode, then we started getting some big guest stars. Do you have any specific recollections about any of those guys? Well, we had Indra s Elva, we had Cathy Bates, We had Will Ferrell, Will Ferrell, James Spader, Yeah, James Spader.

Oh gosh, James Spader so funny, so many times, like talking about times of when he grew up and you know, just funny intimate points in time. Cathy Bates, I couldn't help it to be in AWE because you know, she's one of my favorite actresses, and so I was like, do I say something? Do I not say something? Is it going to be professional? Is it not going to

be professional? And I couldn't help it to be like, oh my gosh, I just have to save us and I'm sorry and I don't mean it to come out to be unprofessional, but I have to tell you how much I love you, and uh, you know, she just had a big smile on her face. And I feel like all those actors that we had that came in, whether they came in, you know, for one time, or came in for five episodes or you know, however many episodes, we always had such a great group of guest stars.

And Will I had known from before, you know, doing a movie called Stranger Than Fiction with him, and so when he came onto the office I was like, oh my gosh, here he is again. So it's funny how it's like you'll you'll work with an actor and then you may not see him for a really long time for whatever reasons, and then all of a sudden, you see him again. You're like, hey, what's going on? Okay?

I know, well, because the relationship is real and it's it's intimate, and I mean, obviously your relationships with people that you worked with for longer recognize you and then there's others where you're thinking to yourself, do they really recognize me? Or they just like trying to put it together, like where did I work with them on? Oh? For sure? And are sure by the way I've done that? Like people who did you do that? Like when you saw me today? Ship? No, no, but I it doesn't matter

what job because you don't know or care. But I there was some job recently. No, not really because I won't remember any of the details now because I didn't know who she was. But I went somewhere and it wasn't Debbie or Kid or Sherry Perry or Kenneth Paul or anybody else, but there was someone she was like, Oh I worked on the show. Um, oh wow, I'm

so what show did you work on? And if she had said the office, I would have been like, oh, of course she was like the office, and I was, oh, no, I mean my light was on, but there was nobody home up there. I didn't know. I was like, I don't. But you know people who came on, you know, Day played for two or three episodes one season, and then they went on to something else they might remember. Well. The funny thing is is that sometimes even as a

makeup artist. All run into makeup artists and they go, don't you remember I was on your show? And I'm thinking, no, I've never seen me before. My Body. From the creator of The Bright Sessions comes a new fiction podcast for all ages. Jump back to and follow Maxie Miles as she starts high school in the picturess town of Hastings, New Hampshire. Fall is the season in which this small town shines apple cider, pumpkin patches farmers markets. It's idyllic

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or wherever you get your podcast. Talked to some people about probably one of the toughest times, sort of most emotional times for us on the show, um, which was the writer's strike and us losing a hundred days in there, and we came back and made up some afterward. But do you remember anything about the difficulty of that time. And I specifically remember where we were shooting when we were told that the writers were going to go on strike. Um,

we were on location. We were shooting it, I believe Jam's apartment, and if I remember correctly, the trailers were parked along the street. It was b J and Mindy's trailers right there. Obviously they were the writers or some of the writers, and everybody was a little bit nervous about going ahead a writer's strike, but then we were told, we really apologize that we have to do this, but

this is what we have to do. You know. It was like, we have to do this because we have to state, we have to make a point, but we also want you to know that you're appreciated. And you know, getting a check out of Greg daniels personal checking account to each crew member. What what was that? Yeah? We were am I allowed to talk about Okay, Greg Daniels went into his personal checking account and wrote the crew each an individual check because we were going to be

out of work. I mean, you knew that it was his personal checking account because when you received the check, it had the address up in the corner. And then we got another check after that from Remember how you guys always used to as cast members, always thought of a Christmas gift for the crew, and you guys also gave us money on top of that. So there was just that loyalty. Sorry, there's just that loyalty that came along with why wouldn't you want to go ahead and

keep working for these people? You know, regardless of how long the strike is, you're taking care of us now. So why wouldn't we go ahead and do it later on? So it just strikes it like my tears are more tears of joy because I felt so appreciated at that point. And there were people that I spoke to even after that that said to me, you know when we talked about the writers strike and they were like, oh, you know,

how was it on the office? And I would tell them and people were just like their jaws dropped to be like, that's pretty amazing. You know that you had your chief, so to speak, Greg Daniels, and your cast all come together and and you knew that it was genuine. And even to this day, I have the utmost respect for him, you know, as we all do. How do

you not love Greg Daniels. Yeah, well, one of the other things, it was just a time when there were issues sort of happening across the board, right with the actors and with the writers and the directors, and the writer's contract came up first, and you know, the fight that they were fighting was kind of like across the board. But they you know, we showed up at work. We because I called and they said, no, you you have to go to work. You're not on strike. You don't

get to show. If you don't show up, they can fire you or whatever else. And so we all showed up to work and I remember being there and then Steve I just didn't show up and I found out he got calls from the network and from lawyers that said, you have to go to work. There's an episode that's been written and you have to shoot it. And he said no, no, And Greg, I think, told me, you know, he was getting calls from the network and Steve, and he knew that there was a lot of pressure on Steve.

And he called Steve and said, you know, how are you doing. Steve said, I'm fine, I'm here playing with the kids. He was like, are you And he was like, yep, that's Steve for How is it working with him so intimately for for so many years? Oh my god. Steve's

a gem, as we know, always super professional. He'd always come in, sit down and I was always amazed at the amount of dialogue that he had and how like just a photographic memory, yeah, and how much he could remember Berth but he would just like do it so effortlessly, always and always, you know. I just remember certain times too. I remember one time in particular which this alwaysted out and you'll remember it too. I can't remember what episode

it was, but we were shooting. All the actors were in big coats and we had a limousine that we had shot outside them on the other stages, and I remember there were a couple of actors that were still at Craft Service, and I remember Steve specifically went over to Craft Service and said to them, you realize that you're being disrespectful because you have a bunch of actors that are standing outside in the boiling hot sun in coats waiting for you while you're at Craft Service. I

love him. He's professional and just always on it and just a real people person. And I think there is something to be said about the fact that, um, you know, when you have actors that start out and their careers just take off as when they're young, opposed to as they get older. I think, as you know, with Steve, his career didn't start until he was a little bit older, you know, not a teenager, and so he got it. And he always was such a gentleman. We go on location,

we'd be getting out of a van. He would come around and always put his hand out to help people out of the van, had no problem carrying somebody's chair or their setbag. Just I don't know, you know how we all feel about Steve? Yeah, no, I know. Do you remember hearing that he was leaving? Yes, I remember, And we would have many conversations with him in the chair and he would like love to push my buttons, and you go, only six more episodes, only five more episodes,

and I go, shut up, don't talk about it. And then when he actually did end up going ahead and leaving, and how Nancy was there and how he had a went down the list of each department and he had a that's what she said moment, and I thought it was brilliant. How we retired number one on the call sheet. When Steve left um and the dynamics of the show changed. I think after Steve left, people started getting maybe a little bit ancy, you know, are we going to do

an eighth season? Are we going to do a ninth season. I kind of felt like Steve was the glue that kind of kept everything together. And like you know, we always say the speed of the team is a speed of the leader, and I think in that respect, Steve was definitely almost like everybody wanted to be on really good behavior because Steve Grill was there right right, Even though it wasn't because he wasn't a big famous star before.

It wasn't it wasn't it was always Steve. I mean, I know, you just made that joke, but like it was, Steve was there, and just the the power of his generosity of spirit and work ethic and preparedness, it was just like, oh, yeah, we can't screw this up now, right, like if he yeah, exactly. It wasn't like we went, oh, it's Steve Carrell, so we have to be on great behavior.

It was like, oh, Steve, because of the way he was, how professional he was, how prepared he was, that everybody it was like, you know, having a teacher and all of your kids, and everybody wants to make sure that you're all on good behavior because the teachers coming in the room. So I think that's kind of what it was. It had nothing to do with whether, you know, Steve was a big superstar not a big superstar. Was more about the fact that everybody, because of how he was,

we all wanted to not disappoint. So part of what we're talking about here is that, And I don't know if you experience it through your kids or anything else. But you know, here we are, and we haven't filmed the show in six years. Has it already been six years? Oh my god? And right now it's the biggest show on television. I can't even tell you how many times people just go, oh, my gosh, my kids have watched all the episodes of the Office. You worked on the Office,

Oh my god, it must have been so much fun. So, you know, and they'll like almost kind of drill you, which in a suite enduring way, not in like a bad way. But I'm like, when I start thinking about it, I'm like, how long has it been? I'm like, six years, Like it feels like just yesterday. And it's maybe just because I've kept I've tried to make a conscience suffort of staying in touch with with certain people. You know. I've kept in touch with Greg Daniels over the years.

I've kept in touch with Justin Spitzer over the years. I did the pilot in the first season of Superstore with him. You know. I kept in touch with Craig Robinson, silly Craig, love him though, you know, we did a movie he was guest starring, and then he said he was going to be doing this, um his own show. I was like, Oh, how's that going? Because I had heard about it, like a little bit of the rumbling right as we were starting to finish The Office. Yeah, he's I said, Oh my gosh, that would be so

fun to go ahead and work on that. And then just out of blue, no phone call, just an email from a producer saying, oh, can I send you the script for Craig Robinson's new show. I'm thinking that was just so random, Like he didn't even say, hey, do you want to do it? We just got in touch with them, and then all of a sudden the script ended up in my email. What what is working on the Office mean to you? I wish that we could

do it all over again. It holds a very very special, um, a very special part in my heart that you know. I don't think that, but I said that also when Freaks and Geeks ended that I don't know if we'll ever experience that again. I hope. I do you know certain actors that you know I've kept in touch with along the way that have been really supportive to me, And you were super supportive to me when you know

you wanted me to go ahead and stay on. So I feel that, you know, I always like to stay in touch with you, and then I feel like we'll always be friends. But it was just a very unique point in time where I when I first got called to do this tiny little show called The Office, I never thought it would be the phenomenon that it ended up going ahead and being. And now as you're six years later to then realize that six years have already gone by, because like I said, it really is like

it just happened yesterday, you know. Yeah, I mean it holds a very very special place in my heart. I feel a lot of loyalty, and you know, would it be great to go ahead and you know, get a group of us together to to do something different. Absolutely, would I just be a static Absolutely? Would I stick

through it if we had another writer strike that they're anticipating. Absolutely. Yeah, It's just one of those great shows that you know, now it's just become such a cult following, like you know, looking over there and seeing cheers like one of those it definitely is. Thank you so much for coming in.

I feel like it was just yesterday seeing your face, and I love you, and I will never ever ever take for granted the relationship and the closest that I feel to you, and all the time that we spent together. I know I feel the same way. I remember that one time that you were panicking because you couldn't get your daughter from school, and you said to me, I need to get her from school, and I said, well, I'll just have somebody watch the set and I'll just

drive there. And I remember pulling up in my car with all the school busses and telling her, come on, come along. I got to take you back to work for your dad. And anyway, you are one of my favorites. You already know that, and uh I absolutely love and adore you, and I don't want another six years to pass before you know under these circumstances. Well, there you have it, folks. Laverne is amazing. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story with all of us.

We all are the better for it. And to my listeners, thank you so much as always for tuning in week to week. Don't forget to leave me a review or give me a shout on Instagram or Twitter. I'll be back with another episode sooner than you think all right. Circle back later this week, same time, same place, but new interview for the other half of the crew that made us look so good, the charming and talented Debbie

Pierce and Kim Ferry from the Office hair department. They're bringing on a new perspective to all of the behind the scene means beauty of the office and trust me, you're not gonna want to miss that one. So on that note, I will bid you adiear do you potato Patano? Thank you so much for listening everyone, and have a great one. The Office Deep Dive is hosted and executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Lang Lee.

Our senior producer is Tessa Kramer. Our producers for this episode are Liz Hayes and Diego Tapia. My main man in the booth is Alec Moore. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed by my great friend Creed Bratton, and the episode was mixed by Seth o landskiper Adoption of teams from foster care is a topic not enough people know about, and we're here to change that. I'm April Dnuity, host of the new podcast Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt

us Kids. Each episode brings you compelling, real life adoption stories told by the families that lived them, with commentary from experts. Visit adopt us Kids dot org, slash podcast, or subscribe to Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt us Kids, brought to you by the U S Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, and the ACT Council. I'm Paris Hilton and this is Trapped in Treatment, a weekly podcast of shocking survivor experiences and stories from

an industry plagued by controversy. With my host Caroline Cole and Rebecca Mellinger, we will uncover the truth of one team treatment facility each season. First up, Provo Canyon School. This one is personal. Listen to Trapped in Treatment on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Mama, what does the chicken say? Uh? Draft giraffe? Really, giraffe giraffe. You're not gonna get it

all right. Just make sure you know the big stuff, like making sure your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for their agent's eyes. Get it right. Visits n h s A dot gov slash The Right seat brought to you by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the AD Council