Here at IGN we occasionally like to showcase something from geekdom’s rich history — a pop-culture Time Capsule, if you will, that gives us a peek in to the past, perhaps providing a new appreciation for previous projects.
If you’d like, please check out the past few Time Capsules:
- Here’s Quentin Tarantino as an Elvis impersonator on The Golden Girls
- Watch Tobey Maguire do an R-rated screen test for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man
- Check out a young Hugh Jackman screen testing as Wolverine
- Tom Selleck was almost Indiana Jones and here’s the proof
- Check out the first Star Wars Comic-Con panel in 1976
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NBC’s The Office, which was an Emmy (Dundy)-winning hit in its day, lasting nine seasons, has enjoyed a super-healthy afterlife as a mega-watched series on Netflix. In 2018, it was the number one series on SVOD (Subscription Video On Demand) with over 52 billion minutes watched that year. In April 2019, The Office was viewed nearly twice as much as the runner-up. Yes, the eyes might be the groin of the face, as Dwight Schrute once insisted, but The Office is the heart of Gen Z’s streaming habits.
This week’s Time Capsule revisits the fun, famous-face-filled Office auditions that were released back during the show’s final year. You’ll see Seth Rogen, Judah Friedlander, and Patton Oswalt auditioning for Dwight (with only Oswalt coming close to what we now associate with Dwight), Adam Scott trying out for Jim (he missed out on Jim and Pam but landed big with Leslie and Ben!), Bob Odenkirk going for Michael (honestly, he would have been great), and Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet giving us his best Kevin.
Plus, John Cho and Kathryn Hahn!
So why waste time say lot word when few word do trick? Check it out…
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The next clip has all the tryouts you saw above, but with the added auditions from Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Rainn Wilson, Brian Baumgartner, and more of the actual actors who landed the key Office roles…
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Adam Scott, naturally, went on to star on Office producer Michael Schur’s Parks and Rec (where Oswalt and Hahn also appeared) while Rogen struck fame with a handful of Judd Apatow flicks (Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, Stoned Gigglers, etc). Bob Odenkirk livened up Walter White’s wicked world of New Mexico meth on Breaking Bad and Eric Stonestreet landed on one of the most acclaimed sitcoms of all time, Modern Family. John Cho would eventually soar into the outer reaches of the cosmos as part of an intergalactic mission to explore new worlds. Oh, and he also did a few Star Trek movies.
Recently, The Office cast reunited for a wedding on John Krasinski’s web series, Some Good News, while rumors of an actual Office reunion are picking up strength now that NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, is landing in July. When The Office leaves Netflix in 2021, it’ll be available for streaming on Peacock.
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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
Source: IGN.com The Office: Watch Seth Rogen, Bob Odenkirk, and More Audition for Famous Dunder Mifflin Characters