Steve Carell and John Krasinski crashed the first day of The Office spin-off The Paper to wish the new cast good luck, according to star Sabrina Impacciatore.
Created by Greg Daniels (who developed the original British version of the sitcom for the US) and Michael Koman, the mockumentary takes place in the same universe as Scranton’s Dunder Mifflin.
Impacciatore, who viewers may recognise from the second season of The White Lotus, recalled the event in a new interview.
“No makeup yet. We are very anxious. Like, oh my God, we’re so scared. And then we hear, knock, knock,” Impacciatore told Entertainment Weekly. “Someone enters the trailer, and it’s Steve Carell and John Krasinski! We’re fainting. Like, what? Can you imagine? Isn’t it crazy? The first day of shooting!”
Carell and Krasinski were in the studio filming an advert for the Italian coffee brand Lavazza. “I thought, this is a blessing. Italian coffee, which is the coffee that I’ve been drinking all my life,” the actress remarked.
Impacciatore admitted that when she landed the role, she binge-watched The Office and said that “Steve Carell became someone that I loved.” As such, she even booked a flight from her native Rome to New York to see him in Broadway’s Uncle Vanya.
“I went to see the show. I went to the green room. I waited for him. He came out. I was shaking. I said, ‘I’m Sabrina! Can you bless me?’ I needed his blessing [for The Paper]!” Impacciatore recalled of her first encounter with Carell. “He was the sweetest. He was so warm. He was encouraging me so much. He said, ‘These people are brilliant. You are going to have the best experience of your life. You’re going to be great.’ He was giving me confidence. I will never forget that. Never. It was so right to do that.
An official synopsis reads: “The documentary crew that immortalised Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch in the Emmy Award-winning series The Office find a new subject when they discover a historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it.”
The show stars Domhnall Gleeson as an idealistic new employee looking to revive the title, with Sabrina Impacciatore portraying the paper’s managing editor. The supporting cast includes Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Ramona Young, and British comedian and actor Tim Key (This Time With Alan Partridge, Peep Show).
The Paper will also see the return of The Office US star Oscar Nuñez as his character Oscar Martinez. No other original cast members from The Office US have been announced as returning.
The first trailer dropped earlier this month. The show is set to premiere on September 4 on Peacock in the US. Sky has the exclusive rights to the sitcom in the UK, and will broadcast it the following day (September 5).
Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant – who co-created/co-wrote the original version of The Office – serve as executive producers, along with Howard Klein and Ben Silverman.
The Office US star Steve Carell said last year that he definitely won’t be reprising his role. “I will be watching but I will not be showing up,” he explained. “It’s just a new thing, and there’s really no reason for my character to show up in something like that.”
