The Paper is officially here, and although it’s a spinoff of the beloved sitcom The Office, the new Peacock series stands entirely on its own.

Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, the series follows “the documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch in The Office as they find a new subject when they discover a historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it.”

The cast includes Domhnall Gleeson as Ned Sampson, Sabrina Impacciatore as Esmeralda Grand, Chelsea Frei as Mare Pritti, Melvin Gregg as Detrick Moore, Ramona Young as Nicole Lee, Alex Edelman as Adam Cooper, and Gbemisola Ikumelo as Adelola Olofin. Oscar Nuñez also returns as Oscar Martinez.

On filling big shoes

Although The Paper follows the success of The Office, 20 years later, some cast members revealed that there was more excitement about being a part of something new rather than the pressure of continuing the legacy of the original series.

“I was confident that I could create a character that I was confident in, a character that I could create, so much that I wasn’t worried about it being comparable to another character,” Gregg told Blavity’s Shadow and Act. “Because people are different, you know what I mean? Like, you can be great and not take away from somebody else’s greatness. So as long as I could create a character that was well thought out, nuanced, authentic [and] genuine, I was confident that I could do my part in making this show great — and especially being surrounded by so many people that are just as, if not more, proficient at getting their job done.”

Young added, “I think throughout the process, we were very reassured that this was gonna be its own thing, and the characters are all new, and the dynamics and the stories were all gonna be new. So, I kind of just rested on that knowledge.”

For Ikumelo, who had the opportunity to sit in the writer’s room and work on scripts for The Paper along with portraying Adelola, there was an initial nervousness about getting to know her character. But Ikumelo said she felt overall excitement about what she could bring to the show.

“At first, I really struggled with that sort of dynamic for advocating for my character as an actor, but also writing for the wider show,” Ikumelo said. “I didn’t want to feel like I was kind of just focused on my character, in that I really wanted to bring story ideas for everything. Then, I think at some point, I felt like, ‘Oh, I think I’ve actually done the opposite, and not really spent much time with my character at all. So quite late in the day, I went away and wrote a sort of big old Bible for her, and I remember presenting it to the team, and to Greg at some point, and Koman, and they were like, ‘Oh my God, I love this.’ And she went from a sort of straight-laced, ‘I want to be the best in the office’ kind of character, to be a bit more … she’s a bit of a burnout, and her clothes went from quite beige to just sort of big boots and just hair. And I love that change and that the guys were so open to pivoting in that way. I felt really seen.”

Her character’s cubicle partners include Nuñez’s Oscar Martinez and Edelman’s Adam Cooper. Edelman noted that Ikumelo’s Adelola often informs his character.

“That unlocked my character,” Edelman said. “My character is a bit of a doof because I thought that would be the most annoying thing for her character to sit next to, and so and so. The truth is that it’s quite cute and funny, but when you think about it, that is how writers’ rooms should work. One person does something, another person goes ‘That’s great. Let’s try to add …’ And so, I think, for me, I was like, ‘What’s the thing that’s going to be really useful within the world of the show? What’s the space that’d be really funny to play that’s not quite played anywhere else?’ We wound up becoming a really fun trio. This accounting department became a really nice, unique corner of the office, and interacted really well with other characters, like Travis, who’s played by Eric Rahill, or the people in the Softies, or Melvin Gregg’s Detrick.”

Nuñez on reprising his role of Oscar

When asked about the motivation behind returning to his role of Oscar in a different setting, The Office veteran Nuñez said he trusted creator Greg Daniels.

“I knew I was in good hands, and I’m like, ‘What are you thinking?’ He’s like, ‘I don’t know, but I have a thought about a paper and I don’t know.’ Then, after a while, he’s like, ‘Come meet the writers. We have a writer’s room,’ and he likes to walk and talk, and we’re walking and talking, and he’s like, ‘Oh, we’re thinking about [the] cast,’ and that was just the beginning of it. From there, it just got better and better, and here we are, I can’t believe we’re promoting this.”

Much more than laughs

Beyond the comedic aspect of the show, the larger theme of the legacy of print journalism is a major focus as the cast looks to revive a local newspaper — something that Young and Gregg noted will be very important for younger generations to see.

“I think Melvin mentioned earlier how there’s so much misinformation nowadays, and I just love the optimism and the wholesome idealization of trying to keep a local newspaper alive, and I’m all for it,” Young said.

Gregg added, “I agree. I feel like it’s trying to hold onto some of the better ways of the old, whereas you don’t have access or exposure to so much, and it’s more simplified. It’s a small town, it’s wholesome, nostalgic, in a way. Like the newspaper was something specific that, millennials, for the most part, remember. We remember our grandparents reading the newspaper. You might see people that you know in the newspaper, or you might be in the newspaper if you do something cool, and it just kind of felt more intimate. Versus now, a lot of people get their news from social media, and there’s a lot of misinformation. It’s a lot of negativity around it. There’s so many people that can comment. Everybody has a microphone to comment on it, so the news kind of gets lost in the conversation around the news.”

“I think that’s something we’re kind of losing, overall community, small community,” he continued. “And this speaks to a group of people with no experience trying to hold on to that.”

The Paper Season 1 is currently available to stream on Peacock. It has alreaedy been renewed for Season 2.

Oscar Nunez

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