Why James Spader Wasn't Popular On The Set Of The Office

the office began as a humble remake of the British sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant it initially seemed unlikely that the show would survive an American remake but the unlikely happened and then some an American talent agent Ben Silverman saw the show while in England and in 2005 he sold the format to NBC the show found its footing with an amazing team of writers including Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak the cast was equally remarkable with some serious comic power coming from Steve Carell Rainn Wilson and Jenna Fischer because they can last forever the glory days of the office came to an end when Michael Scott played by Carell left the show before the end of the seventh season the gaping hole left by the loss of the character was quickly filled by James Spader however it soon became painfully clear that his character Robert California did not belong in Scranton considering the fact that Spader was replacing the world's best boss he was probably always doomed to fail I will get off with the job that's a call I received many times the book the office the untold story of the greatest sitcom of the 2000s an oral history by Andy green shared how appealing Spader seemed as the show search for Carol's replacement Green explained he played the Robert California character as a suave cocksure mystery man almost as if Don Draper from Mad Men had an evil twin even critics who felt that office had jumped the shark by that point were impressed writer daniel chum told the book's alter that Spader got cast because he seemed to offer a new kind of energy to the show he explained I remember us being really sort of taken by the energy that he brought that was just so different than anyone else's energy on the show and I think we felt like there's something very interesting about this really really specific strange character we were kind of drawn to exploring that a little bit more sadly Spader's unusual energy reportedly didn't vibe well with the rest of the cast and crew Spader's character Robert California was introduced in the season 7 finale of The Office but it was apparently obvious to everyone else around that he wasn't the right choice while undeniably a great act of the character of California seemed unimpressed by everything so he was good at intimidating other characters but it often wasn't funny basically there was no way that Robert California and his serious domenica compared to the lovable Michael Scott meanwhile producer Ben Silverman revealed in Green's book spanner is a good guy and he's smart but we needed comedians and James Spader isn't funny actor creed bratton had similar thoughts about Spader and revealed he didn't seem comfortable that wasn't because he's not a great actor because he is a great actor but not everyone can play what Steve Carell can do in many ways Bratton makes the strongest case about Spader trying to replace the comic genius of Krell was never go to work and Robert California was simply not a good substitute for my little scar plus as their acting styles were so different it was jarring for fans of the show to find the Paper Company slapstick boss replaced with a more serious company man in Green's book room operator Brian Whittle said that he recalled Spader delivering lengthy speeches that inevitably got cut because it didn't match the speed and humor of the show however Spader doesn't remember it this way revealing a majority of the stuff that I did on the show was in the show to be frank if that's how they were operating then I would have gone to the writers and said write less because I'm not just going to act on the set for it to end up on the cutting room floor while Spader defended why he brought to the show is seen that most of the departments working on the office didn't see him as the right fit / Greensburg costume designer Alysia reycraft said of Spader he didn't fit and we worked hard on this to make it happen because if anyone can make something funny that group could no God no God please no unfortunately for Spader Michael Scott was just one of a kind check out one of our newest videos right here plus even more Nicky Swift videos about your favorite celebrities are coming soon subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one [Music]

Channel: Nicki Swift

Views: 208,851

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Id: Jm6KvKJHLfU

Length: 3min 51sec (231 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 24 2020