Office Ladies - Randall Park

Episode Date: August 26, 2026

This week on Office Ladies 6.0, Jenna and Angela welcome the incredible Randall Park, who gives the full play-by-play of his whirlwind shoot on The Office for the iconic cold open in Andy’s Ancestry. The ladies also chat with Randall about his career beyond Scranton, including working with Keanu Reeves in Always Be My Maybe and his recent stint on Netflix’s The Residence. Plus, he joins the ladies for a fan chit-chat, settling an important potato-related debate, and the ladies talk all about doing press on The Office. So, clear your calendar, grab your favorite potato dish... and enjoy!Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question for Around the Town, Chit Chat, and Second Drink favorite moment: https://officeladies.com/submitaquestion Follow Us on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPodFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on TikTok

I'm Jenna Fisher and I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on The Office together and we're best friends. And now we're doing the ultimate Office Lovers podcast just for you. Each week we will dive deeper into the world of the office with exclusive interviews behind the scenes details and lots of BFF stories. We're the Office Lady 6.0. Hello, lady. Hi.

Happy Wednesday. Do I look like I'm stiff in my neck a little? No. Are you? I'm a little stiff. Did you sleep weird? I slept weird, but also I've been traveling a lot, and I fell asleep on the plane in a weird position. That's never good.

Never good. But also, the last time I traveled, I think I needed to up my travel game because I flew with Rain. Rain Wilson, you guys. He's one of my favorite people to travel with. He's a very courteous traveler. A gentleman. Gentleman. Help me with my bag.

Here's an example, right? We got like a cup of hot tea to go. And as I'm carrying it around, he goes, your tea bag. has been in that cup for a long time. I think you should take the tea bag out. Don't you want to take the tea bag out out? I was like, I do, but I'm holding too many things. And so he took the tea bag out for me. Yeah. These are the types of things. Details. Here's the thing. I guarantee you rain does not have a sore neck today. Because that man travels with a really big neck pillow. No, he does not. Yes, he does. And he puts it on the minute he gets on the plane and his neck disappears. And then he's just a

little floating head. Please tell me you took a picture of this. It's the biggest neck pillow I've ever seen. I didn't even know. Do they come in multiple sizes? This sounds like what it looks like. It's not. He's got it in his bag and then he falls asleep and his face is like wedged in it.

Oh, and then he puts his AirPods in? Yeah. Like the AirPods with the string. Just a regular. What are they called? They're not called AirPods. They're not cordless. No, they're not cordless.

He puts him in his ears. Okay. Right? And then he puts it into the little TV, and then he puts headphones over those. Okay. And then his neck pillow. So he's wearing two pairs of headphones and a neck pillow. I'm showing Jenna a picture.

That's pretty great. Yeah. Anyway, I'm sure he doesn't have a sore neck. I might have to stop making fun of him and get his giant inflatable neck pillow. It looks like something you plug in and blow up. He had to blow it up? No, he didn't. But that's what it looks like to me.

That's how big it was. Okay. Anyway, sorry. I've got so many neck pillows over the years and I never use them ever. They just become this thing I'm carrying. Well, I don't know. Rain uses his. Sam, do you use a neck pillow?

I do and then I forget them. I have probably eight or nine in my closet somewhere. Exactly. I get to the airport. I realize I don't have one. I go through a whole thing in my head. Should I get one? I spend the $25 at, what is it, City News or whatever the airport shop is.

And then I bring it on the plane. I use it for like four minutes. Yep. I know I'm saddled with it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, listen, everyone, we have a great episode of Office ladies today. Randall Park stopped by our studio.

We have a great conversation with him. You all know that Randall Park played Jim's friend Steve, who helped Jim and Pam play the ultimate prank on Dwight in the cold open of season nine's Andy's ancestry. We talk all about it. We talk all about that. We hear about his time. the set, how he got the role. But then we also just talk about his amazing career and all of these different fantastic characters he's played over the years. We're big fans. But guess what?

Not just that. He did our fan chit-chat question with us. So without further ado, let's get to it. Randall Park, welcome to office ladies. Thank you for having me. It's an honor. We're excited that you're going to join us for our fan chit-chat question this week. Yeah, yeah. I'm excited. All right. It's so lovely to see you, too, by the way. It's so nice to see you. It's been a while.

It has. All right, are you ready for a chit-chat? I'm nervous, but let's do it. Okay, well, this is from Joey R in Rochester, New York, who says, I was at a company retreat years ago where they had us play some icebreaker games. There was one question we all had to answer that proved more spirited than the rest. If I'm ever at a boring dinner party, I like to pull this one out and it always gets people going. It's really simple.

I thought you guys might like it. Here we go. Rank your favorite forms of potato. To help you out, here's a list. You could also just pick your top three. People get really passionate about their potatoes. Okay, I will just say this. Joey, this list is very long.

So I think we'll read them and then pick our favorite three. Yes. Okay, top three. Okay, generate them off. Here are ways to eat a potato. French fries, tater tots. Latka. Baked, scalloped, roasted, potato chip, mashed, hash-browned, or noki. I forgot yokey as a potato. That's right. That's a good one. That's right. That's right.

That's sneaky potato. I have to add one. What? Well, we have baked, but we don't have twice-baked, and I personally really love a twice-baked potato, and it's going to be in my three. What's it twice-to-bake? You bake the potato, then you scoop all the stuff out, you mix it together with like some cheese and milk and stuff and chives, and then you put it back in the skin and then you bake it again. Oh, and it crusts over a little bit. Oh, okay. I've never had that. Yeah.

Oh, they're real good. Okay. So that's kind of like, yeah, that's why I spake. I get it. I also want to just say, Jenna, that should you ever want a job being like the announcer on a game show, I think you got it. Did I sound like that? You did. It sound like, well, you like that.

moment in a million dollar pyramid where I was like, the answers are, french fries. Yeah, and I was riveted the whole time. You are? Yeah. Yeah. I had a list. I was in. Yeah.

Okay. Top three. Who wants to go first? I mean, number one for me and also on that list. And I would think for a lot of people is French fries. Yes. Is there a better way to make a potato? No.

No. I love my French fries with season salt. Like, if you're anywhere, would they offer that? Yeah. I take it. And any kind, you know, shoe string, waffle. I mean, that's a whole other list, right? That's true.

How to have your fry. Yeah, but any fry. Even wedge? Wedge. I love a good wedge. Really? I love a good wedge. To me, there's not enough ratio between, like, potato and fry.

When it's in a wedge, it's too much potato to me. I almost see it as like a baked potato and a fry. Mm-hmm. You know, kind of in one. It's a grab and go. Bake potato. And then I need my French fries with ranch or mayonnaise. That's fine?

Manage, yeah. You can have it. Okay, okay. All right. Are we all agreeing that French fry is number one? Are we in agreement? Are you in on French fries? French fries are a solid number two for me.

Oh. In first prize is a baked potato specifically from Wendy's. The amount of sour cream and cheese on it, you have no idea it's a potato. Okay. Wait, does Wendy's have a potato bar? Sam, are you making it? that or is it coming at you with all that on there? It's all coming to you as a chewy, sticky goodness. Wait, Wendy still has baked. They do. Yes, they do. I didn't know that. I didn't

chill it. It's great. Give it a shot next time you're there. Okay. Okay. Okay. All right. Well, so you like it because it's kind of taking you further away from the potato, if anything, because you're just putting all this junk on. At a certain point, it's just spoonfuls of sour cream and cheese and bacon. That's what I like in a potato. So that's zero potato. What about just the bowl of? sour cream and bacon. There you go. Okay. That's how Michael Scott would eat. That's his ice cream. Incidentally.

Okay. What's your number two, Jenna? My number two, you know what? Every time, I forget about them all the time because I'm not a child. But anytime they're available, I love a tater tot. I really do love it that way because it's like a hash brown, but tie me. Then I can pop it in my mouth. So I'm going to go tater tot. I'm going to go french fry and then tater tot. It's my wife. My wife is the same. I'm not that into Tator Tots. For me, it'll be baked potato.

Bake potato is your number two. Yeah. Big potato for me too. Yeah. I love a baked potato. I had one last night. Oh, it's the best. My husband will put like a little bit of like olive oil or butter on the outside and then

the big kind of chunky salt. And so the skin has that. So you eat the skin. I will when he does that. Yeah. Oh, I love the skin when you've oiled it up and all that. Yeah. Exactly.

That's what she said. I know. There's going to be a lot. I think, in this potato talk. Okay, so we know Sam's number two is French fries. What is our number three? Mine is twice-baked potato. That's your number three?

Yes. You know, I love a good breakfast hash brown. Okay. Love it. You know, I really like a good boiled potato. Was that on there? It's not. Oh, but neither was twice baked.

Yeah, like a, you know, like a boiled potato with like rosemary and salt and... Some but... Yeah. It's how the English prepare their potatoes, I really enjoy that. Yeah. My mom would always do some boiled potatoes. Yeah, those are good too. You guys, I think we crushed this potato list.

Well, Sam, what's number three? Tater tots. Tater tots. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. All right. Before we take a break, I want to say something possibly controversial about potatoes. I don't love mashed potatoes.

Oh. Yeah, we're done. I'll see you guys later. Yeah, thanks for coming to. We've been friends a long time, and it ends today. I love mashed potatoes. How can you not love mashed potatoes? Is it a texture thing?

It's, I don't know. What about mashed potatoes with gravy? Come on. Oh, come on. Yeah. With the scoop and then the scoop of the gravy in the little, like, pond. Yes. I liked that when I was younger, but something has happened to my potato palate, and I just, it's a pass.

Do you just equate it with, like, kind of, it's just, juvenile. It's like too... No, it's Thanksgiving. Is it too many starches for your all-protein weightlifting diet? It's that I'd rather roast them than have them mashed. In my family, this is the big thing, because everybody else likes mashed potatoes. And sometimes I hit a wall and I roast the potatoes and it's a whole thing at dinner. They're like, oh, mom roasts to the potatoes tonight. This is so funny. I have the complete opposite. I'm like the one that loves mashed potatoes and my kids don't. And I'm like, how can you not love mashed potatoes? How is this possible? It sounds to me like potato eating, we need to switch families.

Yeah. Okay. And then everyone's happy. Yeah, I don't know. Jenna, I'm just really disappointed in you right now. Yeah. Shoot. I used to bet they'd be at the bottom. I'd rather have a scalloped. I'd rather have yokey. Last kind of potato I want is mashed. I'm sorry, I said it. Scallop is at the bottom of my list. Really? Yeah. You know, they're fine. I like a scallop potato. And also, my husband makes a thing called a potato stack. So good.

It's like thinly sliced potatoes and then you bake some stuff. Yeah. But I don't know. I'm just always going to go French fry. Yeah, yeah. Same. All right. We didn't know we could talk about this for so long.

We didn't. We didn't. You were right. Well, listen, why don't we take a break? And then we come back, we will talk with Randall all about the office and other things. Yes. Great. This lady's family, we've got a quick recommendation today that we think you are going to love.

Yes, our friends over at How We Made Your Mother podcast just dropped an incredible episode with the one and only Bob Odenkirk. Yes. And the behind-the-scenes stories that they share in this episode are insane. So first of all, did you know that how I met your mother is accidentally responsible for the creation of a character on Breaking Bad? No, that is crazy. But it's not just TV trivia. Bob also gets really personal. He talks about parenthood. He talks about finding the right amount of fame

and finding his lane as a dramatic actor, even though he started in comedy. You guys, it is such a funny, insightful, and moving conversation. Head over to your favorite podcast app right now and search for the Bob Odenkirk episode on How We Made Your Mother. You don't want to miss it. So, Randall, we have to ask you a few questions about your time. on the office.

My very brief time on the office. But iconic. First of all, how did you get your role on the office? You know, so I was in the last season. Yes. Somewhere towards the end there, the last season. But a few years before that, I auditioned for like a regular role. I was very excited because it's the office.

And I got a call and it was like, they really like you. They want to meet you. So I went to the studio. and I knew Brent Forrester because I had done a pilot of his years before and he was showing me around and I was just, oh my God, I'm going to be a regular on this show. I met with all the writers, like in a big room, all the writers met with me and I met with Mindy and Daniel and Paul.

And it was great. And then I went home and I was like, I'm going to be a regular on the office. This is crazy. Oh, no. And then I waited. And then I didn't hear anything. And I was like, it takes time.

You know, these things take time. You know, they're just getting my trailer ready. You know what I mean? And then I just waited. And it didn't happen. And I was like, oh, my God, what did I say in those meetings? Oh, that's the worst. Yeah.

And then I moved on, you know, started doing other things here and there. And then a couple years later, I just got to call. hey, do you want to come on and play? And I was like, yeah, sure. And I figured, you know, they all knew me at this point. So I didn't audition or anything. They just were like, come on and do this. And then it was just for a cold open.

It was really funny. And it was great. And I was like, great, I get to be on the show, even if it's just like a scene. And then it was kind of a whirlwind. It was all very quick. You know, it was very quick. And I was kind of in and out and had a blast. And then that was it.

Well, this cold open has gone on to become a fan favorite. Yeah. It is iconic. Should we hear it? We should. It's season nine. The episode is Andy's ancestry. Here it is.

Morning, Dwight. Who are you? Who am I? I'm Jim. We've been working together for 12 years. We're a jug, Dwight. You're not Jim. Jim's not Asian.

You serious? Never noticed? Hey, hats off to you for not seeing race. All right then, Jim. Uh, why don't you tell me about that sale that you made yesterday? Uh, Wellington Systems. Sulf them 10 cases of 24 pound letter stock. Or were you talking about Krieger Murphy because I didn't close that one yet, but I'm hoping I've got a voicemail from Paul Krieger waiting for me.

Please enter your password. Oh, and this is when you cover the phone with your hand. Uh-huh. So great. You have one new message. How did you? No, no, no, no. That is sensitive information only for employees, not outsiders. Dwight, cut it out. I'm trying to work.

You don't work here. You're not Jim. Jim. I got us that dinner reservation. Griko 7.30. Oh, great, can't wait. Jim's at the dentist this morning, and Steve is an actor friend of ours. I don't know who you are, but you are not Jim. This is Jim. And it's you in the picture frame. Yeah.

Oh, dude. How did... And then Dwight's mind melts. Yes. Yes. That was my entire office experience. And for a cold open, Randall, you had a lot of dialogue. Yeah, yeah.

You had to just rifle it right off. Like, it was like you had, you know, been working there the whole time. Yeah, yeah. It was kind of like medical drama kind of jargon. There was a lot. Like people's names and all the sale. and all that. Yeah, yeah, it was a lot. But I, you know, at that point, I was well prepared. I think I had some time before the shoot day with the material. And yeah, it was so fun and so surreal.

Just to be acting with you guys on the show that I had loved so much and that I got really close to getting, you know. Well, the writers have shared with us when people would come in that they loved and for whatever reason, you know, they made the character something different. They would have a little folder or they were like people we really liked. That's why they just called you up and said, come do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because they had already fallen in love with you as an actor

and thought you were in the world of the show. Yeah. I love that that was able to at least come back around in some form. Yeah, yeah. And I was just so happy just to be a part of it, especially the final season, you know, just to like just be on that set and to be able to act with you guys. And yeah, it was such a whirlwind that day

because, I mean, I think I was only there for a couple hours, you know? And then I remember they whisked me to another room where we took the photo with the kids. And it was very fast. And at that point, you guys were such a well-oiled machine, you know. Yeah. But I kind of, you know, was done in a couple hours. I was like, wow, that was amazing.

Did you get to stay for lunch? We had a really good catering. I don't think I did. Oh, no. I'm so sad. You didn't get to have it. Yeah, I don't think I did. Well, something I remember was that we had to kiss.

Yes, yes, yes. I was going to ask you guys about that. And we were, I remember laughing with you about it. We're like, well, hello. Yeah. And hi. And also, we usually film those cold opens first thing in the morning. I don't know if that's your memory, if it was like an early call time.

I believe so. It was first half of the day, for sure. So you guys are like, good morning. How are you? Nice to meet you. Let's kiss. Yeah. A little bit.

Yeah. And of course, you know, whenever you have to kiss someone, it's always like just adds to the nerves a little bit, even though it's just acting. It's still like, oh, my God. And it wasn't like this. crazy spooch or anything, but it's like a very intimate thing to do. Yeah. To just put your lips on someone else's lips within like four minutes of meeting them. A little bit. Yeah. And I remember, of course, being nervous about that, but not saying anything. Just do it, be professional.

Professional. But it's always like, oh my gosh, this is like this job is so crazy. So crazy. And even something as simple as that, I even remember being nervous too, because I'm standing up and I have to kind of like hunch around to get to you. And I'm like, God, just don't like, accidentally kiss his eye or like part of his cheek. Like just landed. It was a walking kiss. It was. It was like a drive-by kiss.

Yeah. Exactly. If you think about the world of the show too, Pam has kissed Roy. Yep. Jim. Mm-hmm. And Steve.

But everybody calls you Agent Jim. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's what it's like credited as. Is it? I think so. No. Oh my gosh.

I'd have to look. I think so. script, your character's name is Steve. Yeah, in the script. I feel like I need to check on IMDB. Yeah. You are credited as Asian Jim Halpert. Oh my gosh.

Yes. Yes, that's, that is true. That's crazy. Yeah, yeah. And I think, gosh, I should track down those scripts. I'm bringing up the script right now. Oh, you are. Wait for it.

Okay. Cold open, Dwight is at his desk. A 30-something guy who looks sort of like an Asian version of Jim approaches. In the script, your name is Asian guy. And then Pam in the script calls you Steve. Oh, okay, okay. Okay. Yeah. But you have all that dialogue about that I'm hoping for a voicemail from Paul. Krieger Murphy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. They kiss. Pam walks off. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Do you get recognized from being on the office? How is that plagued? Do you? Because people shout random things at us.

Like someone has shouted to me, green is horrish. I had on a green tank top. And I was like, what? And then I'm like, oh, right. Yeah. Well, you know, I mean, it was after I filmed it and even after it aired, I didn't get recognized too much from it. But eventually, I would say several years later is when it became like a meme.

and when it started really circulating online. And that's when, yeah, people would. I think I was talking about it on Conan once. You know, I had kind of forgotten about it. Not forgotten about it, but it just wasn't top of mind. Sure. It was a long time ago. And somebody screamed out,

Hey, Asian Jim. And I like turned around and I thought it was like some like racial thing. Or I didn't know, you know, because I just didn't put it together. And then soon enough, yeah, I'd hear more. or Asian gyms. And I go, okay, okay. It's online. Yeah. It's online. And now also, in some small way, you guys brought it back because you did this thing with John Cresensky for the trailer, for his movie, right? Yes, for it. That was so funny. How did you even do it? You're like pranking Ryan Reynolds because you're saying you are John Crosinski. And it kind of broke the internet. People like went

berserk for it. I mean, I think it was such a big thing online for so many years. years and John was directing that movie and I don't know if it was Ryan or John I think it might have been Ryan who thought who came up with it and asked if I'd be down to to do it like yeah of course yeah but you had to change your clothes like multiple times to be inserted into like scenes of you directing the movie yes yeah that's right that's right it's really I just shot on a green screen in different outfits and they just kind of somehow put me in there indie shots, BTS shots that they had made for the movie.

It was crazy. It was fun. It was very fun. But yeah, I mean, it just speaks to the power of the internet. It was just such a big thing. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And to this day, people like, it's funny because it was such a big thing online that some people come up to me thinking that I was a regular on the show, you know,

even though I wasn't. You know, it was just one scene. You know? But you stole the scene, you know? I mean, that's all you can ever hope

for no matter like how big or small your role. Like if you get that moment or you're like, I just owned that. Yeah. I mean, for me literally on the day, it was just like, I'm just so happy to be a part of this. I'm just so happy to be on set, on this set in particular. And it was one of those like, okay, that was great. That was great. What's the next? Yeah. Well, we were united after office on Fresh Off the Boat. That's right. You were so great. Yeah, you did several episodes. I did. I played Jessica, who's played by Constance Wu, like her nemesis. Her nemesis. Yeah. She's such, again, a bitch. My didn't typecasting. But that was super fun. And everybody there was so nice.

And that was on for like six years, right? Six seasons. Yeah. That was great on ABC. It was great. It was super fun. And yeah, it was so great having you on. Yeah, I was just tripping that you were on the show. Because, again, I was such a huge fan at the office. And yeah, it was. It was very cool. I was really hoping that our two couples, I was hoping we had some more like double dates because that was really, those like dinner scenes were fun. Yeah.

But Jenna and I have both just sort of been going over your filmography and watching all kinds stuff and we're such fans of yours. And I have something I want to talk about and you have something you want to talk about. But I want to go first. You can go first. Okay. So last night with my teenagers, we watch, because our producer Matt Beagle was like, if you guys love rom-coms. You have to see

Always Be My Maybe that you did. He couldn't be here today and he wanted us to tell you it's his favorite rom-com. Oh my God. So I was like, I love a rom-com. I don't know how I miss that one. I want to watch it. It's so good. You're so funny in it. There's so many funny people in this and you know, Ali Wong is great.

But for those of you who have listened to Office Ladies for a long time, you know that Jen and I are slightly obsessed with Keanu Reeves. And you have a hilarious scene with Keanu Reeves and you punch him in the face. I punch him in the face. I do. I'm sure you've talked about this a lot,

but please can you tell us everything about being in scenes and what was that like? And you're so funny in it, and you get so pissed off at him. That was another surreal. I mean, you know, this job is just filled with surreal experiences, as you guys know. We should say Keanu plays himself, right?

Yes, yes. And he goes out on a date with the person that you're in love with. You have to like watch the person you love be on a date with Keanu Reeves. Yeah, we're on a double date. Yeah, on a double date. And both of the women, though, are just like in love with Keanu Reeves. It's pretty real in that way, right? Yeah, that whole project was so fun because I got to work with Ali, who's an old friend.

And we wanted a celebrity cameo, you know, celebrity to play himself. And I believe we had a list of just like people who we thought we could get, you know. And they were all like people we loved, not nearly as famous as Keanu Reeves. And we presented that list to Netflix. And Netflix was like, why don't you like dream bigger, you know? Like who's the ideal? Yeah. And we were like, Keanu Reeves is the ideal.

They were like, let's try for that. And we somehow got him. He was like shooting John Wick at the time, but he had an opening. And he loved the idea of playing himself in this, you know, rom-com. And he came out for a few days in the Bay Area. And he was just so incredibly nice. He's just like so kind. I mean, all the stories, you know.

Isn't everything you want to hear? Yes. Sam, are you so happy right now? I'm thrilled. Yeah, he was so kind, so open, just sharing so much of his life and his stories with us. And so game, you know, in the scenes. Just coming up with pitches. There's a moment where he's wearing glasses and he takes them off.

And I put my fingers through the cloud. I'm like, there's no lenses in these glasses. And he's like, I know. And that was like his pitch, you know. He had a bunch of pitches like that. And yeah, it was just so fun and surreal. And we were doing overnights. So it was kind of like, you know, it's stressful to do overnights.

But he was just so professional, you know. So like just down to play. Down to play. Yeah. I do have to read one more thing. There is a song that you rap called I Punched Keanu Reeves. And this is like one of the best lyrics. You say, best believe I punched Keanu.

And it was better than any scene you could see in speed. I hit John Wick and now I'm feeling so appealing. You do it so much better than I just read it. You know, that was, so my character is in a band in the movie that was kind of based on this band that I was in out of college. And that after we shot the film, edited it, somebody had pitched like, why don't we like to the closing credits to a song that your character made like, like after punching canneries. So we recorded it and we put it in the closing credits. And yeah, it was great.

I have a follow-up question to that nugget, which is what did you do in the band? Are you in the front band? Do you play guitar? What do you do? In the college band? It was kind of like a hip-hop band. And I was one of two frontmen. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What was the name of your college band? It was called Ill Again. Ill again. Yeah. Yeah. And do you make music anymore? No. No, just for the movies.

It's just for that movie. Okay. And around the house. In the shower. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Well, a couple of months ago, I was scrolling for something to watch.

I'm on Netflix. And this show called The Residence Pops up, which I was not familiar with, but which I am now obsessed. She's obsessed. And now I have to shut up about it. It's great. Okay. I'm going to watch it. It is such a great limited series.

I have not finished it, so I do not know the ending, but you are in it and it is fantastic. And I just want to throw it out there to everybody. I mean, this is one of those we always say late to the party. Like, welcome, Jenna, late to the party. People were nominated for awards. But what was it like making that show? Like, as a fan of that show, I just want to hear, like, how did, it was so cool. The camera work and all of it.

All the levels. And it takes place at the White House. At the White House. Yeah, and it's a murder mystery. Yes, you play an FBI detective. Yeah, who's partnered with Uzo Aduba. Oh, she's great. Yeah, she's amazing.

She's the best. I play tennis with her. I know that's random, but at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, we play tennis. Really? Yeah, okay, sorry, sorry. Yeah, she's the best. And, yeah, we shot it like not too far from here, right down the street from here. And it was one of the best experiences, but also, like, a tough experience because it was, you know, we were shooting, and then the strike happened.

Yeah, during the shoot. And then one of our cast members was Andre Brower, who passed during the shoot. And that was very difficult for all of us. And also just for the show. So there were a lot of, it was a very not tumultuous experience, but there were a lot of, you know, kind of heavy challenges. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that we got through. And the show turned out great. We're just so proud of it. And we're all like so close. I think because we bonded so tight over the, you know, all the things that happened during that. But yeah, I'm so glad you enjoyed the show. It's really special.

Yeah, it is. It's special. Yeah. And I love hearing how close you guys are. Yeah. You feel it. Yeah. And there's a quickness to the comedy.

There's a lot of timing in the show. But then there's also this very riveting mystery. Yeah. It's very intricate. And that's one of those shows where it was kind of like word for word. Like you do it as written. Do not stray from the script. if you get one word wrong

and then the script supervise will come and oh this is that you got that one word wrong. Because you're building so much together you can't like go off too much. It's just so intricate and the timing of it

was just so important and we also just wanted to honor the writer, you know, Paul William Davies and just make sure that you know we just did it just right you know. I mean I've done that a few times

on different shows where they're just like this is word for word and that's always like oh okay, okay. That's challenging. But on this one, it was actually quite easy because the writing was just so kind of lyrical and rhythmic and bouncing off of these great actors like Uzo. It just kind of became like very, I don't know, it's almost like making music.

Yeah. Yeah, it's fun. Well, I love it. Jenna actually told me, you know how there's shows or movies or music you listen to that you then need like your best friend to listen to or watch so you can discuss this morning. She was like, I'm going to need you to watch. much. I was like, okay, okay. It's true.

But you've also had roles in the audacity, which just got renewed for a second season. Yeah, yeah. Can you talk about that? It's a really great show on the AMC, about characters in Silicon Valley, but very different from Silicon Valley, the show. Really funny, really kind of dark and scary, you know.

And I play this kind of tech mogul who's since kind of retreated from the world then coming back again for the next season because it got ordered for another season. That's great. Yeah, Zach Alfenakis is in it, Billy Magnuson. It's just a killer cast and a really, really fun watch. Well, that's on our list. And also, I have to say, my sons loved Wanda Vision.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I know, Sam, you have a question. Yes, I do. Jimmy Wu's my favorite character. No joke, in the MCU, the ending of Ant Man, the exchange where you're like, I thought you were inviting me somewhere. is my favorite moment from any Marvel movie.

My question was if you had any plans to revive that character in anything coming up. Nothing, for sure. There are some things that may happen, but we'll see. Good, good, good. But we'll see, but it's kind of, you know. I'm sure you're not even allowed to say. Yeah, yeah. And they may not.

Let's just put it out there. All right. It's coming back. But yeah, it's being in the Marvel kind of world. It's just such a, again, all of these experiences. where it's just like... Well, while I have you, I realized this morning, I saw you about 10 years ago, speaking of surreal moments,

right down the street at the Montalban Theater, you did a live stage reading of this script called Saving Charlie Chaplin. Oh, yeah. And my question for you was, I remember distinctly you're on stage between John Hamm and Paul Rubens, who's my hero. Yeah. What was that like getting to do a live stage reading with pee-wee?

I mean, come on. It's pee-wee. Yeah, right? Yeah. That was, gosh, I forgot about that. Yeah. That was really fun. And it's one of those kind of you look around and you see these people that you're on stage with and it's another kind of surreal thing. Okay. Excellent. Yeah, it was very surreal. And I love doing stuff like that. You know, like if I get invited to take part in a read of something or any kind of opportunity to kind of, you know, you just meet people. You meet people and it's always fun. And sometimes you meet your heroes. Yeah. Yeah. Great.

It's so fun to have those creative bursts that you're not expecting. you know, and run-ins with people and what that brings out of you. And you've worked for so long, you've done so many amazing roles. What was the very first job you got in entertainment? Well, the real first one I got, I was in college at UCLA. And I thought to myself, I think I would love to be an actor one day. And I didn't end up pursuing acting until way after college. But at the time, I started auditioning for like things that I would find in the back of backstage West.

Does that still exist backstage? I don't know. Does it exist digitally? I don't even know. I'd still like it probably does online, right? But not we would go get the paper and flip to the back and circle things. Yeah, circle the casting announcements and the student films and kind of anything. And I auditioned for a commercial.

It was a non-union commercial that was going to appear on the Channel 18 in L.A., which is kind of like the Asian channel at the time. They would have like the Cantonese language stuff. And then later that night, they would have, you know, stuff in Mandarin and Korean, you know. And I booked it. And it was basically a commercial for these liver pills. Oh, my goodness. How old were you?

I was in college. They were for these liver pills and I played a dad. The whole thing was in voiceover in Mandarin. So I didn't understand what I was selling, really. And I come in and I'm like super tired from. from work and my kid runs up and he wants to play, but I'm too tired. And then the kid, like, it's like, oh my gosh, liver pills. And then he runs to the cabinet, pulls out these liver pills and hands him to me. My 19 year old dad. Yeah. And then I was suddenly like full of energy.

And that was like my first thing. And I, you know, at the time, I was like, oh my God, this is going to change my life. This is my entry into Hollywood, you know. Did you have a copy of this anywhere? I do. I do. That is amazing. I'm really. bad in it. I'm like so overacting everything. But yeah, that was my first, very first thing that got, you know, a modicum of airplay, I guess. And some of my friends' parents saw it. They were like, wait, you're the liver pill dad. Yeah. And I was like, yep, that's me. That's me. Swagger, swagger. So what were you studying in school? Were you studying? I was studying. I was an English major. There was a creative writing specialization.

And so I was basically majoring in kind of short fiction writing. Okay. And then I minored in Asian American Studies. And so, yeah. So later, when you decide to become an actor and take that seriously, is there a role or an experience that you consider to be your big break? Yeah, you know, I think for me, I could really sense like a change in just what was incoming when I did VEP.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. That was a real kind of like, okay, things are different now. And I think because the show was so good and people loved it, it was so well respected in the industry especially

that when I was, yeah, doing VEP, that's when things started to come to me. Yeah. And that was after, I believe I did the office. And fresh off the boat came from that and a lot of things kind of came from that. Yeah.

Such a great. show. So critically acclaimed. Yeah. It just elevated probably everything. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I really could sense like, oh, wow, people like watch in the industry, especially watch the show and love it. And yeah, that's when like things just started changing. Have you ever written a character for yourself? You know, you are a creative writing major. Yeah. I mean, always be my maybe. Allie and I wrote that along with another writer friend, Michael Anko. And that was so fun. Because I was. I put in so much of my own life into that, including the band that I was in, stuff like that. Yeah. So that was my first taste of that, and I've been doing more of that lately.

Would you ever write something for you to do on stage like that? I've been thinking about that. Yeah. I've been thinking about that. Because when I was in college, my initial kind of introduction to acting started out in playwriting. There was this college theater company that I had co-founded with some friends and we wrote our own original plays and that was like kind of my way in, you know, in terms of just like discovering my love for performing. So yeah, I would love to one day. Yeah. Yeah, I did a long time ago, I wrote a one woman show and I wrote all these different characters and I look back on it now and I'm like, oh, they were so, I don't know. Was this like pre the office? Pre everything and I wrote this one woman show, but I got it, you know,

some people came to it and I got a manager out of it and I got a little review and all that stuff. But I've always wondered like what it would be like to revisit those characters. Oh, you totally sure. Yeah. And like 30 years later. Oh, my God, I'm so old. But yeah, Jenna loves theater so much and my daughter does. And I love theater too, but I feel like I've become more patient in a way and how I take like entertainment into my life.

And so I have such patience that I want to go and see things now. and sit there and take it in. Yeah, yeah. I don't know. I feel like it's just so fun. There's nothing like theater, you know? You're speaking. This one's like, like, I'm going to a show tonight at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Oh, yeah. My husband. What are you going to see? It's this show called Mexodus. It's an original musical. Okay. He got us the tickets. That's a way to my heart.

Yeah. He's like, sweetie, there's a date night, date night, great new show. It's Pasadena Playhouse. Yeah. I love that. I love that. Do you ever think of doing theater, like performing a theater? Yes, I've done it.

Yeah. But I hope to make it my habit. Yeah, yeah. I hope to make it my regular gig in the future. After my kids are grown. Yeah. We call it our third act. What's happening in your third act?

Yeah. Jenna's going to be a lady on the theater. Yeah. That is the plan if I can make that happen. I've said this before. There's really two things I've always wanted to do. I've always wanted to be an actress and I've always wanted to be a parent. Yeah.

And I was like, gosh, the parenting years, they're finite. And they only happen right here. Like the acting part can happen in many years when I'm 70, when I'm 75. But the parenting part is they go away. That's right. Eventually, they grow up. Yeah. And it happens so fast.

Yeah. So fast. And I'm like, I want to be here. And like selfishly, I want to do it all. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, stepping back from acting in these last few years. But stepping back in now that I've, they're going into high school and middle. school. And we both kind of have itchy feet. But the podcast has been amazing because one of the

things we've always shared in our friendship was our love of family and family coming first. And having to be away just broke our hearts. So this community and this podcast has been so wonderful. Yeah. And it's so successful. It's like you guys are doing so great. And it seems like you would probably do this anyways. Like just hang out anyway. You're absolutely right. Because it's like if you are, are going to have a job where you get to hang out with your best friend in chat. This is it. Yeah. Because we were already doing that. Exactly. We might as well record it. Yeah, but yeah, that third act. That's like such a kind of exciting thing to think about. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because

it could be anything. Could be anything. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Rian, this was lovely. So wonderful. Thank you for coming. Of course. Talking about your experience on the show. Yeah. Thank you for having me. It's just so wonderful to get that on record. Yes. It's on record. Yes. It's on record. And when you write your next play, if you need two ladies of a certain season in life.

Yep. Yeah. Yeah. It's you two. Yeah. They'd be like, why the older version of Angela and Pam in this play? It's a Korean family. Yes.

And you two will, yeah, be the matriarchs. Yeah. Great, great. You can be your crazy neighbor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. Cookey neighbors.

All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you guys. Well, he is just so delightful. That was so much fun. Okay, now it's time for Around the Town.

I'll kick us off with this from Megan S in Troy, Ohio. Megan says in August, thousands of people from around the world descend upon Troy, Ohio, to celebrate the tour de donut by grace. Oh, boy. With a thousand dozen donuts, ladies. Megan says riders choose their course from the 9.72-mile donut hole to the 58.5-mile double-d challenge, which winds throughout the county. Each race includes pit stops for donuts,

donated by a local bakery for each donut a rider eats and can keep down. Oh, oh, five minutes are deducted from their final time. A special stop called The Glazer gives out jelly or cream food. filled donuts, and riders can eat one of those to deduct 10 minutes from their time. Last year, I did the donut whole race with my nine-year-old son, Isaac, and between the two of us, we ate five donuts. Isaac is looking forward to beating both our donut and, less importantly, our time record this year. Wow. Wow. Okay. I could see, though, how that could take a turn. Yes, that you are now Michael Scott and you've eaten some fettuccini and you're going to run.

I mean, I... This is very similar situation. I'm so curious, like, what's the average temperature for Troy, Ohio in August? I'm Googling it, Megan. I need to know how hot it is when you're riding around and eating these donuts. What does it say? Temperatures can average between 79 to 85 degrees. Well, that's not bad.

But still, that's pleasant. 80s on a bicycle. I didn't look up the humidity. Okay. I won't get into it. Way to go, Megan. I love that. I would just like to work the donut stand and maybe not be on the bicycle. You'd need to test the donuts to make sure. I would. I would make sure that they're good quality. Yeah. Yes. All right. Well, next up, Angela S from Athens, Pennsylvania said,

my home county, just a couple hours north of Scranton, recently hosted a beauty pageant for cows. Oh. Bradford County held the pasture perfect beauty pageant on June 20th. This event recreated a cow beauty contest that took place 100 years ago in the same location. Local farmers gathered in front of our county's courthouse with their most beautiful bovine. This year's winner, a red and white Holstein named Shakira received a floral crown as her prize. That is so sweet. That's so cute. And to wrap up our around the towns, here's something from Lucy I in Edinburgh,

Scotland, but currently living in Spain. Lucy says, I'm on holiday in Spain at the moment and went to a town called Javier for a wee day trip, and we walked past a shoe shop called Shulala. Incredible. I was so excited to see Michael Scott's dream shoe shop name from Golden Ticket come true. I wonder if the owners are office fans. I also wonder how many people in the town have picked up on this connection. I mean, we clearly need to go to Spain and find out. And go to Shulala. Go to Shulala. You guys, thank you so much for writing in with your Around the Towns.

Up next, we have our office question of the week. Yes, this is coming from Caton L. in St. Petersburg, Florida. Hello, Office Ladies. I am a longtime listener. I'm currently listening to your Office Trailers podcast. When I originally read the title, I accidentally thought you were talking about TV trailers. However, that made me think that I would love a discussion about how

promotional videos, magazines, articles, TV interviews, all the things the office promotional materials came to be for the cast and crew. What does that process look like? Thank you. I love you. You two are sunshine to the world. Aw, thanks so much. That's so nice. Gosh, a lot goes into all of that. It is a little bit like a part-time job that gets attached to your full-time job, the full-time job being making the show or making a movie, whatever you made, there becomes this whole other job, which is promoting it, getting the word out about it, creating promotional materials. And you know, Katyn, depending on what project you're working on, there can be a whole team of people assigned to the marketing. So you might have a day where you go and you do a photo shoot,

right, with different people in the cast. And then also they might say, hey, could you guys take these phones and capture behind the scene content, or they'll send someone to capture behind the scene content. And then they use that and make it into little clips. And then you have a day where you talk to people who write on magazines. And then sometimes you go on TV shows, talk shows. It's a whole machine. Yeah. Before every new season, they would arrange some sort of full cast photo shoot on our set. And one year they set up a bunch of paper boxes in the break room. Yes. And a lot of you have seen that picture. Sure. Trying to fit us all in that break room, I don't think they thought that through. Well, I think that's why maybe the

following year, they put us all in the warehouse, yes, in front of a bunch of paper boxes. But they would have us do a group photo. They would put us in different pairings. They would have single photos. And that would be our morning. We would spend four or five hours just cycling through doing promotional photos, but we also had to be doing the show. So if you weren't getting your picture taken, then you were shooting a scene. And my goodness, if that wasn't a crazy scheduling job for Kelly Cantley and Rusty Mahmood, our ADs. And then also you would have sort of like a full-on press junket day and you would get paired up with someone. Jenna, you and I would get paired up together and we would have to be on set super early. You know, we would arrive at 3 a.m.

to be camera ready by 4 a.m. Yeah, and they'll sit you down in two chairs, and then you are via satellite to all these different live morning news programs, but those programs are starting on the East Coast as of 7 a.m. And you have the little thing in your ear, and you can hear the newscasters, you can't see them,

you can hear them, and they're asking you questions, you do that for three minutes, and they're like, okay, and now we're going to New Hampshire, Yes, there's someone standing on set with you. And we often did these on the set of the office as our backdrop. But there was a person's role at NBC who would have a list of all the cities in the United States that we'd be popping on to their morning show. And they would say, all right, guys, up next, Toledo, Ohio.

And three, two, one, you're alive, right? And then it would be like, up next, you're on with St. Louis, Missouri. And three, two, one, and on and on. And by the end, you have no idea who you're talking to anymore. And also, by the way, if you need to go to the bathroom, you got to hold it. Yeah. They would have little breaks that they would work in. And there'd usually be a slightly larger break where you could get some breakfast

while you waited for all of the West Coast news programs to start at actual 7 a.m. And then after you did that, you started your regular workday. Yeah. So we would be there for three hours and then go into our regular workday. And, you know, everyone was always so gracious, but I do have a new appreciation for everyone that ever has to call in or pop in via satellite to a talk show because there is that delay. And I'm sure all of y'all listening have seen this before. Someone's on your news program and they pop in. And the person asks the question like, all right, can you tell us about this new season of your TV show?

And then they're like, yes, I can't, I'm sorry. Yeah, it's like so clunky sometimes. And they haven't fixed that, which is funny. There's a delay and it's always a little tricky. But anyway, it is a lot of moving parts, the way shows and movies come together and the promotion. I have a lot of respect for all the different departments. Yeah. But it has to get folded into your already very busy work week.

And all of that scheduling would have to go through the producers if someone needed to go do a taping of the tonight show. We would have to move the whole schedule around because the rest of us would still be filming. And none of those late night talk shows are filmed late at night. That's correct. They're filmed at like 5 p.m. or 4 p.m. You know, it's like late afternoon. So a workday is still happening half the time. Well, and one of the things that would be tricky for me, and Angela, I'm sure this was true for you as well, not so much for the gentleman. But our hair as our characters of Angela and Pam was very specific. But if I was going to go be a guest on a late night talk show and wear like a cute little dress or whatever and, you know, it didn't work.

I would have to be depammed. I know. And you would have to be D. Angela Martin. I know. I didn't want to go on a late night talk show with a bun with a severe bun. Exactly. Maybe I should have one time. Well, there was one thing, and I can't remember what it is now off the top of my head,

where we had something we had to go to, Angela. I feel like it was a panel that we all had to talk on after work, but we went late, and Kim Ferry was just like, Jenna, the best I can do is throw that hair up into like a crazy ponytail for you. Otherwise, you're going to have Pam hair. I was like, do the ponytail. Do the ponytail. I went to an award show in my Angela Martin ponytail because we filmed so late. Yes.

I can't remember which one it was. The Golden Globes, I was in a red dress and I'm in my Angela Martin ponytail because I didn't have time. With the swoop bang. Yes. Well, there you go. Thanks for asking that question. That's a little bit behind the scenes. We love hearing from you guys.

I'll put a swipe up in our stories where you can write us. And a huge thank you to Randall Park for coming into the studio with us today. Yes, it was so generous of him to come in the studio and speak with us today. Thank you, Randall. Everyone, be sure to check him out. He's everywhere, okay? Look for him in AMCs the Audacity. Look for him in these two indie films, Brian and Wishful Thinking.

And then, of course, there's a show that I am obsessed with. I'm late to the party, but I'm obsessed, which is the residence on Netflix. And for you folks out there that love a rom-com, as much as me and Matt Beagle to. Check out his 2019 movie. Always Be My Maybe. It's so fun. And you get a little Keanu Reeves.

All right, everyone. Thank you so much. We'll see you next week. See you then. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. Our senior producer is Matt Beagle and our audio engineer is Sam Pfeiffer.

Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis. Office Ladies. was mixed and mastered by Bill Shultz. Our theme song is Rupertree by Creed Bratton.