Exclusive: Angela Kinsey talks season 7 of 'The Office', Steve Carell's departure

Angela Kinsey spilled some of the details.

 

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As Angela Martin on NBC's "The Office", Angela Kinsey is one of the most memorable characters we see across the board of television. The character is cold, power-hungry, and often mean -- in many ways, she is quite different from the energetic and kind actress who plays her.

Angela was kind enough to chat extensively with me Friday about a number of topics, including some details about the upcoming season (which premieres September 23), Steve Carell's looming departure, and even what it's like meeting fans who believe she acts like her character in real life.

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Matt: So have you guys started preparation for next season?

Angela: Oh, we are back to work! We went back to work on Monday -- this is our first week back, though pre-production has been there a few weeks before us. We're all back on set!

So is there anything you can spill for us about this upcoming season?

I did email our executive producer Paul Lieberstein (who plays Toby) saying, 'Paul, please! Tell me what I can and can't say so I don't mess up'. We're all pretty curious what the writers are going to do with Michael, since this is the [last season] for Steve [Carell] this year. I'm sort of like really excited, I think this could make it one of the best seasons we've had because in the eyes of Michael Scott, how can he fall out of grace with his job? I can't wait to see how they do that. I think they have a few ideas which way they'll go.

I do know that Holly (Amy Ryan) is going to come back a few episodes so that's going to be interesting. There's a lot more Dwight and Angela stuff already just in the first week back. It's kind of fun because we have this procreation contract, and Angela's really holding him to it! She's wanting to get preggers! So there's some really funny stuff with her pressuring him for sex and making appointments for sex and things like that.

What else can I tell you ... I know that the whole Erin / Andy thing is going to have a twist, though I'm not sure how. I think it's going to be interesting now. They're sort of like this cute couple who is always miscommunicating, and I think that's going to come into play. Jim and Pam -- there's going to be an episode where [Cecelia] is baptized and everyone weighs in on it. That hopefully won't be too horribly inappropriate! (Laughs.)

One storyline I left out that is hilarious -- there's an incident where Michael is required to go to counseling with Toby. That's going to be hilarious because he hates Toby, and now he's going to have to open up.

The one thing I could think of that might be on that level is if Angela has to go to counseling with Phyllis.

Oh my god, that'd be great.

From your perspective, what do you think of the news that Steve is leaving? You guys have been a family for so long.

I love Steve -- we've become friends at work and outside of work we've hung out. I really love his family -- he's such a good guy, and he's been more than a co-worker. He's a mentor, he's someone I can go to for advice -- especially when it comes to my career -- and I really hold him in high regard. I'm going to miss my friend, you know? Seeing him as much as I could see him when we work together.

For the show, I think what's great is that, to use a basketball term, we have a deep bench! We have an amazing ensemble and I feel like we can really discover a new beginning with Michael Scott's departure.

I understand [Steve]'s a busy guy and he has a lot going on and I totally understand and respect his timeline ... 'Michael Scott has run his course here, you know'? So I wish him all the best and I look forward to seeing what happens with his career.

People are already starting to talk about different situations without Michael, so what do you think Angela's response would be to Dwight being promoted?

She would lose her mind. If their relationship is on course ... she wanted him to overthrow Michael years ago. She's definitely a Lady Macbeth -- the power would go to her head. I have no idea what she would put Phyllis through, or Pam, if she felt like her partner was running this company. She's so hilarious because she's one of these people who finds the smallest amounts of power exhilarating. If she's in charge of who gets paper clips, that will make her crazy.

I'm going to go a complete 180 here and talk a little bit about your background. You went to college at Baylor, right?

I did! Did you?

I was just up the road at SMU in Dallas. So how did you make that journey from Baylor to Los Angeles and ultimately 'The Office'? Was that a struggle, and what were some of the things you had to go through?

I always knew this was what I wanted to do. My parents were really determined that I go to college first to get a degree. I wanted to pursue it right out of high school and I'm so glad my parents were really steadfast about me getting an education because with that came maturity [over] time and all of the things you journey through over those four years.

Larry McMurtry is from my hometown. He wrote 'Terms of Endearment', 'The Last Picture Show' 'Lonesome Dove' -- he's a really prolific writer and he has a bookstore in my hometown. I was there one day talking to him. This is probably a conversation that he doesn't remember, but it was so powerful to me because I was at a crossroads, and I was looking for what to do after college and he was like 'go to New York first before you go to LA. Just trust me -- New York is an education in itself.'

So I was like 'that's it! I'm going to New York', and I applied for an internship and got an internship on a new show [with] Conan O'Brien. No one knew who he was. (Laughs.) It was during his first year. I went and lived in a really tiny place by a tunnel -- it was loud and crazy and I had no money and took every acting class I could. [Plus] I worked on this show and met these really creative and artistic people and I just knew what I wanted to do was comedy -- that's all I've ever wanted to do. I was writing a one-woman show at the time.

I completed my internship and I knew that where I needed to be was in Los Angeles. So I joined [comedy troupe] Groundlings and also started in iO West, because improv was my real love. I performed every week -- three times a week. I tried to get on stage as much as I could because that's how I knew someone would see me. My manager saw me and signed me -- then I got a couple of national commercials and I was answering phone calls during the day and going to every audition I could without getting fired. That's how it happened for me.

I [also] did pilots. Right about the time I did 'The Office', I did a pilot for Oxygen. They flew me to New York -- it was a hilarious improv pilot about a beauty salon, and it didn't go. I thought it had more of a chance than 'The Office' at the time. (Laughs.) [Executive producer] Greg Daniels at the time was really interested in 'The Office' in getting people who weren't household names. He wanted that documentary feel to feel realistic. He was going to places like iO West and the Groundlings and standup clubs for years, and so I got a chance to go in and audition. I was just overwhelmed -- I knew that this format would really suit the way I performed. One of the things I was learning in improv at that time was that less is more and you really don't have to do a whole lot. Your audience is a lot smarter than you realize. It was a really good fit for our show.

So with all of this talk about improv, both you and Steve (who was in Second City) have quite a history. So is there a lot of improv that [happens] on set, and what is it like?

We have seriously such a kick-ass group of writers. Our table reads are hilarious and we don't have to do much, you know? If you have that tool already, and you have great writing, the two get to meet up and it's a really wonderful spontaneous moment. I think one of the keys to improvising well is knowing so clearly who you are in the scene. I know so well who Angela Martin is -- the writers have helped me so much with finding who she is. I know her [so well] that at any moment in a scene where an improv moment happens, I know exactly how she's going to react.

I was having this conversation with Jenna [Fischer]-- Jenna is going to be very clear on how Pam feels at any given moment, we've gotten to know these people so well. We don't ever mess with a scene -- we do a scene as it's written, and sometimes we'll do a few extra takes at the end once we have that scene totally clear. We improvise at the beginning and end -- how we get into the scene, how we get out of it, maybe a minute in the middle -- we really do stick to writing, but it's nice to know that spontaneity can happen.

I find a place where I can improvise happens in my 'talking heads' -- that's when the one-on-ones happen with the camera. As long as you're not changing the storyline ... I think a lot of the other actors maybe do that as well. You sort of take the talking head they've given you and sort of go off on it.

Then, I love improvising over in the corner with Accounting, because sometimes we have these scenes that are little vignettes -- they are these sort of standalone moments over in the corner. Usually my favorite thing is to tag a scene with a line, and I love to make fun of Kevin -- it's kind of a fun [thing]. I think one time my character was in a bad mood and Oscar -- shocker -- asked 'what's going on with you'? I list all these things that are bothering me, and then at the end I improvise that 'Kevin had Greek food again'. It stayed in the script and it was this fun moment where I just said something because I feel like Kevin is someone who always smells like his food. (Laughs.) It's just something I came up with on my own. It made it in, and as an improviser I'm like 'woohoo! Got one in there'.

Wow, that's great! I'm going to take you back a couple of years here to when the show was still starting out and you guys pulled out all the stops to keep this on the air. I remember the Mypsace profiles you guys all made for the characters.

I just enjoy making that stuff, you know? I just have a two-year old right now and it's just so hard to carve out any sort of time for that. I feel like I'm more productive when I go back to work, because I sit in the background and I'm at a live computer. On my hiatus, my focus is my daughter and so for me all of that other stuff, I'm still proud of our show and keep the word out on it.

I know Jenna and I were really committed to doing the Myspace profiles -- we still have those accounts, it's just harder to do them now, and life just gets busier, you know? I started doing a blog for iVillage, NBC approached me to do that. I do that when I can, so it's like trying to stay connected to that fanbase is important -- but it's definitely tougher. We were so excited about our show and we still are. That's what I love. We came back for season seven -- we can't believe we're still here for season seven. Everybody's so happy to be back. We get it!

It was such a terrific idea. Do fans over come up to you believe you are Angela Martin [the character]?

Yes, I got messages on my Myspace page where people were like 'I wanted to say hi to you at the store, but I was too scared because you're mean! Anyway, love the show'. Seriously, I will probably out-talk you if you come up to me because I'm a chatterbox.

I had a fan one time in an elevator tell me 'hey, it's going to be okay'. I looked in the mirror in the elevator panel and I had a frown on my face. But I was perfectly happy! I was like 'oh my God! My Angela Martin face has become my real, natural resting face' because I frown so much. (Laughs.) So yeah, people seem to think I'm like her if I'm on the street.

So if you had the opportunity to make a sort of 'Angela Kinsey playlist' featuring some of your favorite moments from the show, what would you include? Can you really even pick out favorite moments over seven seasons?

It's hard, because every year I feel like I have my new favorite top ten. I have to say that one of my favorite episodes that was truly a great ensemble episode was the Christmas episode with Yankee swap.

Oh, the [one where Michael brought in an iPod].

Yeah. I love Yankee swap. It was great for my character because I got to completely lose it because my party didn't go as planned. We also had that great scene where everyone was exchanging gifts, and Phyllis got [upset] and Jim and Pam were tip-toeing around their feelings for each other. There was a lot going on and I think it is a great ensemble episode.

I remember talking to Brian Baumgartner (Kevin) and he said it was one of his favorites, too.

It was a blast to film. We could not get through the scene where Toby revealed the 'babies playing musical instruments' poster. I thought we were all going to die. (Laughs.)

Do you think Angela [Martin] has any further career goals for herself?

I think she's someone who's incredibly content. She has her little power corner in accounting, and she has her minions -- the people below her. I think she is in love with Dwight and always will be. They took a real detour when he froze her cat, and she was determined not to forgive him. She was motivated to be with Andy then, and do all of that stuff.

As grumpy as she is, I think she's really happy. She has her cats, she can reunite with Dwight, and have a family. I think those are her hopes.

Finally, I have one last question for you -- if you could play any other character on TV, who would it be?

I love 'House' -- I love 'House' so much. I would love to play Wilson ... I know he's a man but they have such a great relationship. I love their friendship and how they talk to one another. I would love to be a Wilson to a Dr. House.

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Thanks again for Angela for giving all of these wonderful answers. As another reminder, season seven of "The Office" premieres September 23 on NBC.

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