The Office Reunion: What Every Cast Member Has To Say About It
Throughout nine seasons and several years on NBC, the workplace mockumentary The Office won over critics and fans alike to become one of the most well-loved sitcoms in recent memory. It's not difficult to see why loyal fans would want the show to return to the airwaves as soon as possible. As the series prepares to make a huge move from other streaming sites to NBCUniversal's upcoming platform Peacock, Dunder-Mifflin's former employees have all been grilled about whether or not they would participate in a possible reunion — and the answers have been quite varied.
After spending such a long time on just one project, it makes sense that some of the Office's former stars might not be eager to return to Scranton just yet. Meanwhile, some of the show's other stars have voiced their total support for a reunion, making for a confusing smorgasbord of conflicting opinions as to whether or not an Office reboot will actually come to fruition. From Steve Carell to John Krasinski to Ellie Kemper, here's what the stars of The Office have to say about a possible Office reunion.
What Steve Carell has to say about an Office reunion
Playing the fearless (to a fault) and well-meaning but horribly buffoonish leader of Dunder-Mifflin, Steve Carell made a name for himself after a stint on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart when he took on the role of Michael Scott. The Americanized version of David Brent, played on the original British version of The Office by Ricky Gervais, Michael always wanted to do the right thing, but often came across in the worst possible way. Eventually, after seven seasons, Carell decided it was time to move on from The Office. Within the show, Michael moved to Colorado with the love of his life, Holly (Amy Ryan), leaving the titular office behind for good.
For his part, Carell definitely seems like he's put The Office firmly in his rearview mirror. Not only did the Academy Award-nominated actor nearly back out of the series finale — in which he made a cameo appearance — but he also firmly put Office reboot rumors to rest during a press conference for his 2018 film Welcome to Marwen. When asked if he would participate in an Office reboot, he gave a blunt but honest answer: "I'll tell you no. I just can't see it being the same thing, and I think most folks would want it to be the same thing. You'd literally have to have all the same writers, the same producers, the same directors, the same actors, and even with all those components, it still wouldn't be the same thing."
Carell's answer was tough but fair, and frankly, he might be right. Trying to recapture the magic of The Office could very well be futile — and despite the best efforts of his cast members during a 2018 Saturday Night Live appearance, during which they reunited, it looks like Carell, at least, is officially out of office.
How does John Krasinski feel about an Office reunion?
When The Office began, most of its stars were total unknowns, and it could be argued that none of them took advantage of their newfound fame quite as well as John Krasinski. The handsome, talented everyman appeared as the lovable yet smug Jim Halpert for the show's entire run — letting audiences fall for him throughout his office romance, career highs and lows, and eventual happy ending.
Since his time in Scranton, Krasinski's star power has reached unmatched heights. Besides his high-profile marriage to Emily Blunt, the actor struck gold behind the camera with his original horror film, A Quiet Place (in which he starred alongside Blunt), and is currently starring on Amazon's Jack Ryan reboot series. A Quiet Place: Part II will hit theaters on March 20, but Krasinski, who apparently isn't busy enough, is already eying a potential Office reboot.
In a February 2020 conversation with Esquire, Krasinski admitted that he would relish an Office reboot, saying, "The Office was absolutely everything to me. I mean it is my beginning and my end. I'm pretty sure at the end of my career I'll still be known for Jim. That was my first experience with Hollywood. It was the first creative family I've ever had. In many ways, they will always be the most important people in that most important experience in my career. So yeah, if they did a reunion, I would absolutely love to do it."
With all that said, does Krasinski think a reboot is a good idea? Apparently, the answer is a resounding "yes." In 2018, he told Entertainment Weekly that he thinks "we should reboot it." He added, "I think it's hard obviously with everybody's schedule to do an Office reboot, but I would so be down."
Jenna Fischer's thoughts on an Office reunion
After nine seasons playing Pam Beesly, the once-timid secretary at Dunder-Mifflin who grew a serious backbone throughout the years, Jenna Fischer might seem like one actress who would want to move away from her Office character. Though she's worked on plenty of television projects since The Office ended, including the recent series Splitting Up Together, Fischer has definitely ridden the high of her Office fame throughout the years. Recently, she launched a podcast alongside fellow Office alum and real-life best friend Angela Kinsey. Entitled Office Ladies, the podcast sees the two reminisce about their favorite memories from the show.
As far as Fischer is concerned, she's definitely interested in returning to Dunder-Mifflin. In conversation with Kinsey and Ellie Kemper during Kemper's guest-hosting stint on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (via The Hollywood Reporter), Fischer said she would love to get The Office going again, but with one caveat. "I would not do an Office reboot, but I would love to do a reunion special episode," she revealed. "I'd like to get us all together again."
Considering that Fischer has commented on The Office a lot over the years, it's no surprise that she'd be game to get the gang back together again.
Is an Office reunion something Rainn Wilson would want?
As far television characters go, few are more memorable than The Office's Dwight Schrute, played by Rainn Wilson. An inscrutable and completely individual beet farmer whose life goals were to run Dunder-Mifflin and make Michael happy beyond compare, Dwight was as infuriating and insane as he was emotional and hardworking. Thanks to Wilson's career-defining performance, Dwight was never a caricature, but a well-rounded character with a ton of depth and development.
Like some of his former co-stars, Wilson is interested in a possible Office reunion, meaning that he might be up to don Dwight's signature mustard-colored button-downs once again. In a January 2018 interview with 1010 WINS, Wilson revealed, "I'm up for it if the timing is right, and the schedule is right and it's a funny idea. I don't want to just keep doing more Office episodes so it would have to be something really cool."
With that said, Wilson also noted that nobody has exactly reached out about an Office reboot just yet: "I haven't heard anything about it. No one has called me... I don't think it's going to happen — or if it did happen I think it would be years from now."
In the meantime, fans can enjoy his reunion with his on-screen wife Angela Kinsey on Conan O'Brien's late night TBS show.
Angela Kinsey's feelings about reuniting the Office cast
You might not think that Angela Kinsey, the woman behind the most uptight and cantankerous character on The Office, would want to return to Dunder-Mifflin once again, but apparently, she's fully on board. Playing a character that shared her first name, Kinsey spent nine seasons as the extremely difficult yet secretly sensitive Angela, whose uptight and often angry nature actually hid a kind center she preferred to keep under wraps.
Kinsey spearheads Office Ladies alongside her real-life BFF Jenna Fischer, and when the two of them joined fellow Office alum Ellie Kemper while the latter guest-hosted Ellen DeGeneres' daytime talk show, Kinsey voiced her unequivocal support for an Office reunion. When asked if she'd be interested, Kinsey simply said, "I would do anything they called me to do. So if you want to call me, I'm around."
Take note, Office showrunners: Kinsey is ready to get back to work at Dunder-Mifflin.
What Ellie Kemper thinks about getting the Office gang back together
Much like most of the other then-unknown actors that populated the halls of Dunder-Mifflin, Ellie Kemper has worked hard to make the most of her post-Office career — and thanks to other opportunities on the small screen, she's done quite well for herself. Kemper joined The Office in 2009 as the extraordinarily dimwitted but incredibly sweet secretary Erin, who replaced Pam during Jenna Fischer's brief absence. She remained a part of the cast until the show came to a close in 2013.
Like her fellow alum Angela Kinsey, Kemper has confirmed she was definitely down to return to The Office. During her December 2019 guest hosting gig on Ellen, when Kinsey said she's in for a reboot no matter what, Kemper replied, "I will be there. Angela and I are rebooting The Office."
Kemper also touched on the subject earlier that year. In February 2019, she even offered up some ideas as to how the reboot could happen, telling Entertainment Weekly that she feels like the cast and crew could "convince Steve Carell to do one episode." Piggybacking off her castmate John Krasinski's proposal that the gang come back together for a Christmas special (much like the British Office did), Kemper continued, "Maybe people could be convinced to do that. I'm not speaking for them, but in my dream, maybe we could do one reunion."
Would Mindy Kaling be interested in an Office reunion?
When The Office arrived on NBC at the beginning of 2005, it was introduced into the network's line-up as a mid-season replacement, which didn't seem promising. Luckily, when it succeeded, the writers who had stuck with The Office from the very beginning were richly rewarded. One of those writers was Mindy Kaling, who has become a bonafide superstar since playing the vapid, self-absorbed Kelly Kapoor for the show's entire run. Since The Office wrapped, Kaling became a best-selling author; fronted her own series (The Mindy Project, which ran on Fox for four seasons before moving to Hulu for two more seasons); appeared in blockbusters like A Wrinkle in Time and Ocean's 8; and even became a mother.
While promoting her 2019 film Late Night, Kaling, alongside her Office alum Amy Ryan, addressed the apparent impossibility of an Office reunion. When Indiewire inquired about a possible reunion, Kaling said she "[loves] the show" and has "been surprised by how increasingly popular it's gotten." However, the real issue is timing. As Kaling put it, "I think Steve [Carell] is literally shooting a show right now and has another show coming up, so besides that I don't think he really has time for an Office reunion."
In any case, Kaling ended up briefly reuniting with at least one of her Office castmates. In late 2019, she appeared in a small yet important role on AppleTV+'s The Morning Show alongside Carell.