‘The Office’: Behind the Scenes

Gaffer Frank Esposito

Image Credit: Photo Credit: David Strick

Gaffer Frank Esposito is at the center of a frenzy of activity as ceiling tiles are adjusted by crew before a scene in the NBC comedy's seventh-season finale. One thing the cast of the NBC comedy didn’t have to fake while filming its finale was the heartache over Steve Carell’s exit from the show a few weeks earlier. “I will always treasure it,” Rainn Wilson, who plays militant office drone Dwight Schrute, says of Carell’s final episode. “That curious feeling of trying to make comedy and also not cry — it’s the strangest sensation. It was very tough filming my last scene of the season and leaving my second family for several months.”
Angela Kinsey and Ellie Kemper

Image Credit: Photo Credit: David Strick

Angela Kinsey is attended to by hair and makeup, while Ellie Kemper helps her run lines.
B.J. Novak

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B.J. Novak and actress Cody Horn on set. For executive producer and writer Novak (who also plays Ryan Howard), it’s all about the future — a new boss! — and reinventing the show. “In writing season eight, I’m trying to come up with new relatable stories for all the characters we still have,” he says. “Next season will return to the very small, observational stuff we started with, but with all these characters — Andy, Darryl and Erin –we didn’t have in the beginning. I’m enjoying it more than I thought.”
Creed Bratton

Image Credit: Photo Credit: David Strick

Creed Bratton wields an axe in the office his character occupies. The actor is actually a former member of the 1960s band the Grass Roots, known for such hit songs as "Midnight Confessions."
Leslie David Baker

Image Credit: Photo Credit: David Strick

Leslie David Baker, who plays Stanley, studies a monitor intently. The set computers are all Internet-enabled to give the cast an added boost of office-life realism.
Brian Baumgartner

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Brian Baumgartner sits at his character Kevin's desk. Following Steve Carell's departure from the show, emotions ran deep for Baumgartner, who savors more than a few scenes from the series’ seventh season. “I loved when Michael proposed to Holly under the sprinklers, he informed the office that he was leaving and when he said goodbye to every character,” he says. “So many moments that, as a friend of Steve, I will carry with me.”
Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey, Brian Baumgartner, Paul Lieberstein

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Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey, Brian Baumgartner and Paul Lieberstein all waiting to deliver in the Office finale, which ended without a new office manager for the Scranton, Pa., branch of Dundler-Mifflin.
Creed Bratton, Taylor Holloman and Craig Robinson

Image Credit: Photo Credit: David Strick

Creed Bratton, Taylor Holloman and Craig Robinson hang out on set. Hollomon played the daughter of Robinson's character, Darryl, who is hoping to replace Michael (Steve Carell) as the new office manager.
Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski and Ed Helms

Image Credit: Photo Credit: David Strick

Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski and Ed Helms gather on set as Helms' microphone is put in place. Wilson says he can always tell when Krasinski, who plays his onscreen nemesis Jim, is about to lose it. “He gets a twinkle in his eye when he’s about to break, and the corner of his mouth twitches,” says Wilson. “I’m instantly a goner.”
The Specialists

Image Credit: Photo Credit: David Strick

Wardrobe, hair and makeup specialists who are not currently needed on set work on their computers while shooting takes place.
Soundstage

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The soundstage where The Office is shot.
Jenna Fischer

Image Credit: Photo Credit: David Strick

Jenna Fischer (Pam Beesly Halpert), who had to conceal the early stages of her pregnancy on camera, won a competitive cake-making contest among the cast and crew. celebrates winning the Office cast and crew’s season-finale baking contest. One thing she won’t miss during the show’s summer hiatus? “Getting up at 5 a.m. — I hate it,” she says. “But I’m wondering if motherhood will change that. I’ll already be up, so I might as well go to work.”
Makeup Mirror

Image Credit: Photo Credit: David Strick

The Office films on a nondescript lot in Van Nuys, Calif. Like its onscreen counterpart Scranton, Pa., the setting lacks pizazz or Hollywood glamour.
Ellie Kemper

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Ellie Kemper in a reflective moment at the reflective makeup mirror. Kemper, who plays receptions Erin, had a personal stake in the cast and crew's dessert contest. “Preparing for the Gooey Butter Cake bake-off was tough,” says Kemper, who tied for third with co-star Phyllis Smith. “Jenna [Fisher], Phyllis and I are all from St. Louis, and the butter cake is a St. Louis delicacy. I’d never baked that cake before, and mine exploded in the oven. So I had to make a second one.”
Leslie David Baker

Image Credit: Photo Credit: David Strick

Leslie David Baker stands in front of a makeup mirror. “The scene where Michael tries to hug Stanley was hard,” Baker says of Steve Carell’s final episode. “My character is supposed to push him away, and I got through the first two takes just fine. But that third take … I had to sit at my desk for a couple minutes. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”
Ed Helms

Image Credit: Photo Credit: David Strick

Ed Helms engages in facial contortions on behalf of his character, Andy Bernard, during a run-through of rapid-fire dialogue. “More often than not, it’s Ed who makes it hardest for me to not crack up,” says co-star Oscar Nunez, who got married after the season wrapped and spent his honeymoon in Spain. “To me, Andy is one of the funniest characters ever. He kinda reminds me of Floyd the barber from The Andy Griffith Show way back when.”
John Krasinski

Image Credit: Photo Credit: David Strick

John Krasinski peers through blinds as a scene is about to start, "The Office," April 14, 2011

Gaffer Frank Esposito

Angela Kinsey and Ellie Kemper

B.J. Novak

Creed Bratton

Leslie David Baker

Brian Baumgartner

Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey, Brian Baumgartner, Paul Lieberstein

Creed Bratton, Taylor Holloman and Craig Robinson

Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski and Ed Helms

The Specialists

Soundstage

Jenna Fischer

Makeup Mirror

Ellie Kemper

Leslie David Baker

Ed Helms

John Krasinski