TRANSCRIPT
Office Ladies | Episode 283 - The Paper Ep 10: The Ohio Journalism Awards with Chelsea Frei
Jenna [00:00:04] I'm Jenna Fischer,
Angela [00:00:05] and I'm Angela Kinsey.
Jenna [00:00:06] We were on "The Office" together,
Angela [00:00:08] and we're best friends.
Jenna [00:00:09] And now we're doing the ultimate Office lover's podcast, just for you.
Angela [00:00:13] Each week, we will dive deeper into the world of The Office with exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes details, and lots of BFF stories.
Jenna [00:00:21] We're the Office Ladies 6.0.
audio cue [00:00:22] [musical sting]
Angela [00:00:24] Hey there!
Chelsea Frei [00:00:24] Hi!
Jenna [00:00:26] Guys, that's Chelsea Frei of "The Paper!"
Chelsea Frei [00:00:30] Hi. I'm still so happy from hearing that theme song and being here and watching you two, because you're the cutest things ever.
Jenna [00:00:37] We're all just grinning at each other.
Chelsea Frei [00:00:39] Yeah, we're really happy right now.
Angela [00:00:41] It's a real joyful room. I mean, we were saying this right when you got here, but we have just fallen in love with you so much. Your performance in The Paper is fantastic, and we're just delighted. And you're just a nice human, too, so.
Chelsea Frei [00:00:53] Thank you.
Angela [00:00:53] We're so happy your'e here!
Jenna [00:00:54] I'm just so excited because I feel like watching you on the show and watching the show blow up as it has, it's really taking me back to those memories from The Office. And I'm just, like, so excited for you! I have to imagine your acting dreams are coming true.
Chelsea Frei [00:01:12] Yes, beyond. Beyond.
Jenna [00:01:13] What has it been like?
Chelsea Frei [00:01:15] Well, it's so funny, because I remember when you guys came to set. I don't know... It must have been early on in shooting. I was so nervous to meet you both because (I think everybody on the show knows) I am the biggest OG Office fan.
Angela [00:01:28] Really?
Chelsea Frei [00:01:28] Yes, like, beyond. I've seen every episode of 400 times. I'm one of those. So not only getting on the show, but then you guys coming and I just remember how sweet you were. We were just so in the thick of it and so nervous. Especially those early days, you're kind of just, like...
Angela [00:01:45] You're finding it, right?
Chelsea Frei [00:01:47] Yeah, and waiting for the tap on the shoulder of, like, "You're not working." I feel like I spent the first two months being like, "Is this real? Am I actually still here?" And then you guys came and it was just... It was so sweet. It was so sweet and meant so much to me. But yeah, it's been surreal. Since minute one of meeting Greg and Michael and just doing the first audition, it's just been like, "Wait, what? I get to talk to these people and be a part of this world." It's crazy.
Angela [00:02:13] I loved our first time meeting you. On the set, we sat in an abandoned cafeteria or something?
Chelsea Frei [00:02:20] Yeah, you did.
Jenna [00:02:20] That's what it felt like.
Angela [00:02:21] And you were just so, gosh, like Jenna said, you were just so full of that, "I'm at the beginning" energy. We talked about it for a long time, how special that was. Now that we've watched the whole first season and we didn't know who Mare was when we met you. And now we're obsessed with Mare.
Chelsea Frei [00:02:41] [laughing] Thank you!
Jenna [00:02:43] Now you're doing season two, right? You're currently filming.
Chelsea Frei [00:02:46] We sure are.
Jenna [00:02:47] Wow.
Chelsea Frei [00:02:47] Yeah, it's so fun. I feel like I just want to gab about everything. But yeah, I feel... It's so funny, coming back now that we all know each other. It's just... You're so lucky. So many shows don't even get to go past one season and just to get to come back and hear about each other's lives. We're all so much more comfortable. Honestly, Domhnall and I were saying the other day, we're just having so much fun. Everyone is just making each other laugh and happy to be back together.
Angela [00:03:13] That's the best.
Chelsea Frei [00:03:14] Yeah, it's so fun. How many months a year would you guys shoot? Because you did... 22 episodes?
Angela [00:03:23] 28 sometimes, oh my gosh.
Jenna [00:03:25] We would shoot, usually, from about late July all the way to April. So we would just have a very short amount of time off.
Chelsea Frei [00:03:35] Wow. That's crazy.
Angela [00:03:37] Yeah, and by the end of the season, we all got sick. And we all talked about it. Like, everyone gave in. Their bodies we're like "[moaning noise] I'm done."
Chelsea Frei [00:03:46] I feel like your body knows, as it's coming to an end. It's always those last couple of weeks, you're like, "I just gotta stuff it down for a couple more weeks and then I can just be in my bed for, like, two weeks after."
Jenna [00:03:59] And our writers, you know, it seemed like they never stopped working. They would get two-weeks off and then they would have to go back in for two months of just brainstorming the next season. So they were especially wiped by the end.
Chelsea Frei [00:04:16] Yeah, we're doing January to end of April. So it's half-ish a year almost, but it's amazing. But even so. This week was our hiatus and it was so nice and we're all kind of just like, "Oh my gosh, but I can't imagine doing all year." But also I would do a million episodes.
Jenna [00:04:34] Well, something I'm very jealous of is that when you guys were getting to enjoy the spoils of your season and your success and you're doing the press and you are getting to go to the fancy parties and all of that kind of stuff, you were not shooting.
Chelsea Frei [00:04:48] Yeah, I can't imagine. I don't know how you do that.
Jenna [00:04:51] Because it's like a job in and of itself, to just promote the thing.
Chelsea Frei [00:04:55] Yeah, it was really fun. I got to go to New York with Oscar and we had two of the most fun nights I've had in New York. We were just let loose, so happy. It was so fun.
Angela [00:05:09] Oscar's really fun to travel with. I've had some accounting escapades. He's really funny.
Jenna [00:05:13] It's true. Well, listen, we've been starting our episodes with a chit chat suggestion from fans, and we thought maybe you'd like to participate in this one.
Chelsea Frei [00:05:22] I would love to participate.
Jenna [00:05:24] It's coming in from Chelsea K., and she is from Denver. Let's see what Chelsea, another Chelsea.
Chelsea Frei [00:05:30] Chelseaaaaa, Chelsea K.
Chelsea K. [00:05:32] Hi Office Ladies, Chelsea from Denver here. Thank you so much for choosing my chit chat question today. My question for you is about the 2026 Winter Olympics. If you could compete in any Olympic sport, pretending that you have all the skills and athleticism required, what would it be and why? Choose one sport for the Winter Olympics and one for the summer. Side note, how fun was it to see Sabrina from The Paper with a huge starring role in the Italy opening ceremonies? Thanks so much, Office Ladies. Love you.
Chelsea Frei [00:06:07] So sweet!
Angela [00:06:08] Oh, I loved that question!
Chelsea Frei [00:06:10] Me too.
Jenna [00:06:10] I like this, the Olympics just ended. I'm still sort of thinking about them. So this is kind of perfect.
Angela [00:06:18] And Sabrina was in the opening ceremony!
Chelsea Frei [00:06:20] Oh my gosh.
Jenna [00:06:22] Amazing.
Chelsea Frei [00:06:23] Was it not out of this world?
Angela [00:06:25] Yes.
Chelsea Frei [00:06:26] I can't believe it. She was also doing that - We'd already started filming and she was in the middle of rehearsals, learning the choreography. She was all like, "I'm doing this, you know, piece at the beginning. You'll see, you will see." And I was like, "Wonder what it could be." I had no idea that it was gonna be, like, seven minutes straight. It was amazing. I truly don't know how she did it.
Jenna [00:06:46] It was like a long form, modern dance and storytelling. Amazing.
Chelsea Frei [00:06:53] She told me she how her hair, it had all those tinsel and everything. She's like, "I wore it back on the plane back to LA." She's like, "I'm so tired. I just ended up like keeping it in my hair until I got back to L.A." It was so cool. We all watched it on set. Very exciting.
Angela [00:07:08] Alright, okay. Should we answer Chelsea K.'s question?
Jenna [00:07:11] Yes.
Chelsea Frei [00:07:11] We gotta. Who's going first? Chelsea?
Angela [00:07:14] You're our guest, Chelsea.
Chelsea Frei [00:07:15] Okay, I mean, I feel like this is so basic, but figure skating.
Angela [00:07:19] Yeah?
Chelsea Frei [00:07:20] Come on.
Angela [00:07:20] I mean, it was really amazing this year.
Chelsea Frei [00:07:23] It was so cool!. But yeah, if I could be in one of those cute little outfits.
Angela [00:07:38] Oh my gosh.
Jenna [00:07:39] Would you be doubles or singles?
Chelsea Frei [00:07:41] Singles.
Jenna [00:07:43] You don't want anyone throwing you in the air?
Chelsea Frei [00:07:45] No, no. But yeah, I think I would be single and I liked how she played with her hair and makeup. I feel like people are starting to have a lot of fun. And the music, so fun.
Angela [00:07:59] She really embraced the whole disco moment.
Chelsea Frei [00:08:00] So cool.
Angela [00:08:00] Such joy.
Chelsea Frei [00:08:01] Such joy. That's the one thing I feel like I would be so overcome with nerves, I don't know that I'd be able to enjoy it. Would you guys?
Jenna [00:08:08] That's a good question.
Angela [00:08:09] Wait, what's your winter sport?
Jenna [00:08:11] Alright, I became a little obsessed with the biathlon. So this is the one where the person cross country skis as fast as they can. Then they have to shoot a rifle at a target and you have to hit all the targets before you can keep skiing again. It brought back those sort of survivalist, old timey, snowy prairie vibes to me, which is just sort of one of my obsessions.
Angela [00:08:37] This is very you. This is the most on-brand answer, in all the years I've known you.
Jenna [00:08:43] If I could, as Chelsea K said, have all the skills and athleticism required...
Chelsea Frei [00:08:50] That's what you'd want?
Jenna [00:08:50] I would love to just cross country my way... Do some target practice, and move on. But I would love to add a third element. I just want to propose this to the Olympic committee. Maybe it's a triathlon. To make my dream come true, I need them to do a second stop where they just chop a pile of wood. So it's cross country skiing, shooting,
Angela [00:09:15] You're skiing with a gun and an axe?
Jenna [00:09:17] Yes. And then they pull the axe out and they just hack up a whole pile of wood.
Chelsea Frei [00:09:22] I'm into this. Do they have to make a fire? Or just the wood? And somebody else makes the fire.
Jenna [00:09:26] That's a good idea.
Angela [00:09:28] Then they have to quickly build a small shelter.
Chelsea Frei [00:09:33] Sleep overnight, and then back and we watch the entire thing. I'm in.
Jenna [00:09:37] Yeah, so that would be mine. I think I would love to be in the biathlon.
Angela [00:09:44] Alright. Well, I love watching the half pipe. I loved all the Olympics, but if I had all the skills, there's something about just going down (I say it like I've done it, I haven't done it) that half pipe and catching that air. Watching them just fly and flip and twist and then come down and whoosh, they do it again. That would be the coolest thing. I would love that. But yeah, and then I don't know if you guys saw this. This is the other thing I'd probably love because it's giant shuffleboard, but curling. I got so into it.
Chelsea Frei [00:10:20] Oh yeah?
Jenna [00:10:20] Do you see curling? Curling wouldn't stop. I'm like, "We're still curling? How many permutations of curling are there?" But it's so... Curling went on longer than I thought it could.
Chelsea Frei [00:10:32] [laughing] That's so true.
Angela [00:10:33] It was true. It was on every day. But they've got one slidey shoe and one grippy shoe. And then there's one person who just yells, "Curl, curl, curl!" I don't know. I'd be really into it.
Jenna [00:10:44] Did you see the brother/sister team? Were they brother sister or were they a couple? They truly looked like Dwight and Angela to me. Or they looked like Dwight and Angela's children.
Chelsea Frei [00:10:57] I'm gonna need a visual at some point.
Angela [00:10:59] That really took off. I think you posted that in your stories.
Jenna [00:11:02] I did.
Angela [00:11:03] And then I think it inspired someone to then actually make a meme of Angela and Dwight. Did you see that?
Jenna [00:11:10] Curling? No.
Angela [00:11:11] Oh my God. In Olympic clothing.
Chelsea Frei [00:11:14] Stop it.
Angela [00:11:16] Yeah, I have it. I'll show it to you guys. It's crazy.
Jenna [00:11:19] Lady, it's-
Angela [00:11:20] Isn't that hilarious?
Chelsea Frei [00:11:22] I'm dying.
Angela [00:11:24] But I do think that the Shrutes would play that game.
Jenna [00:11:28] I do too!
Angela [00:11:29] And I think they'd be pretty good.
Jenna [00:11:32] Guys, what's our summer sport?
Angela [00:11:33] I mean, I know mine immediately.
Jenna [00:11:34] What?
Angela [00:11:35] You know mine, immediately.
Jenna [00:11:37] Tennis?
Angela [00:11:37] Yes!
Chelsea Frei [00:11:37] Are you a tennis girl?
Angela [00:11:39] I am. I love tennis. It's my favorite thing.
Chelsea Frei [00:11:41] Let's get you out there!
Angela [00:11:42] I know, right? Like, "Ladies, 50's, 3.5 USTA, ranking." I'm sure a lot of people would want to watch the slow, slow sport I would do in tennis. I mean, sometimes our coach films us and I just think I'm running so hard. Then he plays it back and I'm like, "Oh my God. This is the slowest, lamest moving group of women."
Jenna [00:12:10] What's your summer sport?
Chelsea Frei [00:12:12] I mean, I love the divers.
Angela [00:12:14] Oh, yeah. But they're so scary!
Chelsea Frei [00:12:16] So scary, but when they make the little splash... I want to be able to make that little splash. When I dive into pools, I'm like, [makes animal noise] but, I would love to be able to do that. I think that would be mine. Again, if I had all the skills in the world.
Jenna [00:12:31] I would want to swim the butterfly.
Angela [00:12:33] The butterfly?
Jenna [00:12:35] Yeah.
Angela [00:12:36] With your broken shoulder?
Jenna [00:12:37] Well, I have all the skills in the world, lady.
Angela [00:12:40] Oh that's right.
Jenna [00:12:40] And all the athletics are required. My best friend in high school, growing up, she was a competitive butterfly swimmer and she just looked so cool. And it's a really hard stroke and I just feel like it would be like, mad respect. I've never in my life even done a single butterfly stroke. I can't just, I never figured it out. So if I could just wish to suddenly be able to do something and do it well and fast and maybe win gold. I don't know, maybe silver. But we just have to see who else is up in butterfly that year.
Chelsea Frei [00:13:14] That's the thing.
Jenna [00:13:15] It's not just you.
Angela [00:13:18] But in this hypothetical world, we all metal, guys.
Chelsea Frei [00:13:21] That is the thing.
Angela [00:13:22] We're gonna maybe it's not the gold, but we're on the podium.
Jenna [00:13:25] For sure!
Chelsea Frei [00:13:25] Definitely, yeah.
Jenna [00:13:27] For america.
Chelsea Frei [00:13:28] Of course.
Angela [00:13:30] Well, that was really fun.
Chelsea Frei [00:13:32] Yeah. Thank you, Chelsea Kay.
Jenna [00:13:33] Why don't we take a break and then we're going to come back and we are going to break down "The Ohio Journalism Awards," the season finale of season one of The Paper with Chelsea Frei.
Angela [00:13:45] Woohoo!
Chelsea Frei [00:13:46] Yay!
audio cue [00:13:46] [musical sting]
Angela [00:13:56] Alright. We are back with Chelsea to break down the Ohio Journalism Awards. And before we get to it, ladies, I have a little something for you from Toledo.
Chelsea Frei [00:14:05] What?
Jenna [00:14:06] From Toledo?
Angela [00:14:07] From Toledo, Ohio. I ordered it a bit ago. I'm so excited to give it to you. As you know, there's a runner in the whole series about the Toledo Mudhens.
Chelsea Frei [00:14:19] Yes.
Angela [00:14:20] And I felt like we all needed some Toledo Mudhens merch!
Chelsea Frei [00:14:24] [screaming in excitement] No!
Angela [00:14:28] [yelling in the background, presumably handing out the gifts] You get one of these!
Chelsea Frei [00:14:30] Wait, it's so cute!
Jenna [00:14:30] It's so cute. It's a navy t-shirt, it says "Toledo Mudhens baseball."
Angela [00:14:36] And then look, it's a little razor back!
Chelsea Frei [00:14:37] Stop it! You are so cute! I don't have any Toledo merch yet. This is amazing. They also gave me an Office Ladies mug and an Office Ladies tote. I'm going to be merched out. This is so sweet! Thank you!
Jenna [00:14:56] Thank you, lady! Well, that definitely put me in a Toledo mood.
Chelsea Frei [00:14:58] Me too.
Angela [00:14:58] I know. Alright. Well, let's get to it. This episode was written by Paul Lieberstein and directed by Jeffrey Blitz. Jenna, how about a summary?
Jenna [00:15:07] Here it is, relationships are made and broken when the Toledo Truth Teller team attends the Ohio Journalism Awards. Esmeralda and Ken fight to appear relevant, Nicole catches Detrick in a lie, and Oscar comes to terms with life as a documentary subject. Meanwhile, Mare and Ned do some "investigative journalism" that turns, shall we say, personal.
Chelsea Frei [00:15:35] [coyly] A little.
Jenna [00:15:36] There's a lot to discuss there. This episode opens on a big awards night. We're at a hotel, all the tables are there.
Angela [00:15:46] The banquet tables, the flowers. It's gonna be a fancy evening.
Jenna [00:15:51] Oscar has a talking head where he explains that the Truth Teller has been nominated for three awards. Mare is nominated for her Softees Clog story. Ned is nominated for the paper itself, and Oscar is nominated for his little puzzle that he does. "Mr. Digit."
Chelsea Frei [00:16:10] It's so perfect.
Angela [00:16:12] That story line is perfection for him.
Jenna [00:16:15] He also says it's been a very long time since the Truth Teller won one of these awards and we're gonna flash back to the last time this happened. It's 1971.
Angela [00:16:26] So long ago, you guys, so long ago. It's the year I was born.
Jenna [00:16:31] Yes, we only have black and white footage of that moment, because it's old. Ye olde, so olden time.
Angela [00:16:39] [in an old person voice] So old, 1871, yes.
Jenna [00:16:43] [in an old person voice] I'm surprised they had sound.
Angela [00:16:46] I know, son of a b***h. I do have a background catch, Chelsea. I love a background catch. I noticed on the wall, where the award shows happening, that there's these keypads and they say "Glendale" on them.
Chelsea Frei [00:17:03] [laughing] Do they?
Angela [00:17:04] Yep. I took a screen grab.
Chelsea Frei [00:17:05] Wait, what do you mean "keypad?"
Angela [00:17:10] Like, a keypad that would probably, I don't know, turn on the lights or something.
Chelsea Frei [00:17:14] Sure. And it says "Glendale." So we know.
Angela [00:17:16] Did you film in Glendale?
Chelsea Frei [00:17:17] We sure did.
Jenna [00:17:19] Where did you film these?
Chelsea Frei [00:17:20] We shot at a hotel up there. I'm sure finales felt like this for you guys too (or episodes like "The Boat Cruise," or something), where you're all just together in one place for a few days and it's not at the lot. So it just feels kind of extra special.
Angela [00:17:35] Sure, it's like a road trip.
Chelsea Frei [00:17:37] It's like road trip and they would keep the bar open for us. So if we would get out late, they'd have a couple of drinks for us at the end of the night. It was so fun. I had so much fun that week.
Jenna [00:17:46] Did they move your trailers there, or did you get a hotel room as a trailer?
Chelsea Frei [00:17:51] They brought everything there, but we ended up having a lot of meetings in those rooms. They would rent out a couple floors of it, and so we would be up there gabbing.
Angela [00:17:59] Right, so you stayed at a hotel, also used them for production, but then you had your whole trailer set up and base camp for hair and makeup. Got it. Well, I was very tickled by that background catch because when we filmed The Office and we'd have driving scenes, fans would write in and be like, "It doesn't look like Scranton. Saw a Palm Tree." And now I feel like I'm that person, like, "I saw the Glendale keypad."
Chelsea Frei [00:18:22] No, thanks so much. You've ruined the magic of the show.
Angela [00:18:25] [snarky voice] Not Toledo.
Chelsea Frei [00:18:27] No, it's true. I feel like we're always trying to get a palm tree out of the back of a shot. Wish we could shoot in real Toledo, maybe one day we'll get to go there.
Jenna [00:18:36] Well, don't count on it, we never went to Scranton.
Chelsea Frei [00:18:39] You guys never went, right? But they went and shot some B-roll, I think.
Jenna [00:18:43] I think they did.
Angela [00:18:45] I think John shot b-roll for the titles, and maybe they went once. Now I feel like we're the two old jaded aunties. We're like, "You're never going to Toledo."
Jenna [00:18:56] "Don't hold your breath."
Angela [00:18:58] "Nine years, we didn't go to Scranton."
Jenna [00:19:00] "You're stuck in Glendale, that's as far as you'll go."
Angela [00:19:03] Well, now Ned is going to greet Marv and Anne's husband, his brother, Lou. Then Esmeralda makes her entrance.
Chelsea Frei [00:19:12] Oh, yeah.
Angela [00:19:13] I think we need to discuss her gorgeous red gown. We did get a fan question from Regina C. in Barcelona who said, "Hi ladies, when I saw this episode and Esmeralda appeared on screen with that stunning red dress, I knew I had to find out more about it. It's perfection: the color, the drama with the flowers and the puffy sleeves, the headpiece. Did they make it? Did they buy it? What are the details?" So Chelsea, I've been very obsessed with your wardrobe.
Chelsea Frei [00:19:40] Oh, thank you so much.
Jenna [00:19:41] This is true.
Angela [00:19:42] And I have been going on these sites. One is called shopyourtv.com.
Chelsea Frei [00:19:46] Oh yeah. I'll sometimes go on that because I love Mare's sweaters. But I'll forget where they're from, from the first season. So I'll go to buy them and try and find them on sale, like, a year later.
Angela [00:19:55] Oh yeah. So one of yours was on Farfetch.
Chelsea Frei [00:19:58] Oh, stop it!
Angela [00:19:59] That big block sweater, the collar sweater with the collar.
Chelsea Frei [00:20:02] Yeah.
Angela [00:20:03] Yeah. I have the details for you.
Chelsea Frei [00:20:05] Honestly, send it to me later.
Angela [00:20:07] Well, this dress is by Solace London Talia. It's off the shoulder. And it is also on Farfetch. So I think Kathleen likes Farfetch, your costume designer.
Chelsea Frei [00:20:17] She sure does.
Angela [00:20:18] So according to the website, when you purchase this dress, it does not have the big flowers. So, I traded emails with Kathleen Felix-Hager, amazing costume designer, as we have said. She sent over pictures of the fitting she did with Sabrina, and the costume department did in fact add all of the big flowers.
Chelsea Frei [00:20:39] She's incredible.
Angela [00:20:39] She's amazing.
Chelsea Frei [00:20:39] I adore her and she's a genius. She does so many other shows and we're so lucky to have her. But I remember in the script, what made me laugh so hard during the table read, it described the dress Esmeralda walks in wearing as "Met Gala." Like, basically she thinks she's at the Met Gala, but it's the Ohio Journalism Awards. And I was like, "That is Esmeralda." Of course if she has a night out and, like, of course she's going to wear a tiara. There's no way she's not wearing a tiara. She has to.
Angela [00:21:08] Right.
Chelsea Frei [00:21:09] But yeah, I remember when she walked in that first day, we were dying laughing. It was more ridiculous than you could ever even imagine. And she just looked amazing in it, which was like... It was just so fun. But yeah, that dress was amazing.
Jenna [00:21:21] Well, next up, it looks like Ned is holding a rabbit's foot. People comment on it. He says that it's not a rabbit foot because he doesn't want to win. You know, "I don't need to win" and he's just happy to be there. He actually says that it is part of a dead mouse that he found in the street.
Angela [00:21:39] I feel like this is classic Ned, because sometimes the thing that's the truth, he's like, "I'll make up something way worse then what is the actual truth."
Chelsea Frei [00:21:47] Yes, that is such a great way to put Ned. Honestly, it's reminding me of what we've been shooting so I'm like, "Yes, that is an absolute fundamental character trait of his" and it's so sweet and charming and also just like, "Oh my god. How could he possibly think that sounds better than what he's actually doing?" But yeah, that rabbit's foot made me laugh so hard.
Jenna [00:22:08] Do you have any good luck charms? Are you a good luck charm person? Or good luck rituals, or anything like that?
Chelsea Frei [00:22:16] That's such a good question. I'm trying to think. I used to have a turtleneck I wore to every audition that I've actually lost. I guess I didn't wear it to my Paper audition. But I had one thing that I was always like, "Okay, if I wear this, I think I'll do a good job." I booked a couple of roles and it was a really s****y, like, old turtleneck that I wore to everything.
Angela [00:22:38] I'm picturing you auditioning, like, "Okay, this movie takes place on a cruise in the Caribbean."
Chelsea Frei [00:22:46] And I'm like, "I have to wear my turtleneck. Or else I won't get it."
Angela [00:22:48] "I have to wear my magic turtleneck sweater."
Chelsea Frei [00:22:49] I think that, I'm not kidding, I think once or twice my agents were like, "Could you resubmit that and wear something else? Cause it's so wrong for the part," but it was my good luck charm. Besides that, not really. I have my like silly little routines in the morning that sometimes I'm like, "If I don't do this..." But nothing like a good luck charm. Do you guys?
Jenna [00:23:08] I had a red blouse. Now that you mentioned this thing about auditioning in the same thing, I have this red blouse that if I wore it, I seemed to get the part. So I wore to every audition.
Angela [00:23:21] Did you wear it to audition for Pam?
Jenna [00:23:23] No, because it wasn't appropriate for Pam. This was when I had to play a pediatric nurse, but sexy. Or a school teacher, but hot. That's what this blouse was for.
Chelsea Frei [00:23:36] Yes, of course.
Angela [00:23:37] That's so funny. I don't really have a good luck charm, but I do have one thing I do every time I fly.
Chelsea Frei [00:23:43] What?
Angela [00:23:44] And now my kids do it. Is that bad?
Chelsea Frei [00:23:46] No, it's good.
Jenna [00:23:47] What is it?
Angela [00:23:47] OK, as I walk up to the plane and I'm about to step through the threshold to get on it, I pat the plane. Like, "Come on, girl, you've got this." I watched a steward clock me doing it. Like, it's my turn to step and I'm like, "Wait a second. Pat, pat, pat."
Chelsea Frei [00:24:05] So it's so sweet.
Angela [00:24:07] Yeah, that's what I do.
Chelsea Frei [00:24:08] The planes are tired. They just came from somewhere else. Sometimes they need a little, "You got this."
Angela [00:24:13] Especially when I feel like I got a really old one. I'm like, "She tie-tie."
Chelsea Frei [00:24:15] Oh, those old ones? I'm like, "What are we? What's happening here?"
Angela [00:24:18] Yeah. You get an extra pat. Okay, now we're in the opening credits. There's this runner Jenna and I loved, it's Adam and his wife and they're living it up at the awards. They're drinking, it cuts to her and she's at this long dessert table and she's got her plate piled, she's stuffing a brownie into her mouth and she is adorable and it just made me think (Jenna, so much) of when we would go to award shows and we would hoard food.
Jenna [00:24:50] Well, because there isn't a lot of food.
Chelsea Frei [00:24:52] This is what I hear.
Angela [00:24:53] You know when it's the little thin cracker, but it's super skinny? What do you call that one? It looks like a straw, but it is a cracker.
Jenna [00:25:01] I don't even know.
Chelsea Frei [00:25:02] Oh, like not a breadstick, but like...
Angela [00:25:04] It looks like two chopsticks.
Chelsea Frei [00:25:05] Sure, sure, sure.
Jenna [00:25:07] That's your bread.
Angela [00:25:08] And then a giant vat of wine.
Jenna [00:25:11] A giant thing of wine, but then also I feel like there would always be this sort of congealed... Like, a shrimp pate or something. Something that feels like it had been on the table a while, so you're definitely not touching that.
Angela [00:25:26] With like one lightly sliced carrot on top. But then all the wine you could ever want.
Chelsea Frei [00:25:34] Fun.
Angela [00:25:36] Fun. But we have hoarded bread before.
Chelsea Frei [00:25:39] Would you guys go out after and eat?
Jenna [00:25:42] You had to. Or the after parties would have food, but do you make it over there? Because I feel like you're a bride at a wedding. You're talking to everybody and you never get a water or any food at all.
Chelsea Frei [00:25:58] Yeah, totally. This is kind of a tangent, huge tangent. I'm sure you guys have talked about this on the pod, so sorry. When did you guys become best friends?
Angela [00:26:07] Your face is so cute. She's doing that face like, "I'm gonna cry."
Chelsea Frei [00:26:11] "I'm going to cry before you even notice."
Angela [00:26:13] We always say it was basketball.
Chelsea Frei [00:26:15] Really?
Jenna [00:26:15] Yeah, I think the basketball episode. Because we were mostly background in that. So they just sat us on a bench for three days, 12 hours a day. And we just told each other our life stories.
Chelsea Frei [00:26:27] That was it. That's all I wanted to know. Sorry.
Jenna [00:26:30] So it was kind of there.
Angela [00:26:31] Yeah, and then it was like nice that we just shared a little partition. We were close to each other in the bullpen. So I would just hop up and I'd pop my head over and she'd do the same and we'd chat there.
Chelsea Frei [00:26:43] Awwww, that's so sweet!
Angela [00:26:43] I think it's why the writers eventually wrote a scene with our two characters at the partition talking. Because they would see us doing it. When Dwight froze sprinkles -
Chelsea Frei [00:26:51] I remember.
Jenna [00:26:52] But then we started going through similar things in life. Like, when the show started, we didn't have kids and then we had kids on the show. There were a lot of parts of our lives where you needed a friend who understood and similarly, just all the fame and stuff. I didn't any famous friends. So I didn't know who to ask about any of this stuff. We just figured it out together and it was really helpful. It was helpful to admit that we didn't t know things. Then also like, "What did you find? How did you...?"
Angela [00:27:28] And then our families, too. Both of our families, like, no one in our families is in show business.
Chelsea Frei [00:27:33] Yeah, same, same.
Angela [00:27:34] Right, so I was just like, "Where do you get the clothes?"
Jenna [00:27:40] Literally, "Where do you get the clothes?" We spent a lot of time on that. We couldn't figure it out.
Angela [00:27:46] We never got great at it, by the way.
Jenna [00:27:48] Well, you hear stories, right? You're like, "Well, this person got something sent to them. How?"
Chelsea Frei [00:27:52] Literally, how?
Jenna [00:27:55] How did it get sent? Like, who put that word out to send it? How did they know where to send it?
Chelsea Frei [00:28:02] Well, and it all looks so glamorous, you know? On Instagram, but nobody sees you lugging your five garment bags, by yourself, through an airport being like, "Did I grab everything? What did I forget? I feel like I messed all this up." I wouldn't say that it's stressful, there are many more things that are stressful in life. But yeah, there's no rule book to do it. So you're kind of just asking people you know, and being exactly what you said, like, "How do you do this?" And trying not to look like an idiot.
Jenna [00:28:35] I remember when I had to relocate to London, for a job for six months, and I had two little kids. My daughter was only seven months old. My son was three. So I flew ahead, because I had to do extra fittings and things like that. I had find us an apartment and I had to get it furnished. So I remember, I was standing in line at IKEA in London. I was ordering a crib trying to figure out when it could be delivered with my schedule. I was like, "Is this what Angelina Jolie does?" She must have someone doing this. Is this how everyone's doing it? They're just doing it themselves?
Chelsea Frei [00:29:18] Yeah.
Angela [00:29:18] That's how we do it.
Jenna [00:29:20] Exactly! This is, maybe, why we're best friends, because we never consider not doing it ourselves. So then we are the person walking through the airport with seven garment bags and a steamer. Hoping that we brought the right shoes for when we get there.
Angela [00:29:38] Yeah, I forgot my shoes on a recent trip to New York to be on a TV show. I didn't even tell you this, Jenna.
Jenna [00:29:44] This happened again? This happened before.
Angela [00:29:48] I guess I've done it a few times.
Jenna [00:29:50] This happened once when I was with you.
Angela [00:29:52] I had dress pants and a blouse, and I had hiking boots.
Jenna [00:29:57] Is that what you wore?
Angela [00:29:59] Oh, and a pair of really old... But not your cute sneakers, like, your old run around town sneakers that have a stain on the white part that you couldn't get out.
Jenna [00:30:07] What'd you do?
Angela [00:30:09] I wore my sneakers and I said, "Can you not get my feet?"
Jenna [00:30:15] Well, next up, Ted and Esmeralda are really mad that they're not sitting with the rest of their team at the head table. Instead they are seated at, I guess, what they're considering the kids' table.
Angela [00:30:27] Right.
Jenna [00:30:28] Because that's where Adam and his wife are. Then Adelola and Travis come over and they are clearly babysitting Adam and wife's kids, so they can have a night out.
Angela [00:30:40] They bring the kids. I would be so pissed.
Jenna [00:30:41] Well, she is pissed. She's like, "What the f-?"
Angela [00:30:45] "What are you doing here with our children and our baby?" One of the things that really cracked me up, though. So Travis is obsessed with Mare's date. We find out Mare's date is Theo, they go way back. Theo rolls coal. He's a YouTuber, but he does stupid stuff with his truck. But I loved this moment. He's, like, so impressed with Mare's date that he wakes up a sleeping baby to be like, "Hey, look at this YouTube video" to the baby. Did you see that?
Jenna [00:31:15] Yes.
Chelsea Frei [00:31:16] That's so good.
Angela [00:31:17] And then I did clock: that was a real baby that he woke up, but then it immediately cuts to him holding fakey baby. Four minutes, 56 seconds.
Jenna [00:31:24] Fakey baby!
Chelsea Frei [00:31:24] Fakie baby. Are you guys big... Like, you catch those things? Cause I catch a fake baby immediately.
Angela [00:31:31] Immediately.
Chelsea Frei [00:31:31] That's one of my things.
Angela [00:31:33] It's the hair, right?
Chelsea Frei [00:31:34] It's the hair. I always catch those, too. Fakey baby.
Angela [00:31:39] Fakey baby.
Jenna [00:31:39] Also, if the actor is moving a lot and the baby isn't, you know the actor's trying to look like the baby is real. But if they're standing still, then that's real baby. But that whole scene was so funny though, and I love the addition of Theo mixing things up.
Chelsea Frei [00:31:57] Yeah, it was so fun to bring in Theo. In that whole dynamic, we had a lot of fun.
Angela [00:31:59] Oh my gosh, and Mare is like, "Is Ned jealous?"
Chelsea Frei [00:32:03] Yeah, yeah, she's playing the game. She knows what she's doing. But getting to have Chris there, who's on "The Bear" and also amazing, he was just so funny and added so much to those scenes. Of just this tension between us, which whatever, we'll get into. But I just love everybody involved. I wanna say everybody's name.
Angela [00:32:18] This is what I would say number one of Mare's dreamy eyed look. There's a lot of dreamy eyes. You have a lot of real pretty eye looks to camera. Like, "[coyly] I don't know what's happening."
Chelsea Frei [00:32:33] I told Domhnall this, I get really embarrassed watching the finale. Because I think she's a really... I think it's been a season of her kind of trying to keep whatever she's feeling at bay. I remember, we just talked about it. You just got to go for it. And something about that, this whole episode feels kind of dreamy and just not like real life, I think, for her. So yeah, the dreamy eyes were... It always felt a little like removed from the paper and what's happening back at the office and...
Angela [00:33:04] But that's what those nights are like. They're intoxicating.
Chelsea Frei [00:33:07] Yeah.
Jenna [00:33:09] You're dressed up!
Chelsea Frei [00:33:09] Yeah, nobody's seen you dressed up before.
Jenna [00:33:12] Mare's having a lot of wine.
Chelsea Frei [00:33:13] A lot.
Angela [00:33:15] And a martini, we'll get to it.
Jenna [00:33:18] \What about your outfit? I wanna talk about it. Cause you have on this lace kind of bustier and then a beautiful kind of satin blouse. But the blouse, it shifts and we see more bustier, less bustier. It was such the perfect, to me, Mare choice. Cause the other time we've seen you dressed up is when you're going undercover.
Angela [00:33:39] But that really didn't feel like Mare, right?
Chelsea Frei [00:33:41] No, no.
Angela [00:33:42] She was playing a character.
Jenna [00:33:43] I believe that came out of Esmeralda's closet, personally.
Chelsea Frei [00:33:46] 100% agree.
Jenna [00:33:47] And she threw it on Mare. But this is Mare's closet and this is how Mare dresses up, and I loved it. I loved this look. I loved the peek-a-boo. It was so great.
Chelsea Frei [00:33:58] Thank you. Yeah, I remember Kathleen and I tried on a few different things and we tried on some dresses and we were just like, "This just doesn't feel like her." It just never felt right. Because we were like, "Yeah, we wanna see her try in a way that she doesn't at the office." Exactly that, getting to see Ned and everybody else outside of the office, clearly she's gonna put thought into it. But a dress never felt right. Something that felt a little worky, but also like a bustier, exactly. There was something that felt really right about it, but we talked about it a long time. Kathleen's just amazing.
Jenna [00:34:32] Well, I remember that with Pam; picking what is the thing she's gonna wear on casino night.
Angela [00:34:38] And her hair.
Jenna [00:34:39] Yes, and like Mare, a big moment's going to happen.
Chelsea Frei [00:34:42] Casino Night was that dress. It's like a pinky, lilac? Yeah, it's a little shimmery-ish, so pretty.
Jenna [00:34:51] Our whole thing was that it was a bridesmaid's dress she wore for someone's wedding.
Chelsea Frei [00:34:55] Stop it.
Angela [00:34:56] Isn't that perfect?
Chelsea Frei [00:34:57] That just gave me chills. I love that fact.
Jenna [00:34:59] Cause we were like, "Why does she have this dress?" And we're like, "What if she repurposes a bride's maid's dress?" They always say you can wear it again, and you never do.
Chelsea Frei [00:35:09] Totally, totally.
Jenna [00:35:10] "You can wear it again!" Where? Where am I wearing this again?
Angela [00:35:13] Where am wearing this taffeta and chartreuse?
Chelsea Frei [00:35:15] It's so true. Wow, that's great.
Jenna [00:35:20] Well, another storyline we haven't talked about yet is about to get set up. It's the Nicole/Detrick storyline. Guess who else is at this event? It's the Weather Girl. The meteorologist who he has, supposedly, also been dating. He talked about her way back when.Nicole's like, "Oh my gosh, look who's here? She's hot." Detrick's like, "Sure, sure." Well as it turns out, Detrick has not been dating her. Nicole goes over and talks to her. We never hear this conversation, but clearly it went something like, "What are you talking about?"
Angela [00:35:58] "I'm not dating him."
Jenna [00:36:00] Yeah, and Nicole gets super upset.
Angela [00:36:02] She's like, "You tricked me into dating you?"
Jenna [00:36:05] "Into a monogamous relationship? How dare you?! You're such a dog, so loyal."
Angela [00:36:11] Yeah. And then he's like, "I kind of, you know, was hoping for that" and then, he breaks up with her? I mean, what's up with that? What is going to happen with them?
Chelsea Frei [00:36:19] Without giving too much away, it's exciting to see how their relationship progresses. I mean, I love them both so much. Ramona and Melvin, they're just so funny in their own very specific ways. Specifically Ramona.
Angela [00:36:33] I will say, I like the character of Nicole. I don't like Nicole with Detrick.
Chelsea Frei [00:36:37] Oh, interesting.
Angela [00:36:38] But I do relate to Nicole, as someone who played a character who wasn't great to the men in her life. Andy Bernard and then my gosh, the whole Dwight and Angela thing was so up and down and all over the place.
Chelsea Frei [00:36:53] I think you were justified in a lot of your feelings during that.
Angela [00:36:55] Thank you.
Chelsea Frei [00:36:56] You're welcome.
Angela [00:36:57] Thank you, but yeah, but poor Andy, she wasn't great to Andy.
Jenna [00:36:59] Andy, that was tough. That was tough, yeah.
Jenna [00:37:02] Without giving anything away in season two, because this relationship ends on quite the emotional cliffhanger, the Detrick and Nicole...
Chelsea Frei [00:37:11] Well, that's what I was gonna say, about that heart breaking moment at the end. When she is crying in my hotel room at the end of the night, it was so heartbreaking. And to me, it just felt so real; of somebody who doesn't know what they want and aren't ready to commit either way, but also they just know they're sad. And I think that's sometimes the only thing you know is the emotion you're feeling, but not exactly what to do with that emotion. Yeah, it was heartbreaking. It's a moment that isn't really seen on screen, but you know, we were in there with her crying and then I have to go out when Ned gets there and everything. But yeah, my heart broke for her in that moment. Cause I was like, "I know what you're going through." You don't know what you want, but this also sucks.
Jenna [00:37:53] Her performance is so good when she's crying. And it's such a hard thing because you're right, we don't see any of the lead up to it. You open the door a little further and she's kind of in the background, but sobbing, but it's so good that you see how deeply she's feeling it. So kudos to her. That's hard to do.
Angela [00:38:15] Yeah. Way to go, Ramona.
Chelsea Frei [00:38:17] Yeah, she's amazing. She's amazing, I also think that's the genius of Greg and Michael. I feel like they're able to say so much with just these little moments. Like, the fact that you kind of totally know her arc with just that moment goes to the script and also just Ramona being able to play it with such gravity.
Angela [00:38:41] I'm curious for season two. Alright. So now the ceremony is starting. We're going to go back to the original timeline here. The host is talking and there's this runner that starts, that cracked me up. Esmeralda, she just wants to be in the room where it happens. You know what I mean? She wants to be at that head table so desperately. She approaches Marv with such a lame conversation segue. I feel like I do this when I'm trying to work my way into a conversation. I'm horrible at it. But she goes like this, "I heard the chef is from Chicago. How exciting is this evening?" And then there's a little bit of Marv shade. He says, "You know what? I'm happy to be back at the awards. It's been a few years." And he looks at Esmeralda and she feels the shade. Then Ken freaks out. He freaks out. It's so funny. He's like, "I need to distance myself from Esmeralda." This is one of my favorite new expressions. He then says, "I'm getting swept away in her mediocrity."
Chelsea Frei [00:39:45] It's kind of the same as when you say like, "That person brings nothing to the table." It's just so devastating. If you hear that about yourself, it's a day-ruiner.
Angela [00:39:56] He goes on to say, "A prestige shift is happening." Oscar now has the ear of Marv. It's a dangerous thing.
Jenna [00:40:06] Well, speaking of Oscar, the first award goes to Oscar on his new game. And Oscar dedicates his award to the documentary film crew. It's crazy.
Angela [00:40:20] Well, we actually had a lot of fans write in about this moment. Jamie B. in Oklahoma loved that he acknowledged the camera crew. And then also Thomas S. from Sydney, Australia said, "Something I would love to hear discussed is, do you think Oscar's colleagues in Toledo have seen The Office: an American workplace documentary?'"
Jenna [00:40:40] Did you guys ever talk about that?
Chelsea Frei [00:40:41] Wow, that is so interesting, because no, we didn't. And I don't think they have. I think that would be... Gosh, I don't know.
Angela [00:40:52] Because the camera crew is there and Oscar knows them. So I feel like at some point, the Toledo Truth Teller employees would be like, "Why do they know you?"
Chelsea Frei [00:41:04] That is such a good point. I don't know if we would have seen it. I don't think Mare would. I think it would freak her out.
Angela [00:41:11] Yeah, I don't think Mare would. I could see Esmeralda maybe looking him up online, but I don't think that documentary would have been on Mare's radar, for sure.
Chelsea Frei [00:41:20] No, I don't think so, but that's funny.
Jenna [00:41:22] My feeling is that nobody there had seen it, which is why Oscar was so upset to see the documentary crew again, because he had managed to... There was some notoriety for everybody right when this documentary came out. But I could also see how - Like, I know for Andy, it was a little bit more national. But I think, in general for the other people, it was probably more like Scranton took an interest in this documentary about their local business. I think Oscar moving away was him wanting to get away from all of that. So he had been living a more anonymous life that he was very happy with. Which is, I think, why, when they show up again, he's so mad. I can't imagine that when he went to work there, anybody was like, "Hey, I saw you in that documentary."
Chelsea Frei [00:42:10] [laughing] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Angela [00:42:09] I think if anyone, one or two people found out after the fact. But I did love in his acceptance speech, it was very Finer Things Club to me, where he was like, "Well, I guess I'm just meant to be the subject of a documentary."
Chelsea Frei [00:42:27] Oh, I remember that speech, cause we all got to sit and watch it so many times and he's so great. He's always so funny, but there was also just such a level of vulnerability when he gave that speech that was so sweet and that you don't always get to see with that character. It was just so great every single time.
Angela [00:42:48] He crushed it. Speaking of speeches, we're about to hear from Mare.
Jenna [00:42:53] Ugh, Chelsea. Chef's kiss to this, to all of it, but Mare wins. Everybody goes wild. I love your choice of looking down and then they announced the name and then the look on your face. It was all so real. And then the way you and everybody just is piling together and hugging.
Angela [00:43:15] And screaming, and you guys all lose your s**t. Jenna and I were saying it did remind us of when Steve won the Golden Globe. We. Lost. Our. S**t.
Jenna [00:43:26] We did. We were at a very fancy party. We weren't allowed inside of the Golden Globes.
Angela [00:43:31] We were in the party adjacent.
Chelsea Frei [00:43:33] Woah. Sure, okay.
Angela [00:43:34] It was a tinted parking lot.
Chelsea Frei [00:43:35] Hilarious.
Jenna [00:43:36] But he won and no one was expecting it and we lost our minds.
Angela [00:43:40] Yeah, I have a picture of Jenna and David Denman, like, doubled over and yelling that I'll never forget. But yeah, your performance was so honest. I remember when I watched it, I was like, "Yes!" I was so excited.
Jenna [00:43:52] I was so excited that you won.
Chelsea Frei [00:43:53] Thank you.
Jenna [00:43:54] How was that?
Chelsea Frei [00:43:56] You know, it's so funny because it really was nerve wracking. It was a room of about 200 people, including all the crew. But all the background actors, everybody from our cast, and you gotta get up there and also remember your lines. It was a crazy week where we had a lot to memorize. There is a part of you like, "Okay, I need to make sure I know this speech." And so I do remember, like, I got up there and I would just get so nervous and hot and my heart would start fluttering. I was like, "Oh my God, I really do feel like I'm giving a speech in front of everybody and it's terrifying." Also, the fact that Mare has come this far in this season. She always wanted to be a reporter, kind of gave up that dream. And the way Ned reignites this love she has for journalism, to culminate in her winning this award for a story where she really could have gotten fired and lost her job and is kind of going against The Man. It was so fun. It was fun. I feel like I did win the award. It's in my house.
Jenna [00:44:59] We wanted to ask you if you got to keep it!
Chelsea Frei [00:45:02] Of course. Taylor, in props, is amazing. He knew how much it meant to me and he gave that to me. But yeah, the other thing they gave me was Ned's speech that he wrote me.
Angela [00:45:15] Aw, the cards.
Chelsea Frei [00:45:16] Yeah, at the end, he really wrote me something, which was very sweet.
Jenna [00:45:21] Chelsea, this is giving me chills. You know, there's this moment where Ned gives you his speech, that he was gonna say and it has all these heartfelt things to you, but you read them to yourself. It brought back teapot vibes for me. When Jim finally gives Pam the teapot note, we never reveal what was really in it. Like you, you just see Pam react to what was written and John really wrote me something. And I treasure it and I have it.
Chelsea Frei [00:45:56] Really? I'm gonna cry. You do?
Jenna [00:45:56] Yes.
Chelsea Frei [00:45:57] I have my cards. And to Domhnall's credit, and I would say I'm 99% positive this is how it went, in the original script he did say something to me. He said the speech to me in that scene. Domhnall said, "Would you mind if we tried one where Chelsea just read something I write to her?" We ended up doing that for rehearsal and it just felt so much better. And yeah, he wrote me something. I had no idea what it was going to be. And he gave me a different one, so every single time I got to react to something different.
Angela [00:46:29] Oh my goodness.
Chelsea Frei [00:46:29] Yeah, he's good. He's good, he is amazing. I just told Taylor, I was like, "{crying] Can I have those?" And he said yes.
Angela [00:46:38] You know though, that's just a great scene partner because that's a gift for your performance.
Chelsea Frei [00:46:44] He truly, truly is. And he is so busy. He has so much to do on our show. He's such a great leader. I could talk about Domhnall forever, but he's such an incredible scene partner. So giving, so present, makes me so much better. I feel like I'm learning from him every day. Of all the gifts of the show, getting to work with him is really... It's up there.
Angela [00:47:08] That's so great to hear.
Jenna [00:47:08] You guys are a great pair.
Chelsea Frei [00:47:09] Thank you.
Jenna [00:47:09] You really are.
Angela [00:47:11] I had a question, though, about your speech, which is about your walk up to the stage. Esmeralda stops Mare, and she's like, "We did it!" Was that choreographed or just did you just find it on the day?
Chelsea Frei [00:47:27] We talked, there was a bit of choreography with which way. It was always like, "She's gonna try and stop you," but it changed a few times, of how that's gonna happen. That is truly the fun of Sabrina is that the physical comedy is so fun that you just have to respond in the moment.
Angela [00:47:43] I mean, I knew it wasn't a surprise to you, but as Mare, you look surprised, like, "Oh my God, how do I get out of this?" But that's so funny, that she changed it up each time.
Chelsea Frei [00:47:54] Yeah, it was amazing. It was so fun. But yes, she was really trying to stop me from getting up there and nothing was gonna stop me.
Jenna [00:48:01] Well, I think we should take a quick break and then we come back, we're gonna really dig into this kiss and a number of other things. There's more to this story.
Angela [00:48:08] There is and maybe, just maybe, you'll hear Esmeralda sing a song about dead journalists. We'll be right back.
audio cue [00:48:25] [musical sting]
Angela [00:48:25] Alright, you guys, we are back. I think you all need to hear something. What's gonna happen at the ceremony now is this in memoriam, right? The journalists that have passed on, there's gonna be that classic slideshow with music playing in the background. As everyone's watching this and giving their respects to these journalists who have passed, Esmeralda sees her moment. She's gonna approach the stage. She takes the microphone! She begins this impromptu song. It's... Oh Lord, we need to hear it.
Chelsea Frei [00:49:00] Yeah, we do.
clip from The Paper - Esmeralda [00:49:03] Good evening, my colleagues. Keep playing, maestro. My name is Esmeralda Grand, and I'm so very sad for all these dead people. It's so sad to be dead. [singing] Sad that journalists / You've made your final deadline
clip from The Paper - audience [00:49:35] [audience members shushing her]
clip from The Paper - Esmeralda [00:49:36] Oh, yes, please! Respect to the dead! [resumes singing] You are gone / Sad that, journalist, you are gone and no one will read you anymore [speaking] R.I.P.! Thank you, thank you guys.
Angela [00:50:02] Your reaction to it is so damn funny. Everybody is cringing so far, and you have this look to camera that's hilarious.
Jenna [00:50:10] I need to back up to the table read for this episode, when this moment came up. Does she sing during the table read?
Chelsea Frei [00:50:17] Oh my gosh.
Jenna [00:50:19] Do you remember?
Chelsea Frei [00:50:20] I don't think she did, but I remember hearing the idea of it and knowing that she was gonna do it. That's kind of the more exciting thing about Sabrina is a lot of the times you'll get a version of it during a table read, but you're also like, "This is going to be..."
Jenna [00:50:35] It could be anything.
Chelsea Frei [00:50:35] It could anything, once we get there. Yeah, that was a very fun day.
Jenna [00:50:40] Did it change? Did she throw in different things or was it pretty much the same song?
Chelsea Frei [00:50:45] It was a lot of the same song. I remember she was incredibly nervous going into it.
Angela [00:50:51] Sure.
Chelsea Frei [00:50:52] It's so funny, cause she's such a larger than life person, but she's also so sweet and has this heart of gold and is vulnerable, like all of us. She's like, "I have to do this song in front of all of you and all this choreography and everything." And she crushed it every single time. It was so fun to watch.
Angela [00:51:10] I had to sing "Little Drummer Boy" in front of everybody.
Chelsea Frei [00:51:13] Oh my God.
Angela [00:51:14] And Jenna knows, I hate singing. I was terrified. But I mean you would never know, Sabrina had that shyness because the way Esmeralda comes to life.
Chelsea Frei [00:51:26] It's perfect.
Angela [00:51:27] She transformed.
Chelsea Frei [00:51:28] It's perfect.
Jenna [00:51:30] It's amazing. Well, after this wonderful dedication to the journalists that have passed on, Mare and Ned are going to sneak away. Because Mare says, "I think you should be prepared to win. I know you're acting like you're not going to win, or you don't care if you win. But I think you are going to win." They've already won two awards. She says, "Let's go practice your speech. I want to hear it." So they sneak off! But then this turns into sneaking into a wedding, you guys crash a wedding.
Angela [00:52:02] You crash a wedding, and then you're dancing together. Then he's kind of practicing the speech but you're also dancey dancey flirty. A guy walks by with champagne and you grab it.
Jenna [00:52:16] Mare has been drinking at this point.
Chelsea Frei [00:52:17] Oh yeah.
Jenna [00:52:18] You did some really good, subtle, drunken acting in this episode.
Chelsea Frei [00:52:22] Thank you so much.
Jenna [00:52:23] Well done.
Chelsea Frei [00:52:24] Thank you.
Angela [00:52:25] It's not easy to do.
Chelsea Frei [00:52:25] It's not. I feel like the less you try and think about it, the better it kind of is. The minute you start playing drunk, it's tough.
Jenna [00:52:31] Oh, yeah. And you're getting the liquid courage. That's the drunkie acting that I really liked. Like, the slow song comes on and you can tell that she's a little buzzed. She's going to go for the slow dance.
Chelsea Frei [00:52:45] I think at a certain point, she has to. I think she knows he's never going to act on this. And I think, at this point, she just wants acknowledgement of-
Angela [00:52:57] Or to sort out this mystery, like, "What is this?"
Chelsea Frei [00:52:59] "What is this?" Yeah.
Angela [00:52:59] "Whatever it is, I just need to know what it is."
Chelsea Frei [00:53:01] I think it's such a fine line because they are so in love with the paper and so focused on it and so happy to have each other in this journey. At this point, she's is questioning like, "Am I making up any other sort of feelings around him? Is it just that we're really good friends and colleagues and want to make this thing work? Is it one-sided?" And I think she's still bubbling with this high of winning the award that she kind of feels like anything could happen.
Angela [00:53:34] She has that body buzz.
Chelsea Frei [00:53:36] Yeah.
Jenna [00:53:36] All of that. Well, guess what? They do win and you guys aren't there. You're not in the room. So Esmeralda and Ken start to accept the award in the cringiest moment of the episode, deliciously cringy.
Angela [00:53:55] I mean, there's a few, but this is in the top five.
Jenna [00:53:59] Then you pry open a kitchen door, which is amazing. I loved all of this. This is great physical comedy, and he sort of slips in on his stomach, and then Ned finally gets to go up to give his speech. But before he can finish his speech, before he gets to the good stuff, Esmeralda 'faints.'
Angela [00:54:23] And then that's it. Everyone rushes the stage.
Jenna [00:54:26] Pivot to after the ceremony, you guys are having a little after party. It's very sweet.
Angela [00:54:35] Mm-hm. Nicole is gonna tell Mare that Detrick broke up with her, but she's totally fine. She's just gonna leave to go change her clothes, no big whoop.
Jenna [00:54:44] Until she looks across the bar and sees him talking to another lady. Now this is what's going to make her cry in the hotel room.
Angela [00:54:52] Then Ned comes and joins Mare, and Mare's having her martini, two olives. He says that everyone just looks magnificent, in the light of the Preston Hotel, I guess. Mare is like, "Are you trying to tell me I look magnificent?" And then Theo interrupts them, so Ned leaves. Now we see Esmeralda and Ned at the bar. I do love this. This is a callback to earlier in the season. Esmeralda is holding a glass of champagne and it is covered with red lipstick. She had a glass of water in a conference room scene that was, like, layered with red.
Chelsea Frei [00:55:30] I'm obsessed with that.
Angela [00:55:31] I love that. If you need a quick adult beverage rundown, here it is, everybody. Oscar's going to join them. He's drinking what looks to be an old fashioned. Ned has a beer. And of course, we know Miss Martini and Esmeraldas drink champagne.
Jenna [00:55:47] What do you drink in real life? Do you love a martini?
Chelsea Frei [00:55:50] I do love a martini.
Jenna [00:55:50] You do love a martini. Did they ask you what Mare wanted or was that scripted?
Chelsea Frei [00:55:55] I'm trying to remember if that moment, but yeah, no. Taylor and I would always talk about that. I think she drinks a lot of wine but I figured, especially at the end of the night, she's feeling maybe something is going to happen. Maybe she needs a little more liquid courage. The martini will get you, the martini'll get you where you're going faster than most.
Jenna [00:56:15] Are you two olives in your martini?
Chelsea Frei [00:56:17] I sure am. Extra dirty.
Jenna [00:56:19] Okay. This is a crossover, drawing from real life. Very good.
Chelsea Frei [00:56:24] Yeah, it's very ambitious to end a night with a martini, I think. But I think she knew. She had some plans.
Angela [00:56:32] She had some plans.
Chelsea Frei [00:56:33] Yeah, that kind of get derailed.
Angela [00:56:35] Yeah, so Ned leaves. Mare is totally put out that he bails in this moment. Then we see him get this speech from Oscar, which is basically Oscar looking over at Marv who's sitting alone by the fire drinking. He's like, "You know what? He's clearly in love with Anne. Why hasn't he done anything about it?" And Ned's like, "He's principled, right? He's her boss." And Oscar's like, "Denying two people a lifetime of happiness is principled?" And then Oscar quotes Michael Scott.
Jenna [00:57:10] Well, he quotes a "great man," who once said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." And then he says, "Also, an idiot I used to know has said that."
Angela [00:57:22] That's great.
Chelsea Frei [00:57:24] Ugh, I love that line.
Angela [00:57:25] But, you know, it's sinking in. Ned leaves and we see that he's walking down a hotel hallway. He's going to go up to a door and knock. We don't know whose door it is. You guys, it is Mare's room! She's going answer.
Jenna [00:57:42] He's at your door and Mare comes out, but she's being secretive about someone being in the room and we assume it's Theo, but she kind of slips out anyway. She's like, "What, what is it?"
Angela [00:57:53] "Not a good time for this."
Jenna [00:57:55] This is when he gives you the speech and he says, "I want you to read what I would have said." It's very moving and he's like, "OK, I know. Forget it. I'll let you get back. I know you have someone in there," assuming it's Theo. But then you crack the door open and it reveals it's not Theo. It's Nicole.
Angela [00:58:17] It's Nicole, and this changes everything for Ned, for sure.
Jenna [00:58:22] Okay, let's listen.
clip from The Paper - Ned [00:58:24] This is probably awful to say, but that makes me really happy.
clip from The Paper - Mare [00:58:28] If any of your reasons were any good, he would have left by now.
clip from The Paper - Ned [00:58:36] You don't think I wanna kiss you?
clip from The Paper - Mare [00:58:37] I have no-
clip from The Paper - Ned [00:58:38] I wanna kiss you. But this is our team. You and me, we're just-
clip from The Paper - Mare [00:58:45] Yeah, buddy and the dude.
clip from The Paper - Ned [00:58:46] Buddy and the Dude, we are making it work. We're making the paper work. This would be the classic, fastest way to mess everything up. We can't do that.
clip from The Paper - Mare [00:58:55] I don't know, maybe we just need to get it out of our systems, just get it out of the way so we can go back to being pals again.
clip from The Paper - Ned [00:59:03] I would love to be pals again, that would be the greatest -
clip from The Paper - Mare [00:59:05] I just feel like it's also gonna suck now that it's been built up,
clip from The Paper - Ned [00:59:08] But that would be great if it was terrible, because then we could go back to normal.
clip from The Paper - Mare [00:59:11] Exactly.
clip from The Paper - Ned [00:59:12] Because we would be a terrible idea.
clip from The Paper - Mare [00:59:13] No, I know, you drive me crazy, as it is. I just, yeah. You know, we're journalists and I feel like.
clip from The Paper - Ned [00:59:21] We should verify.
clip from The Paper - Mare [00:59:23] Do the research.
clip from The Paper - Ned [00:59:25] Okay, so approach the pal maker.
Angela [00:59:28] So first they do the little peck. Then there's the super steamy kiss. A lot of folks wrote in about it.
Chelsea Frei [00:59:36] Whoa.
Angela [00:59:36] Wrote in about actually just this overall relationship, in this moment. Joanne B. from Philadelphia says, "I wanted to give a shout out to the incredible performances of Domhnall and Chelsea for this episode. They have such great chemistry. There were several moments when Ned is looking at Mare at the table that were so sweet and heartbreaking all at once."
Jenna [00:59:56] And then we got this one from Samantha W. in Richmond, Virginia, who said, "Throughout the season, Ned seemed to want to be the professional guy who wouldn't cross the line. I'm just wondering, when did the writers decide this was definitely going to be a storyline?" Can you take us on this journey, this arc of the romance? When did you find out you guys were even going to kiss in this episode? Was it at the table read, or did you know before?
Chelsea Frei [01:00:21] Oh, that's a good question. Well, first of all, I'll say that from minute one, it was something we talked about. From shooting the pilot, it was kind of a push and pull of they're both in love with the paper, Mare is so excited to finally have a job she cares about, Ned finally has his dream job, and there's this little bit of tension between the two of them. So it was kinda something that constantly was talked about. "How far do we want to go with it?" Even little looks between them in earlier episodes. It was like, "We don't want to give away too much. And also, we don't totally know where it's going." Another thing we talked about a lot was the fact that it's only 10 episodes in the first season. We didn't know if we're going to get another season or how many seasons we'll get. What do we want to show? How far should they go in the 1st season?
Angela [01:01:14] Right.
Chelsea Frei [01:01:14] So when it came to the finale, I think episode 9 really informed how far their relationship came, with like that road trip and them being together and spending all this time together and getting the news at the end of the nominations. I think it was all feeling like it was like, "Okay, something's gotta happen by this point. Somebody needs to at least try and acknowledge this." The night before we shot the scene in the hallway, It was me, Domhnall, Paul Lieberstein, Jeffrey Blitz, Greg and Michael in a room in one of the hotel rooms for hours, just talking about it and talking about our experiences with workplace relationships and how each of us felt. We kind of came up with a million different ways it could end. "Let's just see, why don't we give some options so that when they finally put the whole season together, they can see if it feels right that they kiss or if it doesn't."
Angela [01:02:16] Right.
Chelsea Frei [01:02:16] But to clarify, I do think the table read script did have a kiss in it. So we shot it a lot of different ways. But it's funny because the version they ended up using, I think, is what always felt the most right. I'm glad we went for it. I think it was something that was so scary and you're just so scared to take the air and tension out of something like that. But I'm happy we went forward. It felt kind of like a swing and it was like "Why not?"
Angela [01:02:47] I thought it was great, and that it felt honest, you know? I loved that even in that moment, you see who they are to each other. Like Mare's like,"Oh, come on. Really? You're just going to walk away now?" And then Ned, true to Ned is like, "Come on in and kiss the pal maker." Like, what are you saying?
Jenna [01:03:07] I love that line. How much of that was scripted versus improvised?
Chelsea Frei [01:03:10] Oh, gosh. I think a lot of it was scripted, but there were moments. I mean, one thing I loved that was scripted was that she uses the journalism elements to seduce him. Like, "We should just, you know... I know how much you love verifying and researching." So like, maybe if I word it this way, it'll seem like I can... I don't want to say manipulative, but I think there's -
Jenna [01:03:36] It's playful!
Angela [01:03:38] It's sexy!
Chelsea Frei [01:03:37] Yeah, so gosh, it's so... I'm trying to remember. There were definitely improvised moments. Like, I remember a few times when he'd like walk away. I'd be like, "F**k off, dude" and we'd actually get into a fight. We tried so many different things, but it was one of those nights. Domhnall and I were just talking about it. We say that was one of the most special nights ever, getting to sit in a hotel room and just talk with the creators about love and where we think this is going and what feels right. It was just such a collaborative experience. I just remember finishing one of the takes and Jeff Blitz coming out, emotional. Ugh, I love Jeff Blitz.
Jenna [01:04:23] Oh, we love Jeff Blitz!
Chelsea Frei [01:04:25] Is he not heaven on earth?
Angela [01:04:26] He is.
Jenna [01:04:27] The best.
Chelsea Frei [01:04:28] He's everything.
Angela [01:04:28] Talk about a director that makes you feel really safe to take big chances.
Chelsea Frei [01:04:32] Yes! Yeah. Also giving us the space to be like, "The cameras are gonna be far away. We don't want you to even think that they're there because you can't think that they're there." That was also another really fun element of that scene because so much of the season, they are very aware that they are being filmed, and that moment they're not. But yeah, I just remember Jeff coming out emotional. I was like, "Oh gosh. I feel like, okay, maybe we did something remotely okay."
Angela [01:05:00] You definitely did. The final moment (I mean, there is a tag we'll get to) of the actual episode is Ned after the kiss, he goes, "Oh, s**t." And then Mare has this look to camera like, "[sassy] Uh huh!"
Chelsea Frei [01:05:17] Yeah, I think she's pretty pleased. We talked about that, the different ways in which to end that scene. Some were him walking out, but I liked it ending with kind of like, where could this possibly go?
Jenna [01:05:33] I'm excited to see where it goes.
Angela [01:05:35] Yeah. Same. I can't wait for season 2!
Chelsea Frei [01:05:38] Thank you. Me too.
Angela [01:05:40] There's a delicious tag at the end, of Esmeralda making a toast at the wedding that Ned and Mare got kicked out of. It's hilarious. Definitely check that out.
Chelsea Frei [01:05:49] So good.
Angela [01:05:50] This was so fun, Chelsea. I want to end with this one letter that we got. It's just some love from Laura in Veracruz, Mexico. She says, "Hello ladies. This is not a question, but a theory I'd like to share. You know how little kids watch the same movie over and over again, because it makes them feel safe? My theory is The Office is that movie, but for grownups, it's safe. We rewatch it a lot and it makes us feel at home. So The Paper felt just like that. A hug to all Office fans' hearts from Greg. It has the same safe vibe as The Office. And I think that scene where Ned and Mare finally kiss is Greg putting everything right into place again for us. I never feared for something to go terribly wrong with the characters because I know Greg's got our backs. Love ya, bye."
Chelsea Frei [01:06:38] Laura, oh my gosh, that's so sweet, thank you. Okay, that just made me emotional. That was very sweet. Yeah, it's an honor to be just even in the same world and presence. I can't believe I even get to sit across from you guys right now. It's truly insane when I think about it, as somebody who used to watch the show when I was growing up. So it makes me really happy that it made you feel that way, Laura. Thank you.
Angela [01:07:02] Well, you have big fans, two of them sitting right here with you in this room, and we are super excited for season two.
Chelsea Frei [01:07:09] Thank you. Me too. Hopefully, we'll get to chat more.
Jenna [01:07:13] Thank you for answering all of our texts as we've broken down The Paper.
Chelsea Frei [01:07:18] Always, are you kidding me?
Jenna [01:07:18] And thank you for coming in today on a Sunday, on your day off, to talk about the finale.
Chelsea Frei [01:07:24] No place I'd rather be. Thank you guys so much for having me.
Angela [01:07:28] Yay, Chelsea!
audio cue [01:07:33] [musical sting]
Jenna [01:07:34] Well, everyone, that was our last episode breaking down The Paper. We did it!
Angela [01:07:39] We did it! Season one, done.
Jenna [01:07:42] Lady, how great was it that we got to do the finale with Chelsea Frei? She is such a gem.
Angela [01:07:47] She really is. I mean, not only for her amazing performance on the show and coming on our episode and answering all of our texts throughout the season, but she's just a lovely person through and through. I can't wait to see what they do for season two.
Jenna [01:08:01] Thanks for watching along with us. We have really cool episodes coming up that we think you're gonna love.
Angela [01:08:08] Yes, we are diving back into the world of The Office. We have some very fun, All About episodes with your favorite characters and some very exciting interviews coming out and also just chit chatting. So please keep sending us in your chit chats, your Around the Towns and Office questions of the week. We love hearing from you.
Jenna [01:08:26] We'll see you back next week. We're gonna be sharing some Office news and also talking about the Office webisode "Blackmail."
Angela [01:08:34] You guys, it is really Creed's time to shine. It's all about his character and you're gonna love it. So we'll see you next week!
Jenna [01:08:41] See you then!
audio cue [01:08:42] [outro music plays]
Jenna [01:08:48] Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.
Angela [01:08:50] Office Ladies is a presentation of Audacy and is produced by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey.
Jenna [01:08:55] Our senior producer is Matt Beagle, our audio engineer is Sam Kieffer, and our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico.
Angela [01:09:03] Audacy's executive producer is Leah Reis-Dennis.
Jenna [01:09:05] Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.
Angela [01:09:08] Our theme song is "Rubber Tree" by Creed Bratton.