The Paper, the new spinoff of The Office, is in the noble pursuit of saving journalism.
So it’s fitting that, when talking to its star Chelsea Frei, that our conversation begins with breaking news: Minutes before we meet on Zoom, Taylor Swift posted on Instagram that she and Travis Kelce are engaged.
If “!!!” was a vibe, that was how Frei and I reacted when we saw each other.
“I just found out, I think I screamed. I think I ruined another interview I was in. It’s huge,” Frei says.
It’s particularly fitting that breaking news happens during a press day for this show, I respond. “That’s the thing,” she says, then repeating it emphatically: “THAT’S THE THING!”
The Paper is the much-talked-about series that takes place within The Office universe. Twenty years after filming cubicle workers at a paper company in Scranton, Ohio, the same documentary crew arrives in Toledo, Ohio, to film the employees at a newspaper, The Truth Teller, as they attempt to salvage the once vibrant outlet amid a dismal landscape for local media.
Frei plays Mare, an army vet who is the sole person in the Truth Teller newsroom who has journalism experience. So when Ned (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives, a sweater-vest-wearing beacon of optimism and delusion—Saving local journalism? In this economy?—she’s immediately won over and on board for the ride.
The Paper takes place in The Office universe, so it’s tempting, and quite easy to compare: Ned and Mare are this series’ Jim and Pam.
Spoilers abound in our conversation if you haven’t yet binged the entire season of The Paper, but suffice it to say that the comparisons are apt—even if Frei, and Office superfan, refuses to acknowledge it.
I love The Office, but no one on that series reads as “cool.” But Mare does. How does it feel to be the first cool character?
I mean, it’s very sweet to hear, because I think of myself as the least cool person ever. But I do agree. I do think Mare is cool.She marches to the beat of her own drum. I love that. She’s an army vet.I love how she’s always cared about journalism, but hasn’t totally found her way into it. And, you know, when Ned comes to the paper and, and revitalizes it and wants to turn it into something meaningful and impactful in the community, it’s exciting to see her kind of come out of her shell again and have this kind of newfound hope in her life.
How much did you know about her when you first started coming in for auditions for this? I’ve heard different stories from different cast members about knowing nothing, not even knowing what the show was, or what their character was.
I knew nothing. I had an audition for Untitled Greg Daniels/Michael Komen Project. I had dummy sides. I think her name was Paula. I had no idea where she was from, who she was. And that was kind of the beauty of it. That’s obviously the genius of Greg and Michael. They had already written such a brilliant script, but when I went in, it felt like they were really just kind of like molding me with this character and also asking me things about my life and bringing that into it and.
When I finally got the part, I honestly had no idea. I didn’t know her name was Mare. I didn’t know it was set at a newspaper. All those things I just got to read when I got to read the brilliant pilot. I knew close to nothing.
What were the things then that, like you found along the way in that process that built Mare into that we see on screen?
I think something that Mare and I share comes from my Boston background, a sense of being a hearty woman. We both are not afraid to say how we feel. You don’t wanna get on the wrong side of us. These are things that I started to amplify more and more throughout the audition process. Because it kind of felt like that’s the way the character was going. And then when I got to find out later that she was this army vet and worked in a tank with mainly men, I was like, oh, this is all starting to make a lot of sense.
What I loved too is that she’s clearly very inspired by Ned, but also, she’s not intimidated by him. Which I think is an interesting dynamic.
I agree. I think they both want the same thing, for the paper to succeed and to be doing something that is bigger than themselves. They have completely different ways of going about it. And I think both of their ways piss each other off and create this constant conflict that I hope is funny and also just was so fun to play.
At one point did you know that you were going to be a romantic lead of this show?
I did not know that. It kind of happened as it went.For me it’s, it’s less about the romance from the beginning and more so about these two people build something that they love together.
I think the romance is the paper. Everything else around it happens organically and you see how it plays out throughout the season.
At what point in building the season did you realize that this was going to build from the just joint inspiration to make the news into this more romantic partnership, with crushes and flirting and things like that?
Well, to be honest, it was a constant conversation. That is the beauty of [creators] Greg and Michael. They want to hear what you have to say, what you’re feeling as the character. It was a lot of check-ins to make sure that it feels right with the story.
It was more so like, would these two people feel this way at this point in the story? We talked a lot about office romances and how we met our significant others and how that can play out in so many different ways. So it was kind of constantly a conversation. Up until the last episode, I didn’t even know how it was gonna end. We actually shot it several different ways.
Oh really? I found it cute and also very realistic to watch the sort of build throughout the season of, first everyone in the office recognizes that this is a mutual crush that’s happening and it becomes a teasing thing. And then I think Ned probably realizes it and then we finally get to Mare realizing it.
It’s funny that you say that. I kind of felt subconsciously there was always a little something in Mare that she was intrigued by him. I also think Mare is somebody who hasn’t had a lot of serious relationships. I think she’s somebody who kind of has gotten used to being on her own and gotten comfortable with it. I don’t think it was necessarily at the forefront of her mind, to find somebody. I think there’s so much else in her life that fulfills her.
And it’s more interesting that it’s a person like him who is a 1 percenter and wears sweater vests. It was really interesting to see in the awards episode the foil of her friend who she brings to the date as her date, like that’s the kind of guy I would assume that she might be into.
Totally. I think that’s the thing, like he is so against type for her and I think the things that infuriate her and piss her off throughout the season are also the things she finds annoyingly charming about him, if that makes sense.
That’s what I thought made the last two episodes so realistic. The road trip where they get each other’s nerves, but then moving past that to the intense connection at the ceremony. That’s a very realistic journey.
Thank you. That means a lot. I agree. I think the person we end up falling for, at least in my experience, it’s always like, oh, that’s a little shocking that you’d fall for somebody with that characteristic. Sometimes you can’t help it and sometimes the things that you thought would bother you about somebody are the things you end up falling for.
Because this show takes place in The Office universe, a lot of people are going to compare Ned and Mare to Jim and Pam. How do you feel about that?
I really hope people don’t, only because I am the biggest Office fan of all time, and Jim and Pam are like the two most iconic characters ever. Of course these comparisons do happen, but I think this is its own thing and I think their relationship is its own thing. I think particularly for Mare and Ned, it’s much more about building this paper and building this community of journalists together. The more it can be seen as its own thing, I think, will only help everybody. Mainly me.
I love how that answer was rooted in the fact that it’s because you’re such a big Office fan and want to protect that. What is your relationship to The Office?
It’s embarrassing. I’ve seen all the episodes, I don’t even know how many times. I was somebody who watched when I was in college, you know, hungover on a Sunday. I watched it when I’ve been shooting far away from home and just needed to feel not so far away from everybody.
It just is like my comfort food. It reminds me of home and I feel like I know these characters and they make me feel safe. That’s why like when I found out I was up for this, it was beyond surreal, and it was kind of one of those things where I was like, well, I’m never gonna get it, so let’s just have fun.
So how did you react when you found out that it wasn’t just an untitled Greg Daniels pilot, but an actual spinoff of The Office that you were booking?
Brain implosion. When I found out I got it, it was one of those moments whereI just kinda levitated off the ground. I was like, this can’t be real. But it’s also one of those things where, there’s a job to do and you want to go in and do a good job. I think it wasn’t until after the pilot, I started to be like, okay, I don’t think I’m getting fired. Like at least like not right now.
