Brent and Justin answer ‘Did I Stutter?’ questions

Q. I love Stanley’s rants — I think they’re absolutely brilliant. Was any of his rant in this episode improvised? | Katie_AK

A. No, that was generally scripted. Leslie knew this would be one of his biggest episodes ever and he was extremely well prepared when the cameras started rolling. I’ve never seen him so intense and focused. — Brent

Q. Does it crack the cast and crew up when Stanley gets to rant (especially since Leslie seems like such a laid back, warm person with a great sense of humor in interviews)? | what’s the dealio?

A. When Steve Carrell and Rainn Wilson do scenes together, they crack each other up. Rainn and Krasinski ditto. Brian Baumgartner who plays Kevin will get into uncontrollable laughing fits during scenes, but I haven’t seen it happen in scenes with Leslie. His vibe is a little more serious and intense, and his character is intimidating in a way that discourages silliness I think. — Brent

Q. I loved that we got to “see” the cameraman sneaking back in to film Stanley and Michael’s conversation without their knowledge. Whose idea was this, and did it have anything to do with Randall Einhorn directing? | two toasters

A. Randall as you know is not only a director but also our lead cameraman on the show, and yeah I think his perspective as cameraman gave him a lot of enthusiasm for those sequences where the cameraman is called out as a character in the show. He loved shooting those sequences. I think his energy doubled when shooting that stuff. — Brent

Q. How many takes did Rainn need to get through his close talker authority scene with Steve. He looked like he was ready to break any second. Especially when he used the pointer stick to hit Steve in the cheek. | J to the D F

A. Yeah, using the pointer like that was Rainn’s improv, and both of them kept cracking up every time he did it. We were debating beforehand whether to give him a metal pointer or a laser one, and I’m so happy we chose the one we did. — Justin

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47 comments

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1. 
   47. Glenna  Wed. May. 7, 2008 | 9:42pm

   thanks for answering questions! i love reading these :]

   p.s. i’m looking for a car and i’m definitely interested in your honda civic, haha!

2. 
   46. J'osh  Tue. May. 6, 2008 | 3:38am

   Sorry, but mark me in the Toby has an agenda column. I smelled something fishy as soon as he wouldn’t allow Pam and Jim sign the disclosure agreement.

3. 
   45. Fancy New Beesly  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 11:32pm

   So Toby wasn’t supposed to be a complete A-hole? Hmmmm. I’m not convinced the writers don’t have something up their sleeves.

4. 
   44. StephP  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 6:26pm

   Glad they answered the Toby/Jim/Ryan question. Discussing it with my other OFFICE fans at my office, we all thought Toby was using Ryan as a way to break up Jim and Pam.

5. 
   43. what's the dealio?  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 6:03pm

   It’s so fun to get all of the insight from the writers (and their responses were hilarious!) Not only did we get to watch a wonderful and well written episode to start with, we then are treated to this awesome Q&A–icing on the cake! Thanks so much to Office Tally for facilitating this and to Justin and Brent for the generous time to share the cool behind the scenes information. No wonder The Office has such devoted fans–we’re treated so well!

6. 
   42. Post-it Thief  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 5:35pm

   Thanks! Justin, I would have had your back on “The Reprimand.”

7. 
   41. Tina  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 4:48pm

   Woo!! Yay! My question got answered thank you so much Tanster, Justin and Brent!!!!

   I died laughing at the ’shock of a collar’ part! lol

8. 
   40. rspad  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 4:32pm

   On NBC.com, there’s a photo of Michael attempting the fluffy fingers on Stanley - too funny:

   Thanks for taking the time to answer questions! It’s very cool to hear the inside story.

9. 
   39. dying star  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 4:21pm

   Thank you, once again, tanster and The Office writers, for doing this for us fans. What class acts you are! I adore this show more and more every week!

10. 
    38. jkrasislove  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 4:13pm

    these are great! i think this was my favorite questionnaire yet!

11. 
    37. Michelle  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 3:19pm

    I love these Q&A’s! Thanks for setting them up.

    I’m still wondering if Angela’s “tall” adjective was a reference to Dwight…

    I remember hearing somewhere (maybe it was in the video commentary on the DVD) that in one of the scripts for Stanley’s previous rants, all it said was “Stanley rants” and then he got to just… rant. It’s interesting that they scripted this one. I loved it.

12. 
    36. Lisa  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 3:16pm

    Thank you Brent and Justin for answering these questions!! I love reading these.

13. 
    35. In2TheRoses  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 2:57pm

    Thanks writers and OfficeTally!

14. 
    34. Pam Scherbatsky  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 2:53pm

    Haha. Amazing. Tanster, please say Gene & Lee are coming back for Job Fair questions?

15. 
    33. Amie  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 2:51pm

    The writers always answer everyone’s questions and it is so nice of them! They are all so talented. This Q&A is hilarious, this pair crack me up. Thanks so much Brent and Justin! :)

16. 
    32. Shrutastic  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 2:39pm

    They HAVE to post the fluffy fingers scene on-line. I can’t believe that got cut out!

17. 
    31. Jill  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 2:09pm

    Great and interesting stuff! Thanks for answering, Justin & Brent :)

18. 
    30. Joy  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 2:07pm

    The writers are awesome :) I can hardly get through reading a Q&A without cracking up. Thanks tanster for putting these together, and thanks to all the writers who take the time to answer the questions.

19. 
    29. Jim  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 1:59pm

    Thanks for taking my question, guys (and Tanster).

20. 
    28. Cayce80  Mon. May. 5, 2008 | 1:15pm

    I LOVE these little questionairres. Keep ‘em coming. It’s so much fun to read the behind-the-scenes takes on these episodes.

    Thanks again, Tanster and “Office” writers.

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