An extra’s report on ‘Weight Loss’

Ohio University student Stefan Kumor was cast as an extra in last week’s episode ‘Weight Loss.’ Stefan appears as a student in the “Expressive Typography in New Media” class that Pam Beesly mistakenly attends.

In the scene, Kumor says “he is sitting behind a computer wearing a blue velvet suit jacket and a white T-shirt with a fake-pink tie painted on it.”

Being the uber-geek I am about behind-the-scenes stuff, I contacted him to ask a few questions.

Q. Were you a fan of The Office before this experience?
A. I wasn’t really a fan of The Office per se. I have seen a few episodes and thought they were hilarious, I just never became an avid watcher.

Q. How were you picked for the role?
A. I was cast through a casting agency in L.A. while I was there in the summer. They needed people who looked like they could be college age with Mac computers, and a bunch of other specific characteristics that I guess I had. It was really just getting lucky, to say the least.

Q. Where were the scenes shot?
A. The scenes were shot on the USC campus in classrooms. If you remember at the season finale, Pam says she wants to go back to art school, and I am one of her art school classmates. A couple of the scenes were shot in the classroom and a couple in the halls outside the classroom.

Q. How many days did you shoot?
A. We shot for one full day. It was exhausting. There was a lot of waiting around for the camera to start recording, and there was a lot of prep work to be done before we could start shooting.

Q. Who did you meet from the cast/crew?
I met of course John Krasinski, Jenna Fisher and Rich Sommer (Mad Men) who was guest appearing. I happened to be walking behind them and didn’t want to bother them, then they started wandering around and I asked if they were looking for food, luckily they were or that would have been awkward.

So I walked a couple of blocks with them and had a quick conversation with them, just kind of a polite “nice to meet you conversation.” I also met a lot of the crew who were equally helpful and very nice. Everyone working was professional and acted like I was part of the cast.

Q. What was the atmosphere on the set?
The atmosphere on the set was organized chaos. The crew was constantly moving and getting things set up, but they were very professional and didn’t waste time.

Q. What was the process like? What was your interaction with wardrobe, makeup, hair, props?
Wardrobe were the ones who helped us with our “costumes.” They asked us to bring clothes with us that an “art student” would wear and if they felt it was a good fit, you could wear it, if not you could use another of your outfits, or just use something they provided.

It always amazes me how much time and attention goes into preparing even the shortest of scenes. Thanks for the details, Stefan!

14 comments

  1. Very cool! Thanks for giving so many details about your day on the set. It’s absolutely fascinating how much goes into just one or two scenes.

  2. I, too, am an uber-geek about behind-the-scenes stuff, so this was fascinating! Thanks for the interview, Stefan and tanster!

  3. That would be a dream come true for me to be an extra on The Office!

    Great interview, I love all the behind the scenes info :)

  4. Very cool!

    On a side note, I’ve been to the building/classroom/hallway where they shot. I need to go again and think, “Pam’s been here…”

Leave a Reply