New Boss of Australia’s The Office Says She Didn’t See the TV Series Until Much Later

Actors prepare a lot for their roles. If you’re about to star in the hit TV series The Office,  one of the most obvious things to do is watch some episodes from the British and US versions. But the franchise’s newest boss, Felicity Ward, says she didn’t catch an episode until filming was done.

In an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 44-year-old actress revealed that she didn’t see the point in meticulously studying them. “I’ve only seen the American and the British one,” she told her interviewer. 

“When I got the job, I don’t know if I stayed away from [the various iterations] intentionally, but I was like, what purpose will it serve? I didn’t actually watch an episode of the American Office until we’d finished filming,” Ward confessed.

She continued, “And funnily enough at the end of one of the takes, I remember one of the background actors saying, ‘Oh, my God, that was such a Michael Scott thing to do.’ And I was like, ‘I have never seen the show… so good, I think?”

Now Streaming: The Office Australia 

Eleven years after the last episode of The Office aired, the Australian version of the reality-style show is scheduled to begin streaming on Prime Video on October 18, 2024. 

And for the first time ever, the new head honcho is a woman, a role previously occupied by Ricky Gervais and Steve Carell.

Like her predecessors, Ward described her character as an optimistic “chump.” Referring to the new boss Hannah Howard, she said good-naturedly, “A delusional optimist or an optimistic delusionist? That’s not a word. Incompetent. Terrible at her job. Desperate. Needy. Lonely. Joyful. Idiot. And a chump. And that is the greatest gift for a female comic, to be in a sitcom and to be able to play a female chump, it’s the greatest.”

Ward, who appeared in Any Questions for Ben? and The Inbetweeners 2, revealed that her character is more similar to the infamous and perpetually funny Michael Scott. Though the jokes will be influenced by the Australian sense of humor, non-Australians will still be able to relate. “And then I think that the humor is very, very Australian, but not in an alienating way,” she added.

Ward’s unique take on the role promises a fresh, hilarious perspective to the series, making The Office Australia a highly anticipated addition.