The star that the quip was ‘one note’ (Picture: NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
One of the stars of a global hit TV show has admitted that she ‘didn’t feel good’ about a gay joke that was written for her character.
When The Office first premiered in 2005 – the US adaptation of the UK show of the same name – Angela Kinsey’s character Angela Martin was portrayed as stuck-up, opinionated and cold-hearted.
As the show progressed, fans got to know Angela on a deeper level, particularly through her romantic on-off relationship with Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrute, which was initially kept a secret.
The co-stars recently reunited to reminisce about their time on the series, which is widely regarded as one of the best in TV history.
Rainn, 58, pointed out in their conversation on his podcast Soul Boom that the fictional Angela was originally depicted as an ‘uptight Christian cat lady’, despite the real Angela, 52, having a ‘warm, meaningful relationship’, with her faith and her family.
‘Obviously you’re just a funny character and that added something to the ensemble that made her kind of memorable and prickly and interesting, but did that ever bump up against you in any way? Any kind of frisson around that?’ he asked.
The fictional Angela had a strong fixation on cats (Picture: Mitchell Haaseth/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
Dwight and Angela kept their romance under wraps at first (Picture: Mitchell Haaseth/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
‘Yeah actually. There were one or two times where there would be a joke written for her that I thought was just really stereotypical, maybe one note. I like to think of her as a full, well-rounded person,’ Angela answered.
The actress continued, looking back on a ‘particular storyline’ between her character and Oscar Martinez, who was played by Oscar Nunez.
The storyline in question was from the season three episode Gay Witch Hunt, when Steve Carell’s branch manager Michael Scott finds out that Oscar is gay.
‘I do remember there was a particular storyline between Angela and Oscar where Angela was being super judgy,’ began.
She explained that would ‘never’ usually go up to the showrunner Greg Daniels to raise an issue about any joke written into the script – but in this case, she felt the need to say something.
Angela didn’t like a joke that was written into the script about Oscar (Picture: NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
The Office cast members Oscar, Creed Bratton, Brian Baumgartner, Angela and Rainn attending the Emmys in 2011 (Picture: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
‘There was a joke at Oscar’s expense and I went up to Greg. I think Angela Martin invoked Jesus in the moment, and I just was like, “I don’t feel good about it. I don’t feel good about that. I don’t feel like that’s what Jesus represented to me,”’ she told Rainn.
‘And he was like, “Ok!” He heard me and he took the joke out. The episode, it was Gay Witch Hunt, had so many already.
‘But that’s the one pivotal moment I remember being like, ok, this is feeling like a stereotype and very one note, and I feel like she has more depth than that.’
In The Office, Angela and Oscar originally have a cold relationship, their sole connection being that they are both on the accountancy team.
However, as the seasons go on, they do form a close friendship – and even share a love interest down the line.
The Office is available to stream on Netflix and Prime Video.
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