‘The Office’: Angela Kinsey Developed a Character During the Pilot Episode
Angela Martin’s cat Sprinkles is a character from The Office invented by actor Angela Kinsey. Discover how a Post-it note doodle inspired the fictional cat and Angela’s cat-lady persona in the NBC comedy series, as detailed by Kinsey in her and Jenna Fischer‘s book The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There.
Sprinkles led to Angela and Dwight’s breakup
Many Office fans will recall Sprinkles as the cat Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) killed in season 4. In the episode “Fun Run,” Angela explains Sprinkles’ numerous health conditions, which require medications.
Having to organize the Fun Run, Angela asks Dwight to look after Sprinkles. Later, he informs her Sprinkles died. Dwight placed the cat in the freezer to mitigate the odor.
Eventually, Angela figures out Sprinkles was still alive when Dwight put her in the freezer. After forcing him to explain the mercy kill, she and Dwight end their relationship.
Angela Kinsey came up with Sprinkles the cat while filming bullpen scenes for ‘The Office’
Kinsey was in the background of the pilot episode, wherein Dunder Mifflin’s employees are in a panic about the rumored downsizing at the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch. “… I was only in the background[, which] meant I had a lot of time to kill,” Kinsey writes in The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There.
“As any fan of The Office knows, Sprinkles is my character Angela Martin’s beloved fluffy white cat. But what you might not know is that the entire Sprinkles storyline was birthed on a single green Post-it note during the pilot episode.”
Most of the time, the entire cast of The Office was on set and present in the background while filming “bullpen scenes” — those scenes where all of the desks are visible. There are a few “bullpen scenes” in the pilot where fans will see Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) going through a mail cart and Kinsey making photocopies.
Director Ken Kwapis asked Kinsey to hand out papers throughout the bullpen in the pilot episode. Thrilled to have something to do, Kinsey doodled a little cat on Post-it notes and wrote, “It’s Sprinkles’ 3rd Birthday! Come celebrate! Tuesday in the parking lot.” Kinsey even came up with a backstory for the fictional cat, believing Angela found Sprinkles in the parking lot of Dunder Mifflin and adopted her.
Jim Halpert is the only character not invited to Sprinkles’ birthday
The Office never showed Sprinkles’ parking lot party, but that didn’t stop Kinsey from committing to the invitations. “Everyone in the office received one … except Jim [Halpert (John Krasinski)],” Kinsey explains.
She continues: “I decided that Jim would probably say something sarcastic about the cat party and Angela Martin was not having it. Sprinkles’ birthday was very important to her and she wasn’t going to invite just anyone; especially not a smart aleck, so Jim was out.”
Watch episodes of The Office on NBC and find Kinsey and Fischer’s books wherever books are sold.
