‘The Office’: Brian Baumgartner’s Toughest Scene and the 3 Things He Took From Set
The Office may be over, but Brian Baumgartner is keeping fans entertained. Baumgartner, who played accountant Kevin Malone in the series, is the host of two podcasts: An Oral History of The Office and The Office Deep Dive. During a phone call with Showbiz Cheat Sheet about his podcast ventures, Baumgartner revealed the scene he had the most challenging time not breaking in and the three things he took from The Office set when the show wrapped.
‘The Office’ lives on thanks to Brian Baumgartner’s podcasts
An Oral History of The Office premiered in the summer of 2020. With each episode, Baumgartner gave fans insight into how The Office came to be. He interviewed his fellow cast members, editors, co-creator Ben Silverman, and even Ricky Gervais, co-creator and star of the British version. Many fans enjoyed hearing never-before-told stories from behind-the-scenes of their favorite show.
Now, The Office fans are getting even more from Baumgartner in the form of another podcast. He’s back with The Office Deep Dive. This time, Baumgartner is sharing the long-form interviews he conducted with his former cast and crew. From Rainn Wilson to Greg Daniels, Jenna Fischer, and even Steve Carell, fans can expect to learn more about The Office from their favorite stars’ perspective. Like An Oral History of The Office, Baumgartner releases new episodes of The Office Deep Dive every Tuesday.
His most challenging scene was with Holly Flax at the vending machine
While filming The Office, Baumgartner often did one thing to prevent himself from breaking in a scene. “I would take the fingernail on my pointer finger and I would attempt to jam it into my thumb on the side,” the actor told Showbiz. There was one scene, though, that Baumgartner never did get through without laughing.
“The one [scene] I never got through was the scene at the vending machine with me and Amy Ryan when she thinks that Kevin is slow,” Baumgartner shared. In the hilarious moment, Holly helps Kevin count the coins in his hand. When she notices a button amongst Kevin’s money and points it out, Baumgartner cracks a smile.
What got to Baumgartner was the look on Ryan’s face and her delivery when she explains: “this is a button.” Despite not being able to get through the scene without cracking, Baumgartner used that energy to turn it into what came next — his talking head interview where Kevin says: “I am totally going to bang Holly.”
Brian Baumgartner stole 3 things from the desk of Kevin Malone on ‘The Office’
Baumgartner also shared the mementos he kept from the set of The Office during our conversation. “My nameplate,” he started, which of course read Kevin Malone. “I have my degree on the wall behind my desk,” he added. He means Kevin’s Associate of Science degree in Accounting from Penn Foster College.
“I [also] have the jar of M&Ms,” Baumgartner added. Fans will remember the famed jar of candy was often a hot topic for Kevin Malone on the show, most notably for the time he showed just how many M&Ms he could fit into his mouth. We can’t think of any better mementos for Baumgartner to have than the ones he decided to take from the set of The Office.
