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When The Office stars were first cast in the show, they couldn’t have predicted how much the hilarious sitcom would change their lives. Though the UK version of the show, created by Ricky Gervais, has a strong fanbase, it was unclear how the American version of the show would perform. Of course, the popularity of the show eventually exceeded all expectations, but The Office wasn’t always the wildly popular phenomenon that it is today.

The Office Season 5 cast
Ed Helms, Phyllis Smith, Kate Flannery, Craig Robinson, Paul Lieberstein, Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, Steve Carell, Creed Bratton, John Krasinski, Oscar Nunez, B.J. Novak, Brian Baumgartner, Leslie David Baker, Mindy Kaling, and Angela Kinsey | by Mitchell Haaseth/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

For the first couple of seasons, the cast was bracing themselves for the show to be canceled. The show wasn’t receiving the best reviews and the cast was worried that NBC would pull the show. Angela Kinsey (who played Angela Martin on The Office) even confessed that she kept her day job for quite some time because the future of the show seemed quite shaky.

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Ultimately, the show was saved thanks to dedicated fans on The Internet. People were watching The Office on iTunes and writing rave reviews which showed that the show not only had a viewership but a loyal one. Eventually, the show became more mainstream and received increased popularity. These days, it’s more popular than ever before. Thanks to streaming services, The Office is constantly being discovered by new audiences and it thought to be one of the best TV comedies of all time.

Even though The Office lacked mainstream popularity in the early days, the cast knew that there was something intrinsically special about the show. In fact, in a 2018 interview with NPR, Rainn Wilson (who played Dwight Schrute) confessed that Steve Carell (who played Michael Scott) knew very early on that the show would impact their lives forever.

Steve Carell predicted the show would change the lives of the cast

“I remember early on, when we shot the pilot, we had lunch, and Steve Carell did a little toast,” Wilson recalled about early days on the set of The Office. “He said, ‘You know, guys, this is probably going to be the job that we’re known for for the rest of our lives.’ And this was 2004.”

Clearly, Carell was spot on in his prediction. Today, The Office cast can scarcely go out without being recognized for their work on the show. Unfortunately, superfans don’t always consider the feelings of the actor and will occasionally overstep a boundary. Later on in the interview, Wilson got candid about how fan interactions can sometimes be uncomfortable, particularly when fans touch him without his permission.

Rainn Wilson details uncomfortable encounters with ‘The Office’ fans

“I’ve certainly, in a bad mood, been rude sometimes,” The Office alum admitted. “What’s interesting if you’ve been on a TV show, is people think they get to touch you. They just come up and touch me. They’ll grab my hand or my arm or they’ll put their arms around me. It’s like one of those Disney characters — it’s like when you see Minnie Mouse at Disneyland. And kids run just run up and just hug.”

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We can certainly see why Wilson would be uncomfortable with strangers invading his personal space. It certainly makes sense that being touched without consent would occasionally warrant a frosty response. Hopefully, fans of The Office will consider the feelings of the actor, if they ever see them out and about.

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