‘I imagine most Americans don't even know about the British show': Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant on the US Office at 20

People loved The Office, which was a big problem,' says Ricky Gervais in an exclusive interview with The Independent, recalling the unusual but flattering issue facing its much-loved American counterpart, which turns 20 today. 'All of the people who knew The Office, loved The Office, and they were the industry. People were assuming [the remake] was going to be hated.'
When it comes to bringing British telly to the US, the track record hasn't been great. Blighty classics such as Spaced, The Vicar of Dibley, This Country and even Taskmaster have each had a punt at Stateside success; all were swiftly and unceremoniously cancelled. So when Gervais and The Office co-creator Stephen Merchant got a call from TV producer Ben Silverman saying he wanted to adapt their drab workplace mockumentary for an American crowd, expectations were immediately low.
'I'd seen 30 years of every single remake failing,' says Gervais. 'Some were pulled after the first episode, because advertising was so important. They'd just kill it. [But] I thought 'Why not?' I've got nothing to lose, nothing to beat. It'll be fun.''
Merchant, a longtime mega-fan of the all-American sitcom, had a similar attitude. 'The idea of an American version always seemed exciting to me,' he tells me, highlighting his love of US classics like M.A.S.H, Roseanne and Cheers. 'But when it first got mooted, there had been such a lack of success in remaking British shows that I was a little circumspect about what our chances were, but at the same time, I was enthusiastic.'
Released on BBC Two in 2001, the original was a homegrown hit, amassing Baftas and Emmy wins year on year. Abroad, too, there were whispers of this brilliant British comedy about a Slough-based paper company you simply had to see. In writers' rooms across America, Gervais's agonisingly cringy boss David Brent became a word-of-mouth hit. Likewise, his employees: office lovebirds Tim (Martin Freeman) and Dawn (Lucy Davis), and by-the-book military mind Gareth (Mackenzie Crook).
From the outset, though, both Merchant and Gervais knew they shouldn't be the ones to bring The Office to the US. 'I always felt it was important we didn't try to do it ourselves,' admits Merchant, explaining why they chose to pass the baton to a new team. 'You think you know America because we're so consumed by it, but we really don't. There's so many little nuances about American life and particularly office life,' he adds, pointing to British traditions like pub quizzes and Gareth's precious Territorial Army that don't quite translate. 'We'd have been trying to replicate ours too closely and wouldn't have got it right.'
'We had to choose showrunners and we saw the cream of American producers and directors,' adds Gervais. 'It was embarrassing that I was choosing from people who had done 1,000 times more than me. They'd worked on everything from Cheers to King of the Hill.'
Among them was Greg Daniels, a softly spoken American screenwriter whose previous credits included Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons. 'They could've all done a great job but Greg was the only one who went on about how important Tim and Dawn's story was,' continues Gervais. 'He knew romance was an important element,' agrees Merchant.
Before Daniels could get to that, however, he first had to find America's David Brent – or as he'd be renamed in the US version, Michael Scott, Manager of the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Initially, Silverman thought Gervais could fit the bill, but the Brent Meister General had other ideas.
'Before we cast, [Silverman] called me and said 'Why don't you play Michael Scott?' I said, 'That is mental. It makes no sense at all,'' laughs Gervais. 'Why would I do it? The reason The Office resonated was because it was made in England for English people. It's got to be made by Americans for Americans.' At the end of the day, Gervais says, the real reason he declined was because he didn't want to move to America for seven years and work five days a week, doing 14 hours a day. 'I'd have been crying after the first 22 episodes, asking Dwight [Rainn Wilson] to murder me,' he jokes.
As it turns out, Gervais did have someone in mind who he thought could play the role quite well. 'Before all this happened, someone asked me, 'If they did an American remake, who would I have [play Brent] and I said Bruno Kirby, now no longer with us,' reveals Gervais. 'I'd seen him in City Slickers and he was also in Good Morning Vietnam playing the bore who thought he was funnier than Robin Williams. I thought that was just beautiful.'
Ultimately, it was The Daily Show 's Steve Carell who nabbed the role, but many others came close. ' Bob Odenkirk would've been brilliant,' says Merchant, recalling a selection process that saw the Breaking Bad stand-out make the Michael Scott shortlist. 'It's interesting. Initially, he didn't seem to have the immediate warmth that Carell [had], or certainly not then. Yet, when you've seen him in things like Better Call Saul, it's all there. It's hard to know,' he says. 'It would've been equally good but sometimes when you're casting, you can feel when it's the right person.' And that person was, without a shadow of a doubt, Carell.
So was there a Brent handover process? Gervais insists there wasn't. In fact, Carell actively tried to avoid his British counterpart. 'When Steve got the job he said, 'I have to stop watching it so I don't do an impression of you,'' Gervais says, 'because once you see Brent's tics, they're irresistible – looking awkward, saying nothing and looking at the camera.' Merchant recalls similar worries. 'He was quite cautious about not trying to replicate Ricky. The more he got into the role, the more the shadow of Ricky's performance disappeared. By the second series, he'd got into a groove of his own and was able to inhabit the character in the way Ricky had.'
Elsewhere, Daniels saw a who's who of up-and-coming talent to fill out the Scranton branch. 'I remember John Krasinksi [who played Tim, the American equivalent of Jim] was incredibly enthusiastic and a fan of the original,' remembers Merchant. 'He understood the character and what Martin Freeman had done and was effortlessly sweet and charming. He was such a fan, he went unprompted to the real [Scranton] to film some footage. That footage in the show's opening credits was shot by Krasinski.'
I was worried about Dwight. I thought he was too over the top but then that just settled in and worked with the show – because the show was bigger as well
Ricky Gervais
But while Brent had to be softened for US consumption ('They had to make him a little nicer, better at the job, more positive and a little less dark,' says Gervais), the character of Gareth risked becoming too broad. 'I was worried about Dwight,' admits Gervais, commenting on the office authoritarian, played by Wilson. 'I thought he was too over the top, but then that just settled in and worked with the show – because the show was bigger as well.' Merchant agrees, adding that 'at first there's a theatricality to the performance, but as you watch it, he's just able to make it rich'.
Despite a rocky start that almost saw the show cancelled after its first season, the US iteration of The Office ended up running for nine beloved seasons, seven with Carell as boss. 'They evolved him very nicely. Towards the end of his time there, you're rooting for him and want him to be happy,' smiles Merchant. 'We couldn't have begrudged Steve for leaving because we were so lucky to have had him for so many great episodes. I suspected it'd be tricky for them to carry on, but by that point, you can write a character out and the juggernaut keeps moving.'
'When they were recruiting for the new boss[eventually played by Will Ferrell], they said it'd be nice if I apply for the job [in character as Brent],' says Gervais on his long-awaited crossover cameo. Was there ever talk of him taking over after Carell left? 'There was. I don't know if it ever got to NBC calling anyone or if it was more just press and the show's fanbase,'he says, adding with a laugh. 'Then, when I wasn't in it, people said, 'Ricky auditioned and didn't get the part.' That's fiction.'
Looking back 20 years on, both creators are able to appreciate the extended universe birthed from their Slough-based story. 'I imagine most Americans don't know about the English show – but the good thing is, I get credit for both,' Gervais chuckles. 'There's our version and this brilliant cover version. They share many of the same elements but they're both different,' offers Merchant. 'I'm extremely proud of the American one and if I'm flicking through TV and it's on, I'll watch it as a fan,' he smiles. 'I can see it from a distance and enjoy it like anyone else.'

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