‘The Office’: These Stars Almost Got Fired From Set

The Office is one of the most beloved comedies of all time. In the season 2 episode “Halloween,” Michael Scott (Steve Carell) struggles to choose the employee that gets fired because of downsizing. Ironically behind the scenes, there was a time a few cast members were worried about being fired themselves.

‘The Office’ cast loves reminiscing 

In the summer of 2020, Brian Baumgartner released An Oral History of The Office. The podcast gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the show. Now, Baumgartner is back with another podcast — The Office Deep Dive. This time, he’s sharing the long-form interviews with the creators and cast of The Office. 

Baumgartner isn’t the only Office cast member reminiscing about the comedy series. Kinsey has been re-watching the show with co-star Jenna Fischer, who played Pam Beesly. The duo host The Office Ladies podcast, but they’re also working on a book together. “BFF Writer’s Retreat Begins!” Fischer captioned a photo on Instagram. Kinsey shared a similar post thanking her family for taking over and allowing them the time to hunker down and work on a book about their time on The Office. 

Angela Kinsey, Brian Baumgartner, and Oscar Nunez were almost fired from ‘The Office’ for being too loud

“Do you remember the time we almost got fired?” Baumgartner asked Kinsey during part 1 of her interview on The Office Deep Dive. She questioned which time Baumgartner was thinking, as he, Kinsey, and Oscar Nunez were almost fired on multiple occasions. “Oscar gets really animated and worked up — he’s a very passionate storyteller,” Kinsey said. 

Baumgartner set the scene — the show was brand new. He, Kinsey, and Nunez were supporting cast, so they weren’t involved in many scenes. Often, they were outside during their downtime. One particular day, Nunez started telling a story very loudly. They didn’t notice where they were — directly under a window where The Office was filming. “We got yelled at,” Baumgartner said.

“Ken Kwapis, our director, leaned out the window and said, ‘Guys! Can you keep it down? We’re trying to film here,'” Kinsey said, laughing. Nunez was the only one to step away from the wall and reveal the source of the noise to Kwapis. “My a*s hugged the wall,” Kinsey added, scared to reveal herself and be let go from the show. 

Creed Bratton was almost fired from ‘The Office’ too 

Kinsey, Baumgartner, and Nunez weren’t the only actors at risk of losing their jobs on The Office. Creed Bratton, who shares the same name with his character on the show, was almost fired while shooting the “Halloween” episode for season 2. “At the time they told us, ‘One of you guys [Creed or Devon] have to go,” Bratton revealed on The Office Ladies podcast. “‘We’re going to shoot you both and we’re going to see how it works out.’ I remember being a little nervous.” The episode was executive producer Greg Daniels’ homage to how difficult it can be for a boss to fire an employee. At the time, Daniels was in that exact position. 

“He was going to have to fire someone on the show,” Fischer explained. Background characters like Creed and Devon (Devon Abner) were the most at risk. Daniels was contractually obligated to keep most of the actors, and he didn’t want to get rid of a recurring character like Angela Martin (Kinsey). Ultimately, Devon was fired fictionally and literally. He did not return to The Office until the finale.