If you’ve been looking forward to The Office spinoff, then I’ve got some good news for you! To quickly recap, the spinoff, titled The Paper, will act as a “sister show” that’s set in the same universe as The Office. If you couldn’t guess by its title, the series takes place in a newsroom and is about a publisher who is trying to save a historic newspaper using volunteer reporters. It ties into The Office by using the same documentary film crew that filmed Dunder Mifflin. It will also stream exclusively on Peacock.
Last May, we learned that Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore had been cast to co-star. In September, we learned that Melvin Gregg, Chelsea Frei, and Ramona Young had also joined the cast. Even more cast members were revealed the following month. Well, now some more, exciting new casting news has been announced. While showrunner Greg Daniels has been adamant that the series would feature completely new characters, there are rumors that some of the original cast members would return. Now, we have our first confirmation! Oscar Nuñez will be reprising his role as Oscar Martinez, everyone’s favorite accountant.
A fan-favorite character from the American version of The Office is reportedly set to appear in the upcoming spinoff series The Paper. The spinoff received a series order from Peacock in May 2024.
According to trusted insider Jeff Sneider via his The InSneider newsletter, Oscar Nunez is set to reprise his role as Dunder Mifflin accountant Oscar Martínez in The Paper. Nunez’s Oscar Martínez was a fan-favorite character on The Office throughout its nine-season run. At this time, it’s unclear how the character will be written into The Paper, which will see “the documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch is in search of a new subject when they discover a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters,” according to the series’ logline.
In the decade-plus since The Office concluded on NBC in 2013, Nunez has continued to appear on both the big and small screen. He was a series regular on the short-lived 2014 sitcom Benched and made recurring appearances on the TBS sci-fi sitcom People of Earth, the Netflix sitcom Mr. Iglesias, and the AMC comedy-drama Lucky Hank. His film credits since the end of The Office include Baywatch (2017), Disenchanted (2022), and The Long Game (2023).
At the time of writing, Nunez is the first The Office actor confirmed to be reprising their role in The Paper, which will feature a new set of characters. Domhnall Gleeson (About Time, Ex Machina) and Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus, The Passion of the Christ) will lead the ensemble cast of the spinoff, which began production in July 2024. The cast also includes Melvin Gregg (Nine Perfect Strangers), Chelsea Frei (The Cleaning Lady), Ramona Young (Never Have I Ever), Gbemisola Ikumelo (Famalam), comedian Alex Edelman, Tim Key (Inside No. 9), and Eric Rahill (Friendship). Duane Shepard Sr., Allan Havey, Nate Jackson, Mo Welch, Nancy Lenehan, Molly Ephraim, and Tracy Letts will also appear in The Paper, but in a recurring capacity.
Greg Daniels and Michael Koman are attached as co-creators and executive producers on The Paper. Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Howard Klein, and Ben Silverman will also executive produce the spinoff. Although not part of The Paper, Justin Spitzer, who was a producer on the original series, expressed excitement about the spinoff in November 2024, remarking, “I haven’t had anything to do with The Office reboot or spinoff or whatever they’re calling it, so all I know about it is what I’ve read in the press. But I’m very excited to see it!”
So, where we left off with Oscar’s character was with him running for the Pennsylvania State Senate. Do we think that Senator Martinez would be involved with the newspaper? Or, since it’s been 12 years, is he back to being an accountant? If so, I wonder if Oscar works as either the newspaper’s or the publisher’s personal accountant. It could work since the premise is that they’re trying to save it from shutting down. Which, not to tangent too much here, but my goodness, that is so dang timely right now. Ugh.
Anyway, if Oscar lives in that town, then it would also be a good excuse to have former Office characters come visit him. He is godfather to Dwight and Angela’s son, which could bring them onto the scene in some way. FWIW, I think we’ll also see Ellie Kemper back as Erin at some point. Her husband, Michael Koman, is a co-creator (along with Daniels).
Photos via Instagram/The Office/Peacock