The Office star Oscar Nuñez was ‘nervous’ about returning as beloved gay character for spin-off
Oscar Nuñez returns as Oscar Martinez in The Paper. (Getty)
Oscar Nuñez returns as Oscar Martinez in The Paper. (Getty)
Oscar Nuñez, who starred as Oscar Martinez in the US version of The Office, has discussed returning for the spin-off, The Paper.
Nuñez, who is not gay, played Martinez, a gay character, in all nine seasons of the American version of Ricky Gervais’ sitcom, which saw a fictional documentary crew record the lives of staff at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
Nuñez is now returning as Martinez in The Paper, which sees the same camera crew observe a struggling local Ohio newspaper, the Toledo Truth Teller. The series also stars Domnhall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore, Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Ramona Young and Tim Key.
Speaking to Variety about returning as Martinez, Nuñez said he was approached by The Office‘s Greg Daniels. Nuñez recalled saying in their first meeting, “I’m game,” for a return.
But Nuñez also said he was “a little nervous when we first started,” about “how it would all roll out.” This fear was squashed, however, when he and the cast started filming. “They’re all so good. All you really have to do is show up, do your thing, and keep up with them – and trust that you’re there for a reason, too.”
A trailer for The Paper shows Martinez upset to see the familiar camera crew documenting his new place of work. Addressing his character, Nuñez said: “He is a pseudo-intellectual. He wants to do his job and find a boyfriend and go to some plays. He wants to enjoy his life without being in a documentary.”
Nuñez also said that The Office‘s creators didn’t originally conceive Martinez as gay, but rather Daniels brought it up to him as a possibility for season two. According to Nuñez, Daniels asked: “Do you mind if we make your character gay?” to which he replied, “No, I don’t care.” Daniels’ response was, “Oh, good, because we already wrote the scripts.”
Nuñez also said: “I often forget my character is gay. I’ll go to a convention and young people come up to me and say, ‘Thank you. Your character helped me come out of the closet.’ It’s very cool. That’s the best part about it.”
The Paper will be available on Peacock on Thursday 4 September. It will be available a day later in the UK on Sky and NOW TV.
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