0:04

I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We

0:06

were on The Office together. And we're best

0:08

friends. And now we're doing the Ultimate Office

0:10

Re-Watch Podcast just for you. Each week we

0:12

will break down an episode of The Office

0:14

and give exclusive behind the scene stories that

0:17

only two people who were there can tell

0:19

you. We're The Office Ladies. Hello.

0:25

Hi, how's it going? It's

0:28

going real, real well. I know. Should

0:31

we tell everyone why we're so excited today?

0:33

Yes, you tell everybody. I will tell you.

0:36

We are very excited for today's episode

0:38

because we have such an awesome guest.

0:41

It's the very talented Jake Lacy

0:43

who plays our new favorite character,

0:46

Pete, aka Plop. Yes! You

0:48

guys know how much we've been loving this

0:51

Pete and Erin storyline. We're rooting for

0:53

Pete and Erin, but really it is Jake's

0:55

performance that has made us fall

0:57

in love with this whole storyline. How can

0:59

you not root for Pete? I love Pete.

1:01

We love Pete. Many of you

1:03

know Jake from The Office, but he has gone on

1:05

to work on so many awesome shows. I

1:08

mean, Jenna and I, we both loved him

1:10

in White Lotus. Lady, when we were trading

1:12

emails with him, I waited

1:14

until like the fourth reply, but I

1:17

had to bring up White Lotus because

1:19

I told him, Lee and I have an

1:21

inside joke now from White Lotus, pineapple

1:24

room. Oh yeah, you want the pineapple room. You're

1:26

always like, I wonder where the pineapple room is

1:28

at this hotel. Who got the pineapple room? You

1:30

sit by the pool. You're like, I wonder who

1:32

has the pineapple room. And

1:36

you know, you guys, you can also see

1:38

him in High Fidelity, the series, Significant Other,

1:40

A Friend of the Family, and so many

1:42

more. And now you can catch

1:44

him in his new show, Apples Never Fall.

1:47

This guy is super busy and we were so

1:49

happy to finally catch up with him. He's such

1:51

a funny and lovely person. He is an absolute

1:53

delight. So we're going to take a quick break

1:56

and when we come back, please enjoy

1:58

our interview with Jake Lacy. Hello

2:11

Jake! Oh my gosh! Jake is here! Hi

2:13

Jake! Hey hey hey thanks for having me,

2:16

thank you. It's so good to see you.

2:19

We're so excited to be in touch with

2:21

you and I feel like we should say

2:23

upfront that we have fallen in love with

2:25

Pete. Yes, we love him. We love

2:27

him. Oh my god, this

2:34

is like exciting for me as

2:36

a fan of Pete to have

2:38

you here today. Well that feels nuts. Because

2:43

of my

2:45

insane relationship to

2:48

the office and that role and you

2:50

go and yeah that's a crazy thing

2:52

to hear so thank you very much.

2:54

I really appreciate that. That's nuts for

2:56

me. Well because you do such a

2:58

great job playing him we're all rooting for Pete. Like

3:00

Jenna and I are like get out of here Andy!

3:03

Let Pete and Aaron

3:05

be together already. Can he live?

3:07

He just wants her to be happy

3:09

guys. He just wants her to be

3:11

fulfilled you know. I know. All right

3:13

so before we might have to like

3:17

pause on our Pete adoration Jenna and

3:19

get to the actual interview part. Yeah

3:21

well let's start from the beginning. We

3:23

always ask people how did you

3:25

get your job on the office? Well

3:28

you know what I listened to

3:30

the episode you all did of

3:32

The New Guys which

3:35

was informative to me about what

3:37

the casting process was outside of my

3:39

little silo within it you know like

3:41

I didn't know they they

3:44

saw that many people for it or I

3:46

didn't know that there was the potential for

3:48

the show to continue on and

3:50

that Clark and I would

3:52

be I don't know a large part

3:54

of that or something you know but

3:57

you know what I've done a pilot for Fox that I desperately

3:59

wanted to do. They replaced

4:01

me with TJ Miller and I

4:03

was like, I'm done. I'm never

4:05

careers over. That's that. What

4:08

was the pilot, Jake? It was called the

4:10

Goodwin games. It ultimately ran

4:12

for like six episodes on Fox. And

4:15

the guys who did, I met your mother who are

4:17

really wonderful, wonderful, wonderful

4:19

people, wrote it and produced

4:21

it. And they were so generous

4:23

to call and say like, hey,

4:26

this is above our heads, but you're

4:29

not moving forward with the show. You know, like

4:31

they could have sent that through my reps or

4:33

something, but they personally called to go. This sucks.

4:36

We're really sorry. And I don't know,

4:38

really nice guys. So

4:40

it was totally, totally

4:43

putting some humanity into this

4:46

weird business. And

4:49

so then I, you know, that was in

4:51

the spring. And then

4:53

in the, you know, late summer, my manager called

4:55

and was like, they're going to add two guys

4:57

to the office and they've already, they've already added

4:59

one. And I, I don't know either

5:01

in my like confidence or naivete

5:04

or I don't know, something,

5:07

competence of youth. I was

5:09

like, I'm going to be the other one. Like that's

5:11

it. Like I've got it. This is it. I like, this

5:14

is, I'm going to do it. This is going to happen. Not

5:16

that that had any effect on the result, but

5:19

just, I don't know, that was this feeling where

5:21

I was, it was my favorite show. You

5:24

know, I was like, Oh my God, I would give

5:26

anything to be honest. And

5:28

so then I auditioned in New York and

5:31

then they blew me out to LA

5:33

to test and I didn't

5:35

know where you guys shot. I

5:37

didn't know anything. And, you know, so they drive you

5:40

out to the Valley and I'm like, I don't know.

5:42

I don't even know LA. Like I have no idea.

5:45

So we get out there and there's like me and 10

5:47

other guys who look like me, a handful

5:49

of dudes that I see pop up and stuff now all the

5:51

time and always like kind of cheer for them. And

5:56

then, you know, I guess

5:58

great came out. introduced

6:00

me to Dave Rogers said

6:02

there's a very important person on this show.

6:04

I was like okay great and

6:07

then they open the door and I'm

6:09

like in the bullpen like I

6:11

didn't understand that it was you

6:14

tested on the set yeah

6:16

yeah yeah yeah did you test with

6:18

like cameras rolling and everything oh

6:21

dude I opened the door Clark

6:23

is like at his desk and

6:25

you're in the annex Matt's there like

6:28

yeah both cam ops are up and

6:30

Greg is like you know Dave suggested we

6:32

shoot the test like the show and he

6:35

could edit it together so I could see what it

6:37

would look like it wouldn't be me

6:40

guessing from a tape in a room somewhere and

6:42

it wouldn't be you fumbling around in a folding

6:44

chair like you could just be in the space

6:47

wow yeah I mean we should tell

6:49

people that that was really unique for

6:51

the office that was my testing experience

6:54

as well but most test

6:56

auditions are like in

6:58

a conference room with a bunch

7:00

of executives watching you read it

7:03

or it's it's never

7:05

like they edit it together for you

7:07

and create like a mini version of

7:09

the real thing that was totally office

7:11

unique and I didn't know that they

7:13

did that for you as well that's

7:15

fascinating yeah you know what's blowing my

7:18

mind too Jake is that you're

7:20

a fan of the show like I'm just trying to imagine

7:22

you're a fan of the show you're

7:24

in a van going somewhere deep in

7:26

the valley you pass the crematorium a

7:28

junkyard you're like where am I then

7:30

you you're in a room and random

7:32

am I auditioning or are they going

7:34

to murder me at the end of

7:36

this van ride but then the mental

7:38

like mind bin that you did like

7:40

you're just kind of in a room

7:42

with other guys that look like you

7:44

and then you open a door and

7:46

you're on the set of one of

7:48

your favorite shows you're like what I

7:51

would and now you're supposed to

7:53

audition and be like just totally

7:55

cool well in the audition

7:57

was improv the audition was

8:00

No, it was not. Stop it. Yeah,

8:02

fully. Greg was like, great. We're

8:04

going to just set this up. You guys are working.

8:07

And Clark has found a,

8:10

somehow, it's hacked into your Facebook account or something

8:13

like that. And it's now looking at pictures of

8:15

your mom. Oh my god.

8:17

And Clark just kept making a

8:19

lot of innuendo-based jokes and talking

8:21

about asking if my mom

8:24

had had breast augmentation or if I'd

8:26

grown up seeing these boobs all the

8:28

time and things like that and

8:31

me trying to get work done and being sort of

8:33

laughing and also put out by that this is

8:35

my coworker. And then we, so

8:37

just back to what you've just said, yes, my

8:40

mind was like, it was a

8:42

lot to take in. That was a lot in that moment

8:44

to go like, oh, this is

8:47

the creator of the American version

8:49

of this show. And I'm on the set.

8:51

And it just was like a lot. And

8:54

then I tested with Ellie, then

8:57

did more improv with Ellie. And

8:59

then they said, OK, great. This is all

9:02

on the same day you went from Clark's.

9:04

It's all in 20 minutes, yeah. Then they just

9:06

walked me from the annex out to reception. To

9:08

the reception. And then going, yeah. And now

9:10

you're walking through the whole entire set. Yeah,

9:12

just trying to not lose

9:15

my mind. Also, I'm like 25, maybe 26. You

9:19

know, like maybe younger, maybe 25. Like

9:21

I just, I don't know, I'm 38 now.

9:24

I still would lose my mind. No, it's not.

9:26

I've gotten cooler about it. How

9:28

long after this audition day did you have

9:30

to wait to get the role? Oh,

9:33

I flew home that

9:36

afternoon probably. And then

9:38

that was on like Thursday.

9:41

And then they called on Saturday

9:43

night to say, you got it.

9:47

But also we shoot Tuesday. So

9:50

you'll need to fly out tomorrow afternoon.

9:53

So I drove into the city. My

9:56

girlfriend, now my wife, Lauren, was

9:59

working. And I drove in to be

10:01

like, I've got it. I'm gonna fly to LA

10:03

like this is I got I'm gonna go For

10:07

like for 10 months like yeah for

10:09

your bag Yeah, you leave

10:11

tomorrow. How do you pack for that? Unsuccessfully,

10:15

you know poorly just

10:17

like a duffel with like two t-shirts and

10:19

some running shoes great Like

10:22

a go bag but for a person who's like never

10:24

served in the military So

10:26

your first time walking on set

10:29

was actually during your audition But

10:31

do you remember what your

10:34

first scene was after you got the purse? Yeah,

10:37

yeah, it was the slacklining and

10:39

John kept no breaking and

10:43

I was standing next to him and was

10:45

so again This

10:47

is as if a person even though I'm like

10:50

I've gone to drama school. I've been on

10:52

one show previously. I've you know This

10:55

is still like winning something off

10:57

of a radio program for me, you know,

10:59

like just Some goof walking

11:01

on set being like I'm a

11:03

part of it for the day and and

11:06

I'm standing next to John who keeps laughing

11:09

Who keeps breaking while rain is on

11:12

the slackline. Yeah, and I remember both

11:16

Dwight is supposed to be getting more

11:18

intense But also rain

11:20

is slowly getting more frustrated

11:23

because John laughing Because

11:25

it's really difficult to do

11:27

the fake bad blacklining and

11:30

so it's both like the storyline

11:32

is escalating and also this like

11:34

friendship tension is escalating and I'm

11:37

new and dying laughing like

11:40

like Can't stop. I'm like,

11:42

I'm gonna get fired like day one You know what I

11:44

mean? Like we won't get through the first

11:46

scene and they're like this kid can't It's

11:50

to the day I mean like come on,

11:52

you know And then the thing I think the next was like

11:54

a conference room and it was like I don't know Oscar

11:56

had some line that kept getting me and I just kept

11:58

having to like look away a lot and I was

12:01

like, you know what I

12:03

mean? Like I'm just this is it for the next 20 episodes.

12:05

I'm not going to ruin it. In

12:08

rewatching this with my teenagers, there

12:11

was a line, I can't even remember what it

12:13

is, but Meredith comes for you so hard.

12:17

Meredith hits on you a lot. And there's

12:20

a few moments I'm like, I don't know how he

12:22

got through that. There's some

12:25

in the, you know, they're at

12:27

the table in the snack room. In the

12:29

break room? Yeah. Yeah.

12:31

And she's right up on me a couple

12:33

of times. Like full body on me, you

12:35

know? That's so funny. It's so funny. We

12:39

have to talk to you about a few

12:41

sort of big epic office episodes that are

12:43

legendary with the cast. And one of them

12:46

is the work bus. Work

12:48

bus. Yes. What do you

12:50

remember about work bus? Oh

12:52

boy. Well, the like

12:55

behind the scenes, well, BTST

12:58

or just like the episode.

13:01

Well, we all called it death bus. Yeah.

13:06

I remember Bryan Cranston directed that

13:08

episode and I

13:10

remember the fumes. I remember the

13:12

I remember there was almost no

13:15

air conditioning. But

13:17

even when it was on, it would be on for like 20 seconds

13:19

as we did a turnaround. You're like, that's not

13:21

long enough to cool off a bus full of

13:23

20 people. I remember the

13:26

fumes from, you know, because it's on

13:28

a trailer or whatnot, the fumes billowing

13:31

in and that being a

13:33

real issue. I remember being

13:36

on the road

13:39

and timing out when

13:41

things happened because you had to get the same, you

13:45

know, background on each

13:47

side as you kind of cross covered

13:49

people. That was a high bar too

13:51

clear. Jake, I'm pretty sure

13:53

too, when we did that big swerve, that's

13:56

when you slid into me. And

14:00

then I slammed into the wall,

14:02

that window. Yeah. Are

14:04

we sure that was me? I mean, that could have been any

14:06

man. Yeah, that sounds right. Anyone on the bus. Someone, was it

14:08

you? Somebody hit their head on that turn. Someone's

14:13

head hit the window.

14:16

There was a moment of... It

14:19

was me. I just also... I hit

14:22

my head. Look,

14:25

years later, my deepest apology.

14:28

This has gotcha, journalism. Have

14:30

I been brought on to be shamed for propulsion

14:33

of body sliding across

14:35

feet? You

14:37

have not, Jake. And we want you

14:40

to know that Bryan Cranston has gone

14:42

on the record discussing these calamities. They

14:45

are well known. Ellie has gone on the

14:47

record about peeing her pants in

14:49

the bus. It

14:52

was a day. I do remember,

14:54

I think maybe it was John, maybe

14:56

it was Rain. He stopped

14:58

at one point and they, one

15:01

or both, got off and were like, I'm

15:03

not getting back on this bus until you sort

15:05

this out. But there was a real

15:08

moment of like, hey, it's not just actors complaining

15:10

in here. This

15:12

should be addressed. And then the other was there

15:16

was silence on that bus for a little while.

15:20

And then Ed from the back

15:23

was like, 17 cast

15:25

members of the office died

15:27

today. Like just peppered

15:30

it out there and everybody started laughing. Did his

15:32

Tom Brokaw? That he did his

15:34

Brokaw announcing that like the entire

15:36

cast had been killed in a traffic accident

15:38

and I was like, that's hilarious. Like that

15:41

is so funny. In this moment

15:43

where everyone's like, I can't, I

15:45

can't, I will not stand that. You know, silently

15:47

stewing that he was like from

15:49

the deep, deep back of the bus. Awesome.

15:54

Well, we remember work bus the same.

15:56

That's really similar to our

15:58

memories. This is a crazy

16:00

question. I feel like I know the

16:03

answer. Did you really grow a mustache

16:05

for the episode Movember

16:07

or was that a unique mustache?

16:10

I have such a weak

16:12

mustache. I'll grow like an

16:14

Amish kind of

16:17

chin strap overnight, but the

16:20

one thing I pine for is like a proper...

16:22

I would just live with a cool, celic mustache

16:24

if I could. So no, I didn't do

16:27

it. They cut my hair, just

16:30

to maintain that men's

16:32

bob that I had and then

16:34

used the ends of those clippings

16:37

to make my own little rat

16:39

stash that they taped on. They

16:42

used your own hair clippings to

16:44

make that mustache? Yeah, yeah.

16:47

I mean, it's both overkill and also

16:49

real attention to detail. It's pretty cool.

16:53

Also better than being like, I don't know, this is

16:56

someone's hair and we'll just put it on. Oh,

16:58

God. I think we got the better

17:00

deal than what Paul Lieberstein got because that

17:02

was like a small woodland creature

17:04

on his upper lip. That's

17:10

got to be fake too, right? That's not good. Oh,

17:12

that was for sure fake. I

17:15

have to ask you about all

17:18

of those diehard scenes. I mean, I

17:20

watched all the deleted scenes and there

17:22

were so many, Jake. It was physical

17:25

too. You were rolling on the ground

17:27

and standing up and it was amazing.

17:30

Yeah, I had, my

17:33

girlfriend was in New York, so I

17:35

was in LA alone and had no

17:38

kids or pets or responsibilities. So that

17:40

is all just like memorized.

17:43

And I think as

17:45

an indication of like my obsession

17:49

sometimes with things, I think

17:51

it had been lightly suggested like here's some scenes

17:53

would be fun for you to, you know,

17:56

so we could pull clips from it. And

17:58

then I memorized the first like. 40

18:01

minutes of that movie or something you know like the

18:03

cadence of it the thing also personally

18:05

because I was like I don't want anyone who

18:08

loves die hard to watch this and be like

18:10

what is he doing that's not

18:13

what happens you know you had so much

18:15

detail like you would say a

18:17

line and you'd go ring-ning-ning-ning-ning-ning-ning-ning you're

18:20

not going to come here

18:22

ring-ning-ning-ning I'm like what

18:24

is it? Is it the

18:26

big fan? What is that? Yeah

18:29

I built out a whole world yeah I

18:31

thought it would be really fun to go

18:33

for it or whoever I think also again

18:35

like whoever wrote that episode had approached me

18:37

and then like you should go for it.

18:40

Robert Padnick he loves die hard yeah he's

18:42

brilliant oh yeah he's amazing when

18:44

I watched all those deleted scenes I was like this

18:46

was hours of memorization

18:48

you must have spent so many days

18:50

on that. I would just be

18:52

in my trailer you know in that

18:54

parking lot just watching die hard

18:57

like I don't even know if

18:59

it was on my phone I'm trying to maybe they gave me

19:01

a DVD of it and I could like play it on the

19:03

little thing in the trailer or whatever but like yeah

19:05

yeah genuinely hours and hours and hours.

19:08

Well it's fantastic for anyone out

19:10

there that has the DVDs I

19:12

highly recommend watching all of Jake's

19:15

performances outside of the episode

19:17

that live in the deleted scene. I'm

19:21

like it was my one chance deleted.

19:24

Jake I have this memory of

19:26

you joining the cast for

19:28

that final season and there

19:31

was a group of us who were

19:33

so delighted to have new people there.

19:36

It was like you and

19:38

Clark I'm afraid we were annoying I'm

19:40

afraid like because we had all talked

19:42

to each other for eight

19:45

full years and now finally there

19:47

were some new people and

19:50

it was the most

19:52

exciting thing I would actually try

19:55

to like not overwhelm you with

19:58

talking your ear off because we were just

20:01

I mean the crew included there was not

20:03

a new fate for so long I know

20:07

like yeah yeah for you I well

20:09

I've never thought of it in those terms like

20:12

I've never crossed my mind to go all

20:14

right you had almost 10 years of working with

20:16

the same people for months and months and like

20:19

the bond that that brings you also go

20:21

and it'd be nice to not know everyone's

20:23

life story exactly

20:26

exactly I have a

20:28

little mystery yeah I

20:31

you know at the time I just

20:33

thought I was

20:35

just so consumed with like you

20:39

know don't mess this up don't

20:42

be weird around these people don't

20:45

you know what I mean like don't fan

20:48

out and get weird and you

20:51

know like just show up and do your

20:53

thing and leave don't try

20:55

to make it social don't you know like

20:58

nobody's excited that you're here Jake just do

21:00

your thing so it's funny

21:02

years later to hear you go like

21:04

we were thrilled to have new

21:06

people here and it's like I'm gonna

21:08

play it cool because that's

21:11

what I was doing I was fully being like I'm playing

21:13

it cool I'm gonna play it cool like I'm hey it's

21:15

nice to meet you as if I've never

21:17

seen the show and didn't know it existed instead

21:19

of like I've seen every episode it's my favorite

21:21

program you know what I mean oh

21:23

my gosh yes okay so I just watched

21:26

the episode with my teens we

21:28

did a little bit of a office marathon last

21:30

night and we watched the beginning

21:32

of moving on and Andy

21:34

comes back and he's

21:37

forgotten that your name is Pete he

21:39

just tells you plop and he's like Aaron is

21:42

hooking up with some guy named Pete you

21:44

have a great moment where you're like I

21:46

think Andy has called me plop for so

21:48

long he's forgotten my name is Pete yeah

21:51

that runner was hilarious which is

21:54

my name Pete like I

21:56

think then I now just like I say

21:58

it again to the camera Yeah,

22:01

to be like that's me just in case you

22:03

guys are also not caught up. I'm I'm

22:05

Pete Yeah, that

22:08

was you know them I did that John

22:11

Favreau directed one

22:13

of those Yeah, I'd

22:15

be that that episode. Yes You

22:18

they made it to pay. Yes.

22:21

I loved working with him it was Like

22:25

maybe my favorite big-name guest

22:27

director that we had outside

22:29

of Harold Remus Yeah with

22:31

John Favreau and I know

22:34

I'm sorry that was before Yeah,

22:38

he's a hero Legend.

22:41

Yeah, John Favreau was amazing and they

22:43

so His episode

22:46

was so good that they didn't want

22:48

to cut a single minute from it.

22:50

And so they made it supersized Yeah

22:54

Yeah, but what I remember that he well,

22:57

I just have a couple thing one is like I

22:59

remember before every scene He would just go over the

23:01

moment before Yes, he

23:03

would just as a group go like hey just

23:05

to be clear This person's

23:08

back. You're feeling this way about

23:10

it. Maybe you guys feel something else about it. I

23:12

don't know. That's up to you and you're

23:15

worried about this and Earlier

23:18

we found out about that. So let's just keep

23:20

that in mind and Go

23:23

ahead You know like that

23:25

clarity just going back to the basics of like

23:28

where are you coming from? Where are you going? What are you trying

23:30

to get? Yeah, just good scene work.

23:32

He was so good with that Yeah,

23:34

and letting that add up to something, you know

23:36

that that if you had all the pieces then

23:38

in the edit he could go I'll build it

23:40

from here, you know And

23:43

also that he knew story wise There

23:46

was something where I come in Talking

23:49

to Aaron. I'm asking about mail

23:52

and he's back and

23:54

there was some kind of back and forth like Two

23:57

or four or five lines something like that and John

24:00

I was like, just, I know what they're

24:02

trying to do here. I

24:04

don't think this really accomplishes it. Just

24:06

come in and

24:10

look through the mail and

24:12

look down to Ellie and

24:14

she'll sort of look up to you and

24:17

you can smile and then

24:19

just take your mail and go to the desk. I

24:22

was like, amazing. Like, that

24:24

he understood to go like, maybe we don't

24:26

need this dialogue. Like, just, we get it.

24:29

We see two people who are into

24:31

each other. We see this little quiet,

24:34

private connection and like, that means more

24:36

to the story and to the audience

24:39

than being quippy with each other. Like,

24:41

that's not actually the thing that those

24:43

two characters have found in each

24:45

other. It's not a sparring partner. It's someone that

24:48

they like to be with. So just be

24:50

with them. You know, like, he could

24:52

see that stuff and go, oh man. And

24:54

I feel like I'm talking a lot, but

24:56

I just love the show and I don't

24:58

know, this is like a door to memory

25:00

lane that I didn't know existed. So it's very

25:02

exciting. No, I love it. Keep

25:05

it up. You know, he's like, he finds

25:07

out that it's me that

25:10

Aaron has been seeing. And

25:14

now is trying to drive this

25:16

wedge. And I think

25:18

there's outtakes of it where he's going

25:21

through Wikipedia or like,

25:23

you know, WebMD

25:25

or something. And it's going, yeah, you

25:28

know, you never know

25:30

who has what. I

25:32

just got my test back and

25:34

I've got, and looks

25:36

over at the screen and then calls

25:39

Chlamydia Chlamydia. Because

25:41

she doesn't know what it is. But

25:44

I didn't know he was going to do that. And I just like

25:46

lost it. Like just died laughing

25:49

at him, impropping Chlamydia.

25:53

That makes it in the episode too. Yes,

25:56

so we had to go back and John was like, do it

25:58

again. Yeah, do that, do that, do that. And had

26:00

been like, that was another one where he

26:02

was like, don't worry about the dialogue, like let's just do one

26:04

where you come in and you

26:06

know that he knows and he knows that you know

26:08

that he knows and let's see what happens. And

26:11

so then there's like my proudest performance moment

26:13

on that whole show is me going like,

26:17

you know, you were gone, like now admitting it

26:19

and trying to deal with him and that he's

26:21

like, I know it, you know, that it

26:23

explodes into this thing. And that was this

26:26

semi organic like improv from John

26:29

and Ed and that I was

26:31

like, Oh, this law,

26:34

you know, again, as a fan and a

26:36

love of the show and a participant and all this stuff

26:38

like coming together at once you're like, Oh my

26:40

God, I can't believe I'm gonna do this. Like, Oh,

26:43

that moment is so good. I

26:45

didn't know that story behind that

26:47

moment is brilliant. Oh,

26:49

just all that man. Yeah. God. So

26:52

cool, dude. It's so cool. Like this. Yeah, man.

26:54

Makes me so happy to be thinking about it.

27:07

I just wanted to know if there were because

27:09

you were just talking about opening that door to

27:11

memory lane. Are there any

27:13

other like scenes or moments

27:16

or it could be

27:18

an on camera and off camera moment that

27:21

come to mind that we haven't talked about anything

27:24

that like if you could go back and

27:26

and relive it that you'd be

27:28

like, Oh, I gotta do that again. I bet

27:32

there's 100 that I, you

27:34

know, I don't know, can't remember

27:36

or I don't know, but I, but but

27:38

ones I do are like, you

27:40

know, your final talking head. Like,

27:44

I think that I have a photo, I think that

27:47

I was even like, I should not be taking this. But

27:49

like, uh, we were all

27:52

in video village, Jake. Remember, we were

27:54

all on that couch together watching it.

27:56

Yes. Yeah. And I felt like I should

27:58

not be here. Like, Like this is, these

28:02

people have created this thing and I

28:04

got to like be a band-aid

28:07

on this, you know, like I'm a snail stuck

28:09

to the side of this ship. But

28:11

these folks built the ship, you know, and going

28:14

like, I should give them space. As

28:16

if like a loved one was passing

28:18

and I was, I don't

28:20

know, someone bringing in Jello that was like, whoops, my

28:23

bad. But I just remember being in that

28:25

room and thinking like, this

28:27

is nuts. And like, as

28:30

a participant, as a person on the

28:32

show and going like, oh

28:34

man, I've loved my time here. It's so sad

28:37

to think this is the end of it, you

28:39

know? And also as a

28:42

viewer, as a fan of the show for so many years

28:44

to go, oh man, I

28:46

can't believe I'm here. I'm

28:48

inside the thing. I'm inside the

28:50

mothership, like watching it happen. This is

28:52

insane. And I'm here with everybody

28:55

who's made this thing for almost a decade.

28:57

You know what I mean? Surreal. Surreal

28:59

then surreal now. It's never, I don't

29:02

know. But other

29:04

memories, writing to the, you know, being

29:07

in a van with everybody going to the last table

29:09

read and the way

29:11

they had that table read set up with the cameras

29:13

so that execs could see it back. Everybody wanted to

29:15

be a part of it, you know? And

29:19

the, after we wrapped and then

29:21

there was that kind of strange wrap party and

29:24

then the very cool wrap party

29:27

and Stephen Merchant being there and

29:29

me reintroducing myself to Stephen Merchant,

29:32

assuming he does not know who I am, you

29:34

know, even though he's an EP on the show,

29:36

he was like, yeah, no, I know, Jake. I've

29:39

seen every episode. Like I, I heard you, I've

29:41

seen the edits. Like I'm more. You

29:44

know, like still to the end being like, pleasure

29:46

to meet you. He was like, yeah, no, we

29:48

got it, guys. We got it. So

29:52

Jen and I both know moments

29:54

on the show where we completely lost

29:56

it and could barely regain our composure.

29:58

Like we lost it. lost it. And

30:02

I know you said that you broke at

30:04

the flack line, but was there any other

30:06

moment where you completely lost it? It's

30:10

a couple

30:12

times where,

30:14

it's a couple times in

30:16

the conference room where I really felt like,

30:18

oh God, I'm going to die here.

30:20

This will be the end. But

30:24

some of those were like, John,

30:28

John one time was like, hey, watch

30:31

this. Brian, make

30:33

it go on too long. And Brian was like,

30:36

got it. And then at

30:38

the end, when the scripted scene

30:40

has finished, you

30:42

know, Brian, as Kevin, would

30:44

just lob

30:46

in another line or two,

30:49

like, just calling back to

30:51

his own storyline to be like, but

30:54

are we going to, you know, and like, each

30:57

time it would

30:59

just ruin me to be both like,

31:01

this has been so funny as scripted,

31:03

and then someone just

31:06

freewheeling and going like, I'm going to take

31:08

over at the end here. I was like,

31:10

that is so unbelievably funny to me. I

31:13

think there's a lot like, I don't

31:15

know. I don't know if there's one where

31:17

I'm like, I don't know

31:20

what are ones? What are the top ones? Do you

31:22

have any from that season that you go this? I

31:25

couldn't function. Well, I

31:27

have one that's very fresh just because

31:29

I just watched it when aunt Shirley

31:31

slapped me. You can see me

31:33

sort of like I have to like

31:39

bend over because I'm kind of shocked

31:41

laughing like, oh, really hurt. Really,

31:44

really slapped

31:47

me. And a handful there. Yeah.

31:50

But so that was very fresh for me.

31:52

But just the conference room whenever we all

31:54

had a moment whenever we all had a

31:57

line, and it was just like zipping around

31:59

the conference. room, there was always

32:02

that great energy. And we

32:04

were confined in that tiny space and that

32:06

added to it all day long being stuck

32:08

in that space. That's usually

32:10

when I broke the hardest. I

32:13

just remember losing it a lot during

32:15

the life episode. Kate being

32:18

so like defensive

32:20

and then bald. And

32:24

the guilt that my character had over

32:27

the whole situation. It just

32:29

I just remember laughing a lot

32:31

during that episode. As you say

32:33

that, like I had forgotten. I guess now

32:36

it reminds me like that Woods came back.

32:39

Oh yeah. One episode maybe and I was

32:41

a fan of his from a distance and

32:43

then in the moment people have been like

32:46

they don't really write stuff for him because he's so

32:48

smart that he kind of has alts for himself,

32:50

you know, and that they'd offered for him to

32:53

be a writer on the show a handful of

32:55

times. And he was like, no, I want to

32:57

perform. Like I don't, I want to be able

32:59

to do both. And he came in and we're

33:01

in a conference room. It's just there's four of

33:03

us there. And he the

33:05

things he had brought with him in

33:08

his little like dialogue

33:10

bag of tricks. I was like, holy,

33:12

like it was both

33:15

what he was presented. And then also if

33:17

I could try to keep up with him

33:19

for a moment, like so fast back into

33:22

it, you know what I mean? To add

33:24

to it, not cutting me down, but just

33:26

to add into the joke of it.

33:28

You know, I was like, this is this

33:31

is another level. You know, like this is

33:33

something I wish I knew

33:35

what magic trick is happening here. You know,

33:37

like, yeah, God, I

33:39

just think, oh, and I, sorry.

33:43

I know it's, I'm a guest on the

33:45

show. So you're asking me questions. I still feel

33:47

like I'm talking a lot about me, but I

33:49

have food poisoning during that episode. So I would

33:51

go throw up in my trailer. I didn't

33:54

know you could call into work. And then come

33:57

shoot those scenes. So I look

33:59

like kind of. the palette, you know, in

34:01

some of those scenes and then like go back to

34:03

my trailer. For the life episode? And just be like,

34:06

no, uh, no, for whatever episode Zach

34:08

came back for. Oh, that

34:10

Zach was in. And he hires my

34:13

ex-girlfriend to then work

34:15

there. Yes, yes, right. And sets us

34:17

up as this love, hate

34:19

triangle thing. But that episode

34:21

I had food poisoning, so it was very

34:23

sick. And then also coming in and

34:26

like, no food in my system and

34:28

kind of like, ugh. And

34:30

Zach just like throwing heat for an

34:32

hour and me like giggling at a

34:34

conference table and then being like, if

34:36

you'll excuse me, go

34:38

back into my trailer and be

34:40

sick. But that's one where

34:42

I couldn't stop laughing and I thought like, I'm going to

34:45

ruin this for him. They won't be able to edit around

34:47

me laughing. I sound wildly unprofessional in that way. But

34:50

just thinking like, this is too funny. I

34:53

won't manage. Do

34:56

you think Pete and Aaron ended

34:58

up together? It's very vague in

35:01

the finale. What

35:03

were you playing? What was your

35:05

decision? Did I

35:07

think she moves on? Really?

35:12

You don't think they end up together? No,

35:14

but I think like, look, I haven't really

35:16

stayed. Maybe this

35:18

is different for you, for me when people go

35:20

like, I'm still close with all my exes. I'm

35:22

like, you're out of your mind. But

35:25

okay. To me,

35:27

I'm like, I

35:29

think Pete and Aaron genuinely like stay close.

35:32

You know, that they each like had

35:34

this time together and she

35:38

also finds such deeper, I

35:41

don't know, clarity and

35:43

closure in the

35:45

other storyline for her of like her birth mother.

35:49

And you know that I feel like Pete is like

35:51

a part of her life that informs

35:53

that a little, but isn't like

35:56

the guy. But in this

35:58

great way that they actually stay. close,

36:00

that they actually stay like really good friends

36:02

and it just isn't the

36:06

thing. Like that's kind of my hope for

36:08

them. But I don't know,

36:10

maybe, you know, maybe other people feel

36:14

differently. We'll get mail. We'll get mail.

36:18

He's wrong. Oh. We

36:23

also always ask people, do

36:25

you get recognized for being

36:27

Pete? And in your case,

36:29

what do people call you, Pete or Plop? Yeah,

36:32

it's Plop. Plop for sure. Plop,

36:34

definitely. Yeah,

36:37

to an extent. It

36:40

is, you know, you go, better than not being

36:43

recognized, if you know what I mean. That's very

36:45

nice. But also like, it's

36:48

the difference that someone goes like, were you Plop on

36:51

the office? And you go, yeah, man, that's me, totally.

36:53

Or when like at Home Depot, someone's like,

36:56

Plop. Hey,

36:58

man. Hey, bud. We not

37:01

yell that. You know, like, that's,

37:04

that's, you know, it's

37:07

just that variation of the interaction.

37:10

Because ultimately, like, it's not the name. It's

37:12

just like one feels like a human interaction.

37:14

Right. And one feels like, I don't

37:17

know, weird. It is.

37:19

Yes, it's sometimes Pete, sometimes Pete.

37:22

Everyone's like, I get green

37:24

as Horace. And I'm like,

37:27

can we dial that one down? We can

37:30

put that one to bed, gang. That's all right. My

37:32

kids are here. I don't have to

37:35

explain what Horace means. Thank you to

37:37

an entire middle school. Like, what

37:39

the? Come on, guy. Did

37:41

you take anything from set when it wrapped?

37:43

Because we all took a little something. I

37:47

was too afraid. Yeah. Too

37:49

afraid. Too afraid. I know

37:51

now that's like, I should just like, brought

37:54

a duffel bag and been like, it's

37:56

all mine. I'm taking it. No, one will know. Um, No,

38:00

I was sure that I'd get

38:03

a call and people would be like, did you take

38:05

the stapler from the other home? No,

38:09

I think I maybe have like a script,

38:11

maybe like the final script, something

38:13

like that. All right. I wanted

38:15

to share with you that we have all

38:18

the call sheets because everyone's been so amazing

38:20

since Jenna and I started this podcast. They

38:22

have just shared with us shooting

38:24

drafts and candy bag auls and coffee. Oh,

38:27

man. So we've really been able to dig

38:29

in, you know? And one

38:32

of the things I noticed on the back

38:34

of the call sheets for season eight, they've

38:36

actually stopped for season nine. I'm not

38:38

sure why, but on the back of the call

38:40

sheets for season eight, there was a

38:42

little section where it was like, get to know your

38:44

cast and crew. And they picked

38:47

a person and asked them five questions

38:49

and it was on the back of

38:51

every call sheet. And I am loving

38:54

them because the questions are fantastic. And

38:58

we asked these to Brian Cranston and I was like,

39:00

oh my gosh, Jenna, we have to ask these to

39:02

every guest moving forward because these

39:04

questions are so fun. So

39:06

here they are. The first question

39:08

is, what was your

39:10

first entertainment job? Oh,

39:15

well, the first like real professional, I was 16.

39:19

Yeah, 16 or 17. And I

39:22

grew up in Vermont. The Breadloaf campus of Middlebury

39:24

College in the summer would do a language

39:26

program. And they would

39:29

also have people from theater and Providence

39:31

come up and do shows. So I was in Tom

39:34

Stoppard's, Cadia, when

39:37

I was like 16, I think 17. And,

39:41

you know, it was just for the summer, but

39:43

was like working with professional actors. And do

39:46

I want to be an actor at that point? So that

39:48

was like my first ever. Oh,

39:51

Jake, that makes my theater nerd heart

39:54

swell so much. All

39:56

right. I have the next question. Do

39:59

you speak? any other languages? No,

40:03

language of the heart. No, I don't.

40:05

I don't. I'm working on Italian, but

40:07

it's not going quickly.

40:09

So no, the answer is

40:11

no. What was the goal in wanting

40:14

to learn Italian? Was it, I'm going to go

40:16

there and I'm going to be... Why Italian? I

40:18

spent a very small amount

40:22

of time there, maybe 10 years ago, and traveled

40:25

around in Italy and thought like, this

40:28

is it. This is where I

40:30

would move tomorrow, like any

40:33

part of it. Tuscany, Umbria,

40:35

down to the coast. I mean,

40:37

I just was totally

40:39

taken with it. And always

40:43

honestly have one foot in going like,

40:47

maybe I'll move to Italy. I have

40:49

kids now and married and whatever, but go like, let's

40:52

go. This business is

40:54

so remote. I

40:56

rarely shoot in New York or LA

40:58

anyways. There's no reason

41:00

for me to go like, I need to

41:02

be a train ride away from the city. It's like, yeah, if

41:04

I want to play, that's true. But

41:07

the reality of mostly

41:10

what my work is, is like sending in self

41:12

tapes, meeting people over Zoom. Yeah,

41:16

maybe an offer, but really that's kind of rare.

41:19

So like, I could live anywhere and

41:21

why not pick up and go

41:24

to Florence? Why not go to Siena? And

41:28

if we were to do that, I'd

41:30

like to be engaged in the culture

41:32

and not just like an expat floating

41:34

around the prototypical American to go like,

41:36

anyone here speak English? English

41:38

anybody? But we'll see. Well,

41:41

that folds into question number three on

41:43

the call sheet is, what's the place

41:45

you've been to that you've loved? So

41:47

I think that's for you,

41:49

Italy, Italy, to be sure. And also, I

41:51

mean, London, I don't know, I spent a little time in London

41:54

and thought this is, I would also,

41:56

you know, the most expensive city

41:58

maybe in the world. But

42:01

London, I just thought was wonderful.

42:03

Yeah. I don't know. I

42:05

think that all sounds pretty fantastic. I want

42:07

to go. You know,

42:09

I had friends, I had friends in my twenties. Of course,

42:12

they didn't have kids yet, you know, but they

42:14

decided to go live in Italy for a

42:16

year and they went and they lived in Italy

42:18

for a year and they loved it and I

42:20

think they think back to that time in their

42:22

life so fondly and I grew up overseas. So

42:25

Jake, I'm saying go for it. Yeah.

42:27

Where did you grow up? Where were you overseas? I

42:30

lived 12 years in Jakarta, Indonesia. Oh

42:33

my God. What was there for that? Your family

42:35

was there. My dad was a

42:37

drilling engineer and he was transferred there in

42:39

the seventies and I grew up there. I

42:43

loved that chapter of my life. So

42:45

I, and I think you just, it's

42:47

such an education. So I don't want to get in

42:49

trouble here. I don't want to step in your business

42:51

with your wife, but I'm just saying. She's

42:54

into it. She's like, let's go for it. For

42:56

real. Yeah. No, you're, you're tipping the scale.

42:59

Well, if, um, office ladies come to

43:01

Italy, we will find you. You've always

43:03

got a place that you'll always be welcome in

43:05

our house. Pasta and

43:08

pools. Next question

43:10

is what do you like to do

43:12

on the weekends? I

43:16

mean, I've got two

43:19

little boys. So it's, um, the

43:21

weekends are not my own. Do you know what I mean? It's

43:23

like when they're in school, um, on

43:26

the weekends, what do I really like

43:28

to do? If I get the chance,

43:30

I love running. I

43:32

love trail running. If I can get

43:35

away for just a little bit to do that or boy reading, but

43:40

I can get like a half hour in

43:42

of just reading for it's a pleasure. Oh,

43:44

obviously the parent of small children.

43:48

I remember these days. Yes.

43:52

Uninterrupted shower. Yeah. Okay.

43:54

Last question, Jake. What

43:58

is your favorite midnight? snack.

44:03

Cool pizza. Yeah.

44:05

Oh, yeah. I'll order pizza,

44:08

eat too much of it the first time, convince

44:11

myself I won't have any later, put the

44:13

kids to bed, put something on be like, you want

44:16

a snack? My wife's like, I'm

44:18

good, dude. I had too much for dinner. I'm like, yeah,

44:20

no, totally. And then go downstairs

44:22

and like make the coffee, let the dog out,

44:24

eat two pieces of pizza. Be like, what are

44:26

you doing? What is happening? So

44:29

it's that and also man of late,

44:31

um, frosted mini wheat has been like,

44:34

they're just in there. And I think, oh, that'll fill

44:36

me up a little, it's a little sweet, it's a

44:38

little whatever, you know, and like, we

44:41

have these poor tubs, it's not just the box,

44:43

you know, keeping it all real organized. And,

44:47

but I won't like put it in a bowl

44:49

because I'm convinced, you

44:51

know, I'm convinced I'm gonna have like two

44:53

little handfuls and that'll be that but instead,

44:55

I probably put away like half a bag

44:57

of cereal and then go like, what it

45:00

dude, it's midnight, like, come on, but also

45:02

why run? You know what I mean? Just

45:04

why run and go to the gym, then

45:08

from 11 to 12, you're gonna

45:10

do your own at home fourth meal. You

45:12

know, everyone Taco Bell made that a thing.

45:15

They were just legit like, go ahead, 25% more food

45:17

than anyone's ever

45:20

worked. Oh, all

45:23

right. Yeah, we'll do that.

45:26

We're gonna do it.

45:28

So that's pizza, pizza,

45:31

frosted mini wheat. Yeah. Nutritious.

45:38

Super high in fiber

45:40

and some extra nutrition. I

45:43

love not committing to a bowl though. That

45:45

is me. I'm like, if I only take a

45:47

few handfuls of M&Ms, is it really anything? I

45:49

didn't put in a container. It's just

45:51

a few. Right. And I don't know.

45:54

Like, yeah. Yeah. And then

45:56

by October 10, you're like, somehow we're out of

45:58

candy for Halloween. I don't know how. that

46:00

happened but... It

46:02

wasn't me, I didn't put it in a bowl. Yeah,

46:05

no, it's a problem. It

46:09

was so good to see you and get

46:11

to reconnect. You are just the same. Just

46:15

the same awesome guy and

46:17

this was really fun. Yeah,

46:19

thanks so much. This is really lovely. Thank you for

46:22

having me on here. And Jake, we just loved you

46:24

on set. You were just

46:28

so wonderful to be around and

46:31

so I just hope you know how much

46:33

we all just like... You just

46:35

fit in seamlessly and you were just part of

46:38

the family. That really

46:40

means a lot. Thank you. Thank

46:42

you. This is like me then saying

46:44

thank you and me now saying thank you.

46:47

You know, like it really... Thanks. Thank

46:50

you. Yeah, thank you.

46:55

Do

46:59

you see what we're saying? How great is Jake

47:01

Lacey? I know. Love him. I love

47:03

him even more now. I know. Well,

47:05

a big thanks to Jake for sharing with us

47:07

about his time in the office and please be

47:09

sure to check out his new show, Apples Never

47:12

Fall on Peacock. Thanks so much for

47:14

listening. We hope you have a good week and we'll see

47:16

you next time. See you then. Thank

47:21

you for listening to Apples Ladies. Apples

47:24

Ladies is produced by Irvold, Jenna

47:26

Fisher and Angela Kinsey. Our senior

47:28

producer is Kathy Jorkin. Our

47:30

audio engineer is Jordan Dussie and

47:32

our associate producer is Aimsley Bubbico.

47:34

Our same song is Rubber Tree

47:36

by Creed Zann.