Kemper: Well, when he started appearing on the cover of-on the cover of your magazine, right?-and was on the side of buses and everything. GQ: I hear that when you moved out there, you invited Jon Hamm-who you'd known back in St. But since it's always sunny, I feel like I'm sacrilegious if I'm in a bad mood.
It's just that I think weather affects my mood a lot more than I thought, and I like to be in bad moods sometimes. Which I know sounds completely spoiled and terrible. I'm having trouble adjusting to the weather. New York is like the weirdest city in the United States, in a great way, and Los Angeles is probably more similar to most of America. should be compared, because they're not comparable at all. I think it's sort of unfair that someone made up this rule that New York and L.A. Like the Times Square of L.A.-without the bomb threats. I'm living in Hollywood, right by the Walk of Fame. That's when the audition for The Office came up. I'd been out the previous winter working on this one-woman show of mine. Kemper: I moved out here permanently last July. It was a total rush when it was all over: the cake hit him in the eye, and nobody laughed, and I stormed out, and it was a victory! Throwing something-not just at Ed-but at anyone. The cake was dense, and really stuck to his face. Ed Helms never laughed, and I think we only did the scene four times. It's hard to reset the cake, so everyone please just try to do this without laughing." I was nervous because I had to go a little bit nuts in front of all of these people who I admire and whose approval I seek, so I was shaking through the whole scene. Kemper: Oh my gosh! I have to tell you! Steve Carell directed the episode, and he said, "Time is of the essence. GQ: You got to throw a huge piece of cake in Ed Helms' face. GQ: How much do the writers clue you in to what's happening with Erin?
You never want to get too hopeful about anything, but I thought they might be bring her back for a few episodes in the Fall-and then last June, they told me they were gonna make Erin a regular. And then they didn't really give any indication that Erin was going away. So I thought, Of course! With this kind of work, I was just thinking: I have something for four weeks. Pam had gone to work at the Michael Scott Paper Company, and they needed a receptionist for a short time. I thought it was gonna be a four-episode arc.
Kemper: I didn't imagine that Erin would become a full character. GQ: When you started on The Office, how long did you expect the gig to last? You're not playing your character from The Office. But I still get very, very nervous when the time comes to audition. Kemper: Well, I think it's certainly easier in terms of knowing, "Okay, I have a steady job working as an actress." So there's some comfort there with regards to looking for work. GQ: Have you noticed your role on The Office opening a ton of doors for you already? Rose Byrne, too? I have an enormous girl crush on her.
I just feel like they're so far ahead of me and superior to me, just better than I am, that I really am honored just to be able to be in this movie with them. Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, I can't believe, 'cause they treat me like their equal. incredulous that I am allowed to be involved in this.
GQ: You're sort of fully joining forces with the Women Of Comedy world with this movie. But mostly, I'm not kidding, Loehmann's is the bulk of what I've been doing. So we've had a couple rehearsals and table reads.