(Did you get that memo, by the way?)
I said, “It can’t be just about Milton.
You don’t want to know what he does at home after work.”
Gary Cole in ‘Office Space’.
Michael Bolton was the only character where I had a specific actor David Herman in mind.
Fox said, “Sorry, no.
You’re our .360 hitter.”
So at the next table-read, I did every sketch screaming at the top of my lungs.
They took me off the show and said, “You’ll never work in this town again!”
[Laughs] Then I readOffice Space.
Gary Cole in ‘Office Space’.
I was in love with it.
We needed comedies to balance the slate.
When I readOffice SpaceI wondered, “Was Mike hiding in our office?”
It was the most brilliant workplace satire I’d ever read.
I was going to read Milton but thought, “I’d rather just sit back and listen.”
Stephen Root (Milton):So Mike shows me his littleOffice Spaceshort film.
I added more lisp and strangeness to Milton’s voice.
Judge:Stephen and David killed it, but otherwise it was a disaster.
The actor who read for Peter had too much swagger.
I’d been miserable in my office jobs, but I never thought I deserved better.
He played it wrong.
“Well, I guess we’re not making this movie.”
Then Rothman says, “The actors aren’t right, but this is a movie!”
I’d felt depressed, then “Okay, I’ll make it better.”
We’d get Mexican food.
He introduced me to chorizo.
[Laughs]
“GET ME MATT DAMON!”
Judge:When we got the green light, there wasn’t pressure at first to cast big names.
They said: “Just get the best actors.
It’s a low-budget movie.”
Nancy Klopper (casting director):Then Fox wanted us to pursue Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
This was post-Good Will Hunting.
They weren’t exactly unknown.
[Laughs]
Judge:Suddenly there was pressure.
They didn’t like the actors I wanted.
I came close to backing out.
I told [producer] Michael Rotenberg, Let me know when it’s too late to leave.
It’s rarely possible to get them, however.
Then Ron Livingston’s agent asked if he could audition.
He’d been inSwingersand a few TV comedies, but wasn’t well-known.
Klopper:Mike writes in a very specific cadence.
When Ron read I was like “Oh my God.”
I was knocked out.
Livingston:I did a damn good audition.
[Laughs] I commandeered Nancy’s desk and started using her drawers, files, and phone.
Judge:I asked the hotel for a VHS player.
I called Nancy immediately.
“I could make this movie today with Ron.”
I met with Matt, who was really nice and liked the script.
But I’d found Peter.
Livingston:My reps called on a Friday and said the studio wanted me to screen-test on Tuesday.
“They’re wondering if you could fast until then?”
“Good one.”
“I think they’re serious.”
I was like “I can try?”
I didn’t think I needed to be chiseled for this role.
So I jumped rope all weekend.
Actually, I think I only made it to Saturday.
Jennifer Aniston (Joanna):I don’t think I was the biggest anything at the time.
Livingston:Jen’s agents probably told her she was going to co-star with Matt Damon.
[Laughs]
Herman:Thanks to her star power, a bunch of unknowns were in the movie.
Would never happen today!
Aniston:Fun fact: I’d gone to high school in New York with David Herman.
I was a sophomore when he was a senior.
He was a quiet, genius actor-bang out back then.
I was sort of madly in love with him, and also terrified of him.
Kate Hudson also read for Peter’s girlfriend.
Judge:I’d originally written Samir to be Iranian.
I met with Ajay, who is Indian-American and asked what he was comfortable with.
We decided to make the character Middle Eastern, from Jordan.
His accent had to be very specific.
Judge:Gary Cole’s audition tipped the scales.
He made the character 10 times funnier.
Klopper:The way he said, “Um, yeah…” everyone lost it.
Gary Cole (Bill Lumbergh):The only comedy I’d done wasThe Brady Bunch Movie.
But we all knew a Lumbergh; that annoying, passive-aggressive authority figure.
Klopper:We also had a Texas casting director named Jo Edna Boldin.
So Mike said, “I’ll just do it.”
Judge:Fox had said we needed to cram in more comedy.
The courtroom dream sequence was Sanford’s suggestion.
The “pieces of flair” stuff came from a consensus that Jennifer needed more scenes.
Those were last-minute adds.
Having her in the movie definitely added pressure.
I didn’t want to be responsible for ruining her career.
Aniston:I also vaguely remember Mike describing Joanna to me as “a stoner.”
That made her more relatable, I think?
Judge:Also, I’d originally had Joanna having actually slept with Gary’s character.
The studio said “No.
yo make it a different Lumbergh.
Jennifer can’t be in that sex-dream sequence.”
[Laughs]
Tim Suhrstedt (cinematographer):Filming started May 1998.
By day three, the temperature hit 100.
Fires in Mexico sent smoke to Texas.
The Austin skies were totally white, so we had to keep postponing the opening traffic-jam scene.
Judge:I didn’t want the movie to feel like Texas; rather, an indeterminate setting.
That’s why most of the license plates in that scene are generic.
I think the studio probably saw those dailies and got worried.
Judge:Early into filming they said, “Ron needs to smile more.”
I’m like, “Why would he smile?
He becomes happy later; we haven’t shot that stuff yet!”
Livingston:There was also concern that I was on drugs, which I wasn’t.
I probably have no idea how close I got to getting fired.
[Laughs]
CreatingSpace
Suhrstedt:Mike had been adamant that the Initech office production-design look oppressive.
We actually screen-tested different gray cubicle pieces.
He also wanted extra-tall cubicles so Lumbergh could lean over Peter’s desk.
That was an expensive special order.
Root:Milton’s glasses were so thick, I had to wear contacts for see.
I had zero depth perception.
I had to practice reaching for the stapler.
Thankfully we’d painted it red; Swingline didn’t make red ones back then.
McGinley:My scenes were mostly with [actor] Paul Willson (Bob Porter).
It was like jazz on that set.
Naidu:The part where I breakdance in the apartment was improvised too.
I’d work during the day and breakdance at night with my Indian friends in Austin.
We had a hardcore crew.
[Laughs]
Aniston:I loved acting with Mike in the restaurant scenes.
I might even have had a crush on him.
He was kind, shy but had a way wicked brain.
He got the giggles a lot.
Herman:The script originally said that the real Michael Bolton was a “no-singing asshole.”
We couldn’t say that because it implied that he didn’t sing his own music.
So I suggested “no-talent ass clown.”
Livingston:I didn’t know what to make of Gary at first.
We first met when he was in character.
Then at lunch, I couldn’t tell if he was still in character.
[Laughs]
Judge:We’d shot half the movie the first time we ever saw Gary laugh.
It was the Lumbergh sex-dream scene.
At the last minute I said, “I want to him to have his coffee cup.”
Suhrstedt:We winged that whole sequence.
Livingston:I was like the mafia don walking around in the back with a bat.
I don’t actually touch the printer during “the hit.”
Naidu:Years later I was in New York.
SomeGoodfella-looking guy says to me, “We’re huge fans.
What you did with that printer was so authentic.”
I think I got props from the mob.
I said, “If the next focus group doesn’t like it, okay.”
Rothman looks over like, “Alright, you win.''
McGinley:The poster forOffice Spacewas a guy covered in Post-its.
He looked like Big Bird.
People were like, I’m not fing going to a Big Bird movie!”
Judge:I wasn’t a fan of the marketing.
We were polar opposite on everything.
They sent me eight different cuts of the trailer.
There were only two versions I absolutely hated, and those were their favorites.
It was a very difficult movie to market.
Panitch:The funniest stuff wasn’t anything you could easily pull into a 15-second commercial.
I think the marketers tried to get at the idea of the tagline: “Work sucks.”
[Laughs] Then the tracking onOffice Spacewasn’t good.
It was a foregone conclusion it wasn’t going to open well.
Rotenberg:It took a few research screenings to realize that audiences often have issues with satire.
Herman:I saw it in Westwood, Calif., when it opened and loved it.
Then I heard how much it was making.
I was like “Wow!
$7 million!”
People said, “No Dave, $7 million is bad.”
Suhrstedt:I saw it in Burbank it’d already left L.A. theaters and it was almost full!
I told Mike, “It’s going to build with word of mouth.”
But it was too late.
Judge:The movie barely made over $12 million.
But then I got calls from amazing people.
Jim Carrey invited me to his house.
Chris Rock left me the best voicemail ever.
I had dinner with Madonna.
She said, “That Michael Bolton guy is my favorite character.
There’s something sexy about how angry he is.”
[Laughs]
Herman:Mike calls me that night.
“You won’t believe this.”
I thought: How am I ever going to tell people, “You know who’s into me?
Aniston:Madonna and Michael Bolton: What a great couple!
Judge:I remember Fox saying, “We’ve all learned from this.
Maybe next time you’ll take our input on casting?
I thought, “I don’t want to do this again!”
Klopper:I was really proud of the movie.
It had so many fresh faces.
Panitch:I remember being very depressed.
Then the DVD came out and still used that failed Post-it marketing campaign.
Judge:I begged them to use a different concept.
They compromised and put Milton on the cover, hiding behind the Post-it guy.
It felt like it kind of went viral before that concept even existed.
Cole:All my day gigs had been service jobs, like bartending.
Rothman:Office Spaceis still one of Fox’s most consistently-selling DVDs.
Judge:After that, studios wanted me for big comedies.
The first said, “The Officesucceeds where movies likeOffice Spacefailed.”
Root:My obit is probably going to read: “Milton is dead.”
[Laughs] By the way, Swingline succumbed to fan request to make a red model.
I still go to sets where boxes of staplers are waiting for me from the crew.
Herman:I’ve never met the real Michael Bolton.
I heard that when asked aboutOffice Space, he’s said something like “Oh, that movie.”
But apparently, he’s not taking himself as seriously anymore, which actually kinda stinks.
The people behind the counter were doing the “Um, yeah…” Lumbergh shtick to each other.
Etan’s like, “Are they doing that because you’re here?”
Then the barista turns around and goes, “Have you guys ever seen that movie?”
