Felicity Ward says she's relishing the chance to step into Ricky Gervais and Steve Carrell's shoes, in her role as Hannah Howard, the nightmare boss in The Office Australia.
Based upon the iconic BBC comedy created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and the wildly successful US remake of the show, the eight-part series on Prime Video from Friday, October 18 promises a satirical slice of corporate culture Down Under.
Following day-to-day life at Australia's packaging company Flinley Craddick, the opening episode sees Howard battling to keep her office open amid the rise of home-working, in a move that proves unpopular with many of her employees.
Felicity tells us: "I sent Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam in the US version, a DM on Instagram. I was like, 'Hey, I'm making the Australian Office!'" I didn't think I'd ever hear from her, but she wrote back immediately. She was like, 'Oh my god, I never see my Instagram messages. What's your email address? We are so excited about this. There's room for 100 remakes of this show, like it's The Office. There is no world that is too small for more!' I was like, was so nice. So, yeah, I'm hopefully doing The office ladies podcast. Wonderful."
Have you had any contact with Ricky Gervais or Stephen Merchant about the show?
"I actually did a stand-up gig with Stephen Merchant a year ago, but I didn't want to say anything, because I was scared he was going to be weird about it! It's the most British thing I've ever done!"
Here Felicity tells us more in our exclusive chat...
The Office has been remade more than a dozen times, but this is the first time the lead character has been a woman...
Felicity Ward: "At first, I wondered why they were remaking it! But when they told me they wanted a woman as the lead, I thought it made sense. After all, if you're going to redo something after more than 20 years, you have to have a pretty serious point of difference from the original!"
What can you tell us about Hannah Howard?
"What I like about her is that she's an optimistic delusionist. Her primary concern is everyone in the office being friends with her, yet she's completely incapable of seeing how much they want nothing to do with her. What a beautiful place to live if you didn't know people hated you. She's an idiot, but she's free! She's like a baby goat on ice and she's constantly scrambling to take the next step. Nothing about her is smooth, but she never quite falls down."
Does having a female boss alter the dynamic of the show?
"I think it's great seeing a woman who's incapable and can't do her job, because often in sitcoms the women are the most competent people in the room. Hannah is definitely the most incompetent person in any room, like David Brent and Michael Scott in the UK and US versions. If anything, she's bad for the feminist movement!"
Were you nervous about making a new version of such a well-loved comedy?
"Making it was so much fun and I didn't feel pressure at the time, making it was the best nine weeks of my life, but now it’s coming out everyone’s constantly asking me if I feel nervous. I’ll watch it from under the blanket and I hope people enjoy it, although other people’s opinions are none of my business really. Having said that, when I went back to Australia recently, there were 20ft banners of me hanging from the ceiling in Melbourne's Southern Cross Station and all the other advertising space had my name on it. That's when I did start to feel a tiny bit of pressure!"
Are there versions of all our favorite characters from the British and American series?
"The original structure is all there, it’s just infiltrated with Australian culture. So we have the romance between Nick (Steen Raskopoulos) and Greta (Shari Sebbens), who are like Tim and Dawn (Martin Freeman & Lucy Davis) or Jim and Pam (John Krasinski & Jenna Fischer) from the British and US versions. But we've also moved it into the modern post-Covid era. There are things in the UK and US Office that you couldn't do now because the world has changed, but nowadays there are also conversations going on about how much time people should be spending in the office."
The British office was very cringy, but this is a slightly more warm-hearted show isn't it?
"I think it's very British to make something so funny and so painful that you almost can't watch it. It pushes you as a viewer. I remember as a kid watching Fawlty Towers and it was almost too embarrassing and painful. The original version of The Office changed the comedy landscape and made mockumentaries the norm, but I think Australians are a little warmer than the Brits — although not quite as positive as Americans — so this show is in the middle."
