When The Office was first debuted, pretty much nobody in the cast fit the bill as "famous"-- even Steve Carell wouldn't be a significant movie star until The 40-Year-Old Virgin opened a few months after The Office's premiere. But Carell, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer and Rainn Wilson aren't the only now-famous names that were angling to get their parts. In this video, recently released online ahead of the Septemer 3 DVD and Blu-ray release of The Office's final season, you can see any number of familiar faces auditioning for parts that would be made famous by other people. Breaking Bad's Saul Goodman as Michael? Parks & Recreation's Ben Wyatt as Jim? Seth Rogen as Dwight?!?! Can you imagine?
This isn't the first time the Internet has picked up on versions of The Office that could have been. Around the time they were shooting the final episode, Rainn Wilson tweeted a photo of the audition call sheet from November 6, 2013, in which he was the first name on the list, signed up to audition for both Jim and Michael. Adam Scott came right after him, actually, along with other familiar names who don't appear in this video-- Firefly's Alan Tudyk, auditioning as Michael, Bridesmaids's Ben Falcone as Michael, and 24's Mary-Lynn Rajskub as Pam. Check out that call sheet below:
Since The Office finale in May, the cast members have moved on to various projects big and small. David Denman, formerly known as Pam's fiancé Roy, has booked a role on the fifth season of Parenthood, Ellie Kemper a.k.a. Erin will guest star on the upcoming final season of How I Met Your Mother, and Rainn Wilson is taking part in the CBS pilot Backstrom, though we won't know until next year if it goes forward. Steve Carell, of course, continues his movie career, with the modest hit The Way Way Back in theaters now, his voice as part of the mega hit Despicable Me 2, and the intriguing drama Foxcatcher hopefully coming this fall. And to think-- if he hadn't beaten out Bob Odenkirk, none of this might have ever happened.
