As many of you might know, I http://www.myspace.com/kevinmalone">write a blog on MySpace. For those of you living in a bush or under a tree, MySpace is the super-über friend-type website that is run by some guy named Tom. Or Jim. Something like that. A real ordinary name, but he has got to be a super gajillionaire. I heard they just merged with Google. Or Google just bought them. One or the other. Anyway, it is a phenomenon, this MySpace thing. Sweeping the globe. There are about 90 million people who have signed up for accounts on MySpace. That is a lot of people (in case you were wondering).
Anyway, Jenna Fischer signed me up on MySpace last year and created a page for my character on NBC's The Office, Kevin. So Kevin has a MySpace page. And since last December or so, I have run this page for Kevin. (Yes, I really do manage it. For the time being anyway.) Initially, I thought that I would keep up with it for a month or so, then it would kind of peter out. But now it’s kind of taken on a life of its own.
See, the page was started for Kevin. In that spirit, I thought it only fair that Kevin be the one who shares his thoughts. Not me. Contrary to popular opinion, I do not share a whole lot of characteristics with Kevin. So this is, at times, a difficult thing. It has become almost a character study. What would Kevin think about certain things? How would he respond to Sasha Cohen? Does he like ice-skating? What are his favorite sports and teams? Does he like the camera folks who tape him at work?
Because our show is a documentary, or a mock documentary, it seemed like the perfect fit. The premise of our show is that we are real people, living in Scranton, Pennsylvania, working at a paper-supply company, and that a camera crew has decided to film us and broadcast us on television. So Kevin really exists, unlike the characters on, say, Seinfeld, who live in their own world and are presented to the viewing public without their knowledge. The characters on our show know they are being recorded, and presumably know that they will be viewed sometimes by other people. So Kevin works at a paper company. He is being recorded. And he writes a blog on the Internet from work for others to read. Make sense?
For some reason, it makes perfect sense to me. Or did make perfect sense until recently. You see, I keep getting asked the following question: "Is this really you... Kevin from The Office?"
There are so many issues with this question that I don't know where to begin. Does the questioner know Kevin is a character, and thereby not real? If so, then how could it possibly be Kevin? If not, then no, I am not the actual character. I am the actor pretending to be the character. But see, I don't want to admit to being the actor, so I answer as the character. But then, does the person think I am insane for pretending to be a character when I am just the actor? Or have I even answered the question? Man oh man, now I am confusing myself even more.
To try and clear up this confusion — or perhaps in an attempt to ignore the underlying issues — I came up with a stock answer. I write the following:
Yes, it is me.
As with God, sometimes you just have to believe.
Peace,
Kev
Two days ago, someone got mad at me. I think they thought I was comparing myself to God. I was not. (Although Kevin might; this is where it gets tricky.) I was merely saying that sometimes you have to accept things with blind faith. Because really, imagine the confusion it would cause if people asked me to prove I was Kevin. I justify my response by considering that I guess Kevin lives inside me. Somewhere very dark and deep inside me. But he is there. And as long as he can keep up with it, he will continue to try to respond to friend requests and to write blogs. And let's face it — he is better at it than I am.
This week on The Office's webisode, we have "The Memo." This is the first of several webisodes that focuse exclusively the accounting department. In this installment, our heroes (the accountants) are looking for a plan of attack to try to find the missing money. We decide the best plan would be to write a memo to the employees of Dunder-Mifflin. I should say no more....
But do let me take this opportunity to say... I love working with Angela Kinsey and Oscar Nunez. They are a couple of gifted comedians with great improv skills, so they constantly challenge me to create material with them. The three of us enjoy some smashing tomfoolery in our little corner of the office. From our very first episode, "The Pilot," Angela and Oscar and I began doing little bits, little scenes for ourselves that we would convince the director to tape. We have been told that all those scenes we created while trying to entertain ourselves, and that we manhandled the writers and directors into watching, are what birthed the webisodes. So enjoy. We did have a good time making them. Check them out at nbc.com/theoffice.
And you can also check out "Dwight's Speech" tonight at 8:30 pm/ET on the mother ship. Rainn Wilson deserves an Emmy, IMHO.
My best to you all.
Peace,
Kev
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