Domhnall Gleeson as Ned in "The Paper."
"The Paper" (l-r) Domhnall Gleeson as Ned Sampson, Tim Key as Ken, Chelsea Frei as Mare, Melvin Gregg as Detrick.
"The Office" cast. (l-r) Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly, John Krasinksi as Jim Halpert, BJ Novak as Ryan Howard, (center) Steve Carell as Michael Scott.
Chelsea Frei as Mare speaking to the camera on "The Paper."
Ned Sampson from "The Paper" and Michael Scott from "The Office."

Here's the thing: You might think Domhnall Gleeson plays the new Michael Scott in "The Paper."

After all, the Irish actor, 42, plays new boss Ned Sampson in "The Office" spinoff (10 episodes now streaming on Peacock). Surely, Ned falls into "The Office" mold of the wildly insecure leader, much like David Brent (Ricky Gervais) in the 2001-03 British series and Scott (Steve Carell) in NBC's 2005-13 adaptation.

But Gleeson, who played the respect-craving Imperial General Hux in the "Star Wars" franchise, insists he'd never take a rebooted Michael Scott role.

"Ned felt so very different from the start, which I mean, thank God," Gleeson says. "I'm not trying to fill those shoes. That'd be a disaster. This is totally its own thing. What they have in common is they're each the boss, and probably think they're more capable than they are."

Don't call 'The Paper' an 'Office' reboot

"The Office" executive producer Greg Daniels, who came up with and oversees "The Paper" with executive producer Michael Koman, says the new show isn't a reboot.

Daniels' underlying premise: The fictitious documentary crew filming Scranton's Dunder Mifflin Paper Company to create nine seasons "The Office" finds a new workplace to chronicle, 475 Rust Belt miles to the west – the struggling Toledo Truth Teller newspaper.

"We were never looking for the Toledo version of Darryl (Craig Robinson) from 'The Office,' or anything like that," Daniels says. "We'd have an inspirational boss in Ned come in, very different from Michael Scott, but have the same poignance. You still root for him."

The Toledo newspaper setting is a logical follow-up for the rarely seen documentarians. "A documentary crew would be excited to follow a regional 'ghost' newspaper where they've fired the reporters," Daniels says. "It's an important story."

'The Paper' cast on Peacock: Who's in the show?

Ned tries to recreate a vital newsroom from a depleted staff that includes dispirited Mare Pritti (Chelsea Frei), new staffer Nicole Lee (Ramona Young), ad salesman Detrick Moore (Melvin Gregg) and accountant Adam Cooper (Alex Edelman).

Ned's uphill battle is undermined by managing editor Esmeralda Grand ("White Lotus" actress Sabrina Impacciatore) and corporate boss Ken Davies (Tim Key), who want to sink his ambitious and expensive plan.

The only returning cast character from "The Office" is accountant Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nuñez), who made the move to Toledo and is demonstrably unhappy with the reemergence of the documentary cameras.

"Ned has to inspire the office early on so that they are excited to make something good," says Gleeson, who sees Ned as a newspaper romantic. "Sometimes that is to his detriment, because his positivity stops him from seeing real issues. But that's good from a comedy perspective."

Gleeson, who costarred with Carell in FX's 2022 dramatic thriller "The Patient," reached out to the former "Office" boss over Zoom just to make sure he had his blessing. "And Steve sort of set me free," Gleeson says. "He told me that I'd have a great time."

There were fears of failure before for remakes – with the 'The Office'

While Peacock has already ordered up Season 2 of "The Paper," there have been critics and doubters about the new series.

Executive producer Ben Silverman has heard these before. Silverman acquired the rights to "The Office" and brought it to the United States after falling in love with the British series. At the time, critics doubted an American version would work.

"People were concerned (that) the British 'Office' was such high quality and we were going to remake it in the U.S. and somehow ruin the original," Silverman says. "My response to that was you want great underlying material when you're adapting something."

But NBC's series became a cultural touchstone, and the mockumentary speak-to-the-camera style launched imitators from "Parks and Recreation" to "Modern Family," and now returns in "The Paper."

"Everyone was taking what we created and adapting it into their commercials and TV shows in similar ways," Silverman says. "We've been imitated, honored, ripped off – however you want to look at it. It's like, we're the best at it, let's do it the right way."

How to watch 'The Paper' on Peacock

All 10 episodes of "The Paper" are available to stream on Peacock now. "The Office" is also available on the streaming platform.

Watch "The Paper" on Peacock

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Paper' boss is no Michael Scott from 'The Office': That's what he said

Reporting by Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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