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Netflix’s Office Romance has all the proper rom-com machinery humming: Jennifer Lopez power-walking through corporate glass, Brett Goldstein trying not to short-circuit, and a very impressive supporting cast. Director Ol Parker and Tony Hale spoke with Kyle Meredith about the new film, digging into how the workplace setup gives the romance its obstacle course, why the genre feels primed for a comeback, and how much comedy got left on the cutting-room floor. Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Parker, who has made a career out of big-hearted cinematic sugar rushes like Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Ticket to Paradise, says he keeps returning to rom-coms because “the destination is predestined and joyous,” which feels useful in a world that rarely offers either. He also knew Lopez came with her own mythology: “That’s the sort of iconography of Jen,” he says of the way the movie plays with her presence before peeling it back to reveal someone “really funny, really sweet, really kind.”
Hale, meanwhile, turns his HR guy George into another tiny tornado of panic, one more entry in the grand Tony Hale canon of people trying to maintain order while the building burns down. “I was an anxious kid,” he says, explaining how roles like Buster, Gary, Forky, and now George let him turn old nerves into comedy. He also confirms a lost bathroom meltdown scene: “I was standing on the sink screaming at myself in the mirror,” Hale remembers, before adding there was also a headstand and some face-down screaming under the sink — something we all would have been able to enjoy back in the era of DVD extras.
Listen to Ol Parker and Tony Hale talk about Office Romance, Toy Story 5 (just a bit), deleted scenes, rom-coms, and more in the new episode above or by watching the video below. Keep up on all the latest episodes by following Kyle Meredith With… on your favorite podcast platform; plus, check out all the series on the Consequence Podcast Network.
English (US) · 