Shattering the glass ceiling of cringe, Felicity Ward stars as the first female boss in The Office franchise.
Where Steve Carrell's Michael Scott and Ricky Gervais' David Brent offered up a familiar sight — the irksome, overbearing male boss — Hannah Howard bravely answers the question: what if a woman was that annoying?
"I did very bravely answer that question, yes," Felicity Ward tells Mamamia with a laugh. "It was the best, I don't know if I will ever have a better job. It was so much fun, I was just an idiot every single day, being paid to be annoying every day and like trying to come up with the most creative ways that I could be annoying."
"What an absolute gift. If someone said to you, hey, if you were going to annoy eight people that worked in an office every day how would you do it? The dream."
As someone who lives to annoy, I can confirm that would indeed be the dream. And Ward executes it flawlessly.
When the show was initially announced, it was hardly surprising to see some backlash from (predominantly male) fans. Amid commentary on the first-ever female boss on The Office, some also questioned if the show would just be a direct copy of the most popular US version.
But it would've been impossible for Ward to intentionally mimic Carell, given she hadn't seen his version before filming. She's since caught up on all things Michael Scott, after cast and crew on-set routinely told her she had perfectly channeled his energy in her own way.
Regardless, Ward — a longtime fan of the UK version — says it would be impossible to make a mockumentary series without paying homage to The Office. So she wasn't worried about being too 'similar' to any of the bosses who came before her.
"The Office changed the landscape culturally in comedy," she says of the pressure to be different. "But it's all down to the writing. I didn't have to make too many choices because Hannah was so comprehensively written, all of the other characters were, so it was just a matter of what are you bringing to the table on top of a world that already exists and people that already exist.
"I hope people will watch a couple of episodes before forming an opinion, because I think it's really good. I really loved making it and I'm really proud of it."
Following on from the original UK version in 2001, there have been 15 versions of The Office across the world. It's been adapted in the US, Germany, Greece, France, Canada, India and more. And now it's our turn.
Developed by Julie De Fina (Aftertaste, Where The Wild Things Are) and Jackie van Beek (What We Do in the Shadows, 800 Words) the series' premise is what you'd expect.
The Office Australia follows the employees at a packaging company, Flinley Craddick, in Sydney.
With employees readily taking advantage of 'work from home' culture thanks to the pandemic, and the sky-high cost of running office spaces, Flinley Craddick is looking to permanently move employees to remote work. Hannah's whole life revolves around her work colleagues, and she's not about to let the big wigs mess up her routine.
"We'll be forced to work from the brutal isolation of our homes," she says in one scene, as fire alarms and chaos reign supreme in the fluorescent office lighting. Oh yes, office spaces are indeed the stuff of dreams.
While her rag-tag staff might have enjoyed the opportunity to relax and work from home permanently, Hannah takes it upon herself to promise her boss that employees will hit impossibly-high new targets as a trade-off for being "allowed" to remain full time in the office.
Shenanigans ensue.
Akin to the American version, The Office Australia introduces us to a slew of complicated side characters all on their own quest.
Edith Poor stars as the 'Dwight' equivalent, Lizzie Moyle, a receptionist, front desk executive and productivity manager who serves as Hannah's right hand man.
Lizzie is often at odds with sales rep Nick Fletcher, played by Steen Raskopoulos. When Nick isn't busy feuding with Lizzie, he's crushing on his co-worker Greta King (Shari Sebbens). Yes, we've met our Jim and Pam.
Also starring in roles across the office and warehouse at Flinley Craddick are Josh Thomson, Johnny Brugh, Susan Ling Young, Raj Labade, Lucy Schmidt, Zoe Terakes, Pallavi Sharda, Claude Jabbour, and Jason Perini.
Overseeing them all, Hannah commits to being the most 'delulu' and incompetent woman in the workforce that I've ever seen. Yet, right off the bat she's also infinitely more lovable than Michael Scott or David Brent.
Perhaps I'm bias for the girls, but it took me no time at all to see the likeable qualities in this 'unlikeable' lead. I wanted to cover my face and throw my TV at the screen, like, 50% less watching this version of an office boss.
Yes, she's cringe. That's kind of the point. But Ward brings an immediate humanity and sympathy to the role that delivers something fresh.
"What The Office has, the British and the American… it's a show where you are almost allowed to hate the boss because they're so delusional. And then the second they start to realise they're annoying, that's when the audience go 'oh, you're not allowed to be sad, we love you.' It's this really fine balance," Ward says of playing the 'awkward' lead.
"And Hannah is the same. She's insufferable, she's very annoying, she's very cringe, and then the only time she's like, having self-reflection, you're like 'oh no you're alright we like you sorry'."
She admits to giving herself the ick on more than one occasion, finding it hard to intentionally play a character who is so unfunny to those around her.
"It's very hard to reconcile as a stand-up comedian, to do something that is cringe and for no one to laugh because you're filming a TV show. It's hard on the soul to begin with, but over time it's fine, like you build up the muscle and you build up a thicker skin about it. But in the beginning, I was like… I can't do this."
In some scenes, Hannah is so reminiscent of Michael Scott that it's hard to believe the actress actually hadn't seen the US version before filming. And I know, I've spent a lot of time comparing Ward's portrayal to the two most famous main characters of The Office franchise. But I do believe this rendition stands on its own.
One thing we know for certain, Australia does a workplace comedy well. Fisk, Utopia, Rosehaven and The Librarians, to name a few.
Where this new offering truly shines is when it leans into its Australian roots. The Melbourne Cup episode, in particular, is a standout.
"I don't think you can even compare the [versions of The Office]," Ward says. "The American one is so good, but it's not the British one. The British one is so good, but it's not the American one. There are some fundamentals that are the same but I think it's our own show.
"It's so Australian, but it's not the Crocodile Dundee, Aussie stereotype. We're in a boom of Australian comedy, you know in the UK people are talking about Fisk, Deadloch, and Colin From Accounts, so it's so exciting to be part of another female-led Australian comedy and to ride the coattails of my predecessors. Thank you!"
The Office premieres on Prime Video on October 18.