If you're a fan of The Office, you know that Kevin Malone likes to bring in some of his famous chili once a year. He's up the night before pressing garlic, dicing whole tomatoes, toasting chili peppers, and under cooking onions. He claims that he is the best at making chili because it has been passed down through generations of his family. It is a skill that still needs some work.
On the latest episode of the Office Ladies podcast, former co-stars of the show, including Kinsey, talked with Brian Baumgartner, who played Kevin Malone, about the fifth season of the show. Kevin's chili cold open was featured in the episode. Take a moment to relive the scene's slippery, carpet-stained, orange-suited glory before we meet each other in the pot.
Baumgartner talked with the cast and crew of the show about everything from getting cast on the show to playing Madden with John Krasinski and what he got from the set when the show ended. He couldn't call in without mentioning the chili scene. His behind-the-scenes details were not to be missed.
"You know, people come up to me all the time, and that's the moment, more often than not, that is referred to," he said. There are two types of people for me. Some people are laughing so hard that they can't believe it. I like it. There are people who can't watch it. I feel bad for Kevin. I think it's somewhere in the middle. I think there's a bit of physical comedy. I didn't think that the one moment that was shot alone with nobody else around would become what it is today.
The scene that took a lot of preparation was the only one that lasted 36 seconds. They were able to film the scene in one take.
"I'm very proud of this now," he said. The main portion was one take.
There was no question that they had done some prep because this was going to be a mess. We'd practiced it. It was all about the moment of the spill, having that look and feel as realistic as possible, and that it happened in the correct place for the cameras to be able to pick it up. "So [prop master] Phil Shea came to me, kind of like a secret, like, back channel meeting, and he said, 'Alright, just so you know we only have three pieces of carpet.' We can't do any more than that.
The area from the entrance to Jim and Dwight's desk was planned for to be covered in spillage and replica carpet. The scene made for Baumgartner was not a mess.
I was stained, so no one knew what would happen. It was probably my last public shower, and it felt like 14 people were in the shower with me, peeling off clothes and handing me towels to get it off of my eyes and hair.
Kinsey remembered that Baumgartner's hands were noticeably stained orange, and that he went to one of the fancy accounting dinners they had with Oscar Nunez still smelling of chili.
"There was some tint for a couple of days, but the smell for at least 24 hours," he said.
The scene was carefully planned out, but there was some miscommunication.
He said that he started playing other things after he was on the ground. Kevin was trying to scoop up chili with random office supplies.
"Look, there are a lot of fans who have fallen in love with Kevin while watching the show, and I attribute that to everyone's innate desire to win one, and how difficult it is to find those little successes."
Kinsey shared that there was eight minutes of footage where Kevin was slipping around in chili. The unedited cut should be released.
There are more behind-the-scenes stories from "Casual Friday" that you can listen to.
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