The Office US finale originally featured a parody of The Matrix
Cast filmed scene, but it was cut for time
The Office US was originally due to end with a parody of The Matrix.
The scene’s existence was revealed on the podcast An Oral History of The Office, which is hosted by actor Brian Baumgartner, who played Kevin on the sitcom.
In the scene, Jim (John Krasinski) was going to play one last prank on Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and make him believe he was inside the Matrix. Sadly, the scene was recorded but had to be “cut for time”.
“We can talk about the prank that hasn’t made it to the big screen, that I think we’re saving for the 10-year reunion, The Matrix,” Rogers explained. “That’s the finale script, they prank Dwight to make him think he’s in the Matrix, and remember Hank is down as Dorpheus, he’s Morpheus’s brother.
“There’s a cat that walks by and a cat walks by again in Michael’s office, and Jenna [Fischer] goes, ‘It took six months to train the cat.’ And then we have the security guard walk by, it was the big guy, and he had a twin brother and we used him also, as a glitch. And then he’s gonna take the Red Pill or the Blue Pill.”
(NBC Universal)
The US version of The Office, which was based on Ricky Gervais’s UK comedy of the same name, ran from 2005 to 2013. It starred Steve Carell as Michael Scott, the regional manager of paper distribution company Dunder Mifflin.
The show has recently experienced a new wave of gen-Z fans thanks to streaming services such as Amazon Prime.
