How Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore Made <em>The Paper</em> an Instant Hit

A piece of Toledo, Ohio came to Manhattan on September 3 when Esquire hosted an exclusive screening and Q&A for The Paper, which debuts on Peacock today. (Already binged all ten episodes? (Don't worry—second season is already on the way.)

At a event held inside Hearst Tower, attendees were shown the first episode of The Paper, the new spin-off series of The Office created by Greg Daniels. The scripted comedy follows the daily lives of journalists at a small-town newspaper that is struggling to keep afloat in the digital age.

Gleeson stars in The Paper as Ned Sampson, an idealistic new hire who joins the (fictional) Toledo Truth-Teller as its editor-in-chief. His plans to reinvigorate the paper with good ol'-fashioned journalism places him at odds with the paper's existing and eccentric managing editor, Esmeralda Grand, played by Sabrina Impacciatore.

The show is set in the same universe as The Office, with the predecessor's documentary crew following Truth-Teller staffers as their new subjects. Amusingly, one former Dunder Mifflin employee is back: Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nuñez), who has moved out of Scranton, Pennsylvania and is now working as an accountant for the Truth-Teller.

On September 3, Esquire hosted an exclusive preview screening of The Paper, which included a post-show Q&A with Esquire editor-in-chief Michael Sebastian and stars Domnhall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore.

"He cares about journalism, and I like the fact that he was bad at it," Gleeson said of his character, Ned Sampson. "He doesn’t have the experience to back up how amazing he thinks he could be at it."

Following the screening, Esquire's editor-in-chief Michael Sebastian hosted a post-show Q&A with series stars Gleeson and Impacciatore. At the top of the conversation, Gleeson and Impacciatore each revealed their personal familiarity with The Office. "I had seen the UK Office and I loved it, and I'd seen the US Office and I'd loved it," said Gleeson.

He added, "I think what's amazing about them is that they're both so different to each other. The U.S. [version was a] remake, but became so much of its own show that in a way it's got nothing to do with the UK Office. Which is kind of amazing. Part of the reason why this [The Paper] felt like an achievable task is because this isn't a remake at all. It's a whole new thing."

Gleeson said he initially found the endeavor "very scary" because of The Office's towering profile. "Then once I read the script, I realized it was a totally new thing, a totally new story on its own. It suddenly felt achievable, and I think that was part of the reason it felt like a good thing to take on."

Impacciatore, however, "hadn't seen any" of The Office but was aware of the show's stature. "I know that it was a cult legendary show," she said. When she was asked if she checked out the show when starting work on The Paper, she said she did "on the plane."

Fans and Hearst employees, including staffers at Esquire, were treated to an early look at The Paper. The first season is now streaming on Peacock.

Both actors also told of conversations they had with Office alums Steve Carrell and John Krasinski. Gleeson inquired with them what it was like to work with Greg Daniels; he was told that Daniels is "the reason to do it." Gleeson recalled, "If you get an opportunity to work with him, they both said that you will have fun. They kind of us set us free in that way, saying, 'It would be a great thing to do.' It was brief but incredibly helpful and supportive, which is what you'd expect of both those guys."

For Impacciatore, she expressed that she was a huge fan of Steve Carrell, considering him "one of the biggest artists in this time." When she was informed by Daniels that he was performing Uncle Vanya on Broadway, Impacciatore said she got on a flight and bought a ticket to the show, "and then I went to the green room."

"I was like, so emotional, and he came out and I said, 'Can you bless me?' He was the sweetest. He was encouraging me so much, and like the same as he told you [Gleeson], he said, 'Just have fun. Enjoy.'"

The stars of The Paper did have fun indeed, when Sebastian ended the Q&A with a small challenge. After hearing that Gleeson researched the journalism industry by talking to college newspapers and seasoned reporters, Esquire's editor-in-chief quizzed him and his co-star on journalism lingo.

Words like "kill" (as in, killing a story) tripped the actors, but "nutgraph" (the paragraph that explains the article's point) was a word that Gleeson had encountered in his research, but forgot. "Clickbait," however, was a word that Impacciatore knew. That's Esmeralda's bag, after all.