"This is feeling like a stereotype"—Angela Kinsey had some of her character’s lines cut from The Office due to its portrayal of Christianity

Angela Kinsey opened up about her faith and that of her character from
Angela Kinsey opened up about her faith and that of her character from 'The Office', Angela Martin (Image via YouTube/Soul Boom w/ Rainn Wilson)

The Office star Angela Kinsey opened up about several instances while doing the show when her personal faith and belief clashed against the portrayal of her character. Kinsey played Angela Martin in the show, the rather stern conservative Christian head of Dunder Mifflin Scranton's accounting department. In the show, Angela Martin ends up marrying Rainn Wilson's character Dwight Schrute.

During a Tuesday, April 23 episode appearance on Rainn Wilson's podcast Soul Boom, Kinsey shared how there were times when jokes written for her felt "stereotypical". She recalled an incident where she requested writer Greg Daniels to take off a joke wherein Angela Martin invoked Jesus at the expense of her gay co-worker Oscar Martinez during the episode Gay Witch Hunt. Kinsey said:

"That’s the one pivotal moment I remember being like, OK, this is feeling like a stereotype and very one note. I feel like she has more depth than that."
Kinsey and Wilson's characters were smitten with each other in 'The Office' (Image via Instagram/@angelakinsey)
Kinsey and Wilson's characters were smitten with each other in 'The Office' (Image via Instagram/@angelakinsey)

"I like to think of her as a full, well-rounded person": Angela Kinsey on Angela Martin, the character's faith, and more

Angela Kinsey, famous for playing Angela Martin in the hit mockumentary, The Office (US) appeared alongside her fellow Office castmate and on-screen husband Rainn Wilson in last week's episode of his podcast, Soul Boom. During the podcast's third-ever episode, Rainn and Angela spent a little more than 56 minutes talking about a plethora of topics, including faith.

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Wilson noted that Kinsey grew up in a Christian household and had a loving, wholesome relationship with prayer and church. However, in the show, Kinsey portrayed an "uptight Christian cat lady." Rainn Wilson asked Angela Kinsey what it was like playing such a character when she herself had a warm relationship with her faith and if that ever bumped up in any way. Angela replied:

"There were one or two times in which there would be a joke written for her that I thought was just really stereotypical, maybe one note. I like to think of her as a full, well-rounded person."

She further recalled:

"I do remember I remember there was a particular storyline between Angela and Oscar, where Angela was being super judge-y. I never went up to Greg about any joke, but there was a joke at Oscar’s expense, and I went up to Greg [Daniels] and I was like, ‘ You know, I can’t'."

According to Angela Kinsey, Angela invoked the name of Jesus Christ during that episode, which she did not feel good about, as that was not what Jesus represented to her. Greg Daniels listened to Angela and took out the joke. Kinsey also noted that the episode in question, Gay Witch Hunt, the third-season premiere of the series, had so many jokes already.

As mentioned above, this was that one moment where Angela felt her character was being one-note and stereotypical. Later in the episode, Kinsey talked about how prayer was still an important part of her family. She talked about how her mother got up every morning, read the scripture, and prayed for her family. This was something she grew up very familiar with.

When Angela Kinsey talked about her family's particular way of saying grace, Rainn Wilson noted how people only said grace at mealtimes and requested Angela to say grace together, right then and there. Wilson and Angela held their hands together across the table while Wilson spoke. He prayed:

"Lord we are grateful for the opportunity to have this podcast,"

Rainn Wilson thanked his producers and thanked the Lord for the podcast microphones and the beautiful set. He also thanked Angela Kinsey, one of his "favorite people on the planet", for having this conversation. He concluded the grace by thanking God once again for being able to be a part of this current situation.

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Edited by Susrita Das
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