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Office writer on same-sex kiss: "...it gets so creepy." Do these actors never learn? This is from Kristin Veitch of E! Online who was reporting from the 2007 William S. Paley Festival which hosted The Office crew on Friday night. Apparently, the "Gay Witch Hunt" episode from earlier this season came up and Steve Carrell and Oscar Nunez even re-enacted it. That's cool, but unfortunately, Paul Lieberstein, a writer for the show who also portrays Toby Flendereson had this to say about the kiss that aired on the show:
What was in the script was that Michael, he would kiss Oscar on the cheek. And we did several takes of that, and then once, Steve doesn't let Oscar turn away. And he gets closer, and as actors, we're in the scene acting, watching, and he gets closer and closer, and oh, it gets so creepy!  Because you know there is nothing so horrifying, so absolutely terrifying as being kissed by a man! I bet Lieberstein would rather the alien from Alien burst out of his chest than have to kiss another guy. (Note to Lieberstein: You should probably avoid Europe at all costs. Straight men kiss there all the time.)
I suppose it's possible Lieberstein meant something else, say, perhaps anyone getting kissed by Michael (Carrell) would get creeped out. Unfortunately, Nunez (Oscar) had this say about the kiss:
There reached a point where he just went too far, and I just went, This a-hole! And I just went, Aw, yeah, it's happening...Every time one of these straight actors opens their yaps about same-sex kissing, it just makes me appreciate the Matthew Rhys and Christopher Meloni that much more. EDITOR'S UPDATE: Judging from the comments below, I may have missed the point here and the whole thing is about Michael being creepy. I did watch the episode, but am not a regular viewer of the show. If that is the case, it's unfortunate that it wasn't made clear so folks who don't follow it regularly wouldn't get the mistaken impression these guys were "creeped" out by the same-sex aspect. Perhaps I was thrown by the fact that it was E! Online that first reported Jason Lewis' discomfort with kissing a guy. Anyway, feel free to keep adding in your comments. Submitted by on Tue, 2007-03-06 00:33. |
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Additional shout-outs to Lee Tergesen (Tobias Beecher, "Oz) and Luke MacFarlane (Scotty Wandell, "Brothers & Sisters").
If only we didn't have to depend on STRAIGHT guys to do the same-sex kissing for gays!
Have to disagree here, man. Did you see the episode? Do you watch The Office?? It WAS incredibly creepy. To see a character who so intensely dislikes Michael (Steve Carrell) have to get kissed by him is funny, AND uncomfortable, AND indeed quite creepy. Lieberstein's and Nunez's comments don't come off as remotely homophobic if you look at them in any sort of context. My god, that's what the Office is about, and why it's so funny: Michael is creepy.
I have to agree with Bill S on this. Any character on the Office, male or female, would be repulsed by the mere idea of kissing Michael. Michael is a creppy guy. And none of his employees like him as a person. Even his girlfriend is repulsed by him. I didn't take the comments as being homophobic at all.
Oh, I don't know who posted using my name just now, but I don't disagree with the point made.
Hey Michael! I agree with Bill S. (both of em) and Turkish -- I don't see a problem with Lieberstein and Nunez's comments. Brilliant show, brilliant episode, but that kiss was incredibly creepy, and not because it was a kiss between two men. I think it would have been equally creepy if he'd kissed any of the other characters against their will.
Uncle! I cry uncle!
Steve Carrell was also in a movie (40 Year Old Virgin) where homosexuality was something seen as sick and wrong. I'm not surprised if people on The Office have the same attitude.
Uhm- he also played a gay character in Little Miss Sunshine.
The creep factor was also way upped by the fact that this was Oscar's BOSS kissing him in front of the entire staff trying to make a point that being gay is okay and instead turning the lecture into a sexually harassing creepfest for poor Oscar who tends to be pretty shy.
Just wanted to echo what DW said -- the creepiness was made worse by the fact that the kiss was in Michael's mind the best way to show he had no problem with Oscar being gay. It was similar to all the cringe-inducing moments when Michael tried to show how racially sensitive he is by playing into stereotypes (such as Oscar's welcome back party, which had a Mexican theme, a totally-appropriate way in Michael's mind to fete a Mexican-American employee).