David Denman shares what it was like playing Roy on ‘The Office’

Before Pam Beesly found Jim Halpert she was stuck in a seemingly endless engagement with Roy Anderson.

Anderson, played by actor David Denman, regularly appeared on the show for nearly three full seasons. But after trying to fight Jim and getting fired from Dunder Mifflin in “The Negotiation” episode, Denman’s character went on hiatus until later in the series.

On the latest episode of the , Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey chatted with Denman about “The Negotiation,” how he got cast as Roy, and what it was like to leave the show as a regular cast member.

Getting cast as Roy and developing the character

Like several other cast members on The Office,  Denman said he was already a huge fan of the British version of the show before he auditioned. In fact, he sought out the part himself after a friend introduced him to the show.

“I watched it and I was like, ‘Oh, my god, this is genius.’ And there was, you know, a couple of guys my age on the show. And I called my agent and I was like, ‘Hey, I hear they’re doing an American version of The Office… I’d love to get in on that,'” Denman said.

His agent called about the show, but all the parts except Roy were already cast. “So I said, ‘Yeah, I’d love to go in for that part,'” Denman explained. “That little thing changed my career.”

Roy was a horrible boyfriend and fiancé for most of his time on the show, but at the start of Season 3, Roy returned to the office with the mission of winning back Pam. As a character, Roy was clearly putting in more effort to be a more respectful, likable dude. But he also looked noticeably more fit, which was intentional.

“At the beginning of Season 3, you came back to work and you were like super fit. We all noticed. Was this because you had done a movie role over the summer and they wrote it into the plot? Or did Greg get you aside and tell you this idea that Roy should come back and be all, like, excited to win Pam back, and you sort of transformed for the show?” Fischer asked.

“It was all for the show, and it was a conversation with Greg,” Denman said. “I wouldn’t say Greg said, ‘Hey, go get in shape.’ But he did say, “Hey… I’d like to make you more of a rival of Jim’s next season.”

After pondering how they’d exactly go about positively developing Roy’s character, Denman said, “OK. Well, I probably should get into shape then.” And Daniels said, “OK, if you want to.” Denman explained that conversation led him to start participating in triathlons.

On Roy’s spark with Angela

The Office has had its fair share of workplace romances over the years, but one that viewers never got to see develop was between Roy and Angela.

The two clearly had some sparks throughout the series, and the sparks were so strong that even Kinsey and Denman noticed.

“Well, David, I just want to get your take on the whole Angela and Roy thing, because there’s a lot of people online, there’s like a Reddit thread that Angela and Roy were having some secret love affair,” Kinsey said. “We talked to Greg about it. Greg was like, ‘Uh, maybe if he had stayed on the show longer, but nah, I don’t think so.’ But, but we could see where Roy would appeal to Angela, sort of this big gallant fella.”

“I remember that like, ‘Who Would You Do?’ I think Roy was like, ‘Yeah. She’s hot.'” Denman said, recalling Roy’s response to a game the group played in “The Fire” episode. “Like Greg said, I think if he’d been on the show longer that would have been a fun, you know, twist to throw in there to just create conflict.”

“How much fun would it have been to revenge date Angela in front of Pam?” Kinsey laughed.

“Oh. Oh, yeah. Oh, no. A hundred percent. That would have been — she would totally been into that. And Roy would’ve been into that too, I’m sure. That would have been funny.”

Learning Roy was leaving The Office

Roy’s time as a regular character in the series ends in “The Negotiation” after he and Pam share a goodbye scene at a diner.

“I remember shooting this scene with you and feeling kind of emotional because I knew that your regular time on The Office was ending,” Fischer said. “Do you have any memories from that? Did Greg talk to you about that?”

“I’ll tell you, like, when I found out. We did a table read and right then Craig [Robinson] got the phone call, or right before, that you guys had all got picked up for two more seasons, or maybe it was three seasons. I don’t know how many seasons it was at that point. But everyone was like, ‘Oh, my God. Yay!'” Denman explained. “And I was sitting right next to Greg. And I turned to Greg and I go, ‘I’m not coming back, am I?’ And he goes, ‘No.'”

Denman went on to share that Daniels said, “But it’s not you. I just got to get Romeo and Juliet together. And I just don’t feel like I can do that with you here. But I don’t want to kill you off because I want you to come back.”

Daniels gave the green light for Denman to start searching for other roles, which was huge for Denman, but he was still sad to be leaving the show.

“…It was definitely emotional because I definitely felt like, you know, this cast — you become a family. So, yeah, there was definitely emotional for me to shoot that last scene.”

Be sure to listen to the full podcast episode for more behind-the-scenes stories about Denman’s time on the show and filming “The Negotiation.”

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