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Sabrina Impacciatore showed up to The Paper — the long-awaited return to the world birthed by The Office — like a heat-seeking comet, all glamour, sharp elbows, and survival instinct. She spoke with Kyle Meredith about stepping into a franchise with generations of fans and finding the funny even when the stakes feel like a barbell on your shoulders. She calls the weight a motivator, not a burden, and her character of Esmeralda arrives fully charged: vintage-star hair, weaponized nails, and a don’t-look-down ambition that keeps the newsroom whirring. Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Impacciatore laughs now about the terror of those early table reads, admitting “My legs under the table were shaking.” She adds that she “didn’t understand what was going on” through the language haze — but the nerves didn’t dull the commitment. Case in point: the soon-to-be infamous “worm” moment. “Why don’t we shoot me doing the worm?” she pitched, only to discover the worm is an ’80s break-dance move that she absolutely didn’t know how to do. A midnight YouTube cram session later, she arrived on set, launched into it, and swears she delivered “the best worm in the history of worms,” just as the director tells her that it was only a rehearsal take. We get to see the bloody knees version.
Esmeralda took shape the same way: on instinct, under pressure, and with mischievous freedom from Greg Daniels and Michael Koman. “Esmeralda was born in front of us,” she says, from 11 pages of audition monologues to the idea that “she will survive no matter the costs.” Impacciatore insisted on a streak of innocence, because monsters are funnier (and truer) when they’re a little kid at heart.
Listen to Sabrina Impacciatore talk about The Paper (on Peacock), and more in the new episode above or by watching the video below. Keep up on all the latest episodes by following Kyle Meredith With… on your favorite podcast platform; plus, check out all the series on the Consequence Podcast Network.
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