It’s an office romance.
“The Office” spinoff show “The Paper,” now streaming on Peacock (and airing on NBC in November), has its own version of the epic Jim and Pam relationship.
“I think of Jim and Pam as the most iconic couple I’ve ever seen on TV, so it’s scary to be compared to that,” Chelsea Frei, who stars in “The Paper,” exclusively told The Post.
Frei said that she was a huge “diehard fan” of “The Office” before landing a role on “The Paper.”
Frei, 32, was talking to The Post to promote “The Office” and “The Paper” exhibition at The Paley Museum in Manhattan, which is currently up and running through Sunday, November 16.
The exhibit has props and costumes from the beloved mockumentary, which ran on NBC from 2005 to 2013, in honor of 20 years since it first premiered. There are also some costumes from “The Paper.”
On “The Office,” Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) were the long-running couple, eventually ending up together after many false starts and “will they or won’t they” tension across several seasons.
“The Paper” follows a new cast of characters working at an Ohio newspaper.
The main romance is between editor Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson) and reporter Mare (Frei), who share a kiss in the Season 1 finale, after just nine episodes — much faster than Jim and Pam, whose romantic sparks ignite in “The Office” Season 2.
“I do think the difference with Ned and Mare is…. both love making this newspaper,” Frei explained, referring to their investment in their job.
“So, I think whatever the romantic love story might be between them, it’s more the love story that they both have with this paper.”
Some worried that Ned and Mare were getting together too fast.
“We talked about it a lot. It went so many different ways. And what ended up being in the finale, I don’t think any of us thought would happen that fast. You kind of just go where the story tells you. So when it started feeling like, ‘oh, maybe something’s going to happen’ by the finale, we just kind of went for it,” she explained.
“It’s interesting seeing what people have to say about it, and how people have their own thoughts, and that’s really exciting. We love making a conversation in any sort of way.”
