Oscar has a new job.
“The Office” star Oscar Núñez is the only original cast member who is on the spinoff show, “The Paper.”
“I was told it was only me because Greg Daniels said something to me like, ‘You kind of look the same from before.’ So all the plastic surgery worked out,” he joked to The Post.
The Emmy-nominated actor quipped, “My wife was pleading, ‘don’t spend this money for our daughter’s college education fund.’ And I said, ‘I need it for my face,’ not knowing that it would pay off. And it did. I took a gamble and it worked.”
Premiering Sept. 4 on Peacock, “The Paper” is a mockumentary in the same style as “The Office,” set in the same world.
“The Office,” which ran on NBC from 2005 to 2013, followed employees working at the fictional Dunder Mifflin paper company in Scranton, PA, including Michael Scott (Steve Carell), Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), and Oscar (Núñez).
“The Paper” follows a new cast of characters, working in the office of the “Toledo Truth Teller” newspaper in Ohio, including editor-in-chief Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson), the chaotic Esmerelda (Sabrina Impacciatore, “The White Lotus”), and Oscar.
Núñez, 66, exclusively told The Post that he didn’t speak to his former “The Office” cast mates while filming the new show. “It was supposed to be secret. No one could know,” he explained. “And we kept it a secret as long as possible, and it leaked out towards the end.”
“Of course, Rainn Wilson is always the one who finds out about things. He’s got his finger on the pulse of whatever is going on,” the “Lucky Hank” actor added. “I think he was the first one who was like, ‘Is there something going on?’”
When asked what advice he gave his new co-stars he joked, “I gave them tough love. I said, ‘you’re on your own. I will watch from over here.’ No. I’m kidding. Seriously. I offered them a course for one hour, $60 for an hour, and I will give them a tutorial. I had no takers.”
On a more serious note, he said the advice he gave the new cast was, “Figure out how you feel about being filmed as a character. How does your character feel about being caught,” referring to how they address the cameras of the “documentary crew” within the story.
In “The Paper,” Oscar is working as an accountant, but he eventually develops an enthusiasm for arts and leisure reporting.
Nunez said that fits, because he likes to think of himself as a “man about town.”
Daniels has yet to cast another former Dunder Mifflin employee, but Núñez notes that “it would have to make sense.”
“I think the one that would make the most sense might be Toby,” he said, referring to the HR department head played by Paul Lieberstein. “Because he might still be working for human resources, in another capacity or another branch somewhere.”
Despite being the only one to represent “The Office,” being on set of the spinoff “wasn’t sad” for Núñez.
“[My former co-stars are] all good. No one’s starving there,” he told The Post. “Although, it was a little mixed feelings. It was a little surreal.”
