The Office Australia’s Felicity Ward is not that fussed about the backlash

Ever since the first trailer for the Australian version of The Office dropped a month ago, there have been some impassioned reaction. A lot of it negative.

It’s not surprising that audiences wanted to register their response to a local remake, despite not having actually seen any of it. That’s the internet doing its thing when it comes to “messing” with a piece of culture that people have a strong connection to.

It’s rarely informed, sometimes in bad faith and almost always unavoidable.

Unless you’re Felicity Ward, the star of The Office Australia, who knew there was going to be backlash but has the benefit of not being on the internet.

“I’m sure it’s happening and I’m just not aware of it, and that’s absolutely fine,” she told The Nightly.

Despite the challenge of stepping into a character that’s a riff on the men portrayed by Ricky Gervais and Steve Carell, Ward didn’t hesitate for even a moment.

“Not even for a second, there was no part of me that was like, ‘Maybe I’ll think about this, hmmm, interesting’,” Ward exclaimed.

“I can’t believe anyone wouldn’t want to take this, that anyone would go, ‘No thanks’. I am 44, opportunities don’t come around.

“I’m a comedian. Do you know what it’s like to be employed for 10 weeks in a row? It’s heaven. I do a gig and at the end of it, that is the end of my job. I don’t get employed for long periods of time. I got holiday pay!

“Why wouldn’t I want to be the lead in a sitcom with an incredible script and part of this comedy legacy? It’s the dream.”

Ward plays Hannah Howard, the managing director of a branch of a packaging company based in Rydalmere, an industrial suburb in western Sydney. There is a lot of familiarity with the setting and the characters with local iterations compared to characters established in the UK and US versions.

Hannah is the bumbling boss, an archetype we know and sometimes love. For Ward, it was very recognisable because, Hannah is she.

“This is mostly me,” she said. “It was just like every annoying personality trait I have, Hannah has. I knew exactly what to do. I know who this person is. I know how she’s annoying and why she’s annoying. I know what other people think of her because I’ve spent my whole life trying to mind-read what other people think of me.

“I’ve had a lifetime to prepare for it.”

But there is something that sets Hannah apart from her predecessors. She’s not nasty like David Brent or neurotic like Michael Scott. For one thing, explained Ward, “Those shows were made 20 years ago. So much is different, so much has changed.

“People are scared it won’t have the edginess or the political incorrectness of the British one, which they really like. There is an edge (to the Australian one) in a way that is genuinely edgy.

“It’s not saying offensive things to be offensive. Hannah is the butt of the joke when she’s accidentally racist.

“The difference is when David Brent or Michael Scott were politically incorrect, it was intentional from their characters whereas Hannah is accidentally politically incorrect. Then she gets called on it and other people get to succeed.”

The other side to the backlash of taking on a role attached to such an iconic franchise is that Ward’s face could be beamed into millions of homes. What if she gets recognised in some random dive bar in, say, Memphis? Is she prepared for that?

“I’d be like, ‘Excuse me, I’m trying to pick up a stranger!’”

Ward said she’s been around the traps long enough that she’s heard it before.

“People have said, ‘This is going to change your life’ and you know what happened? My life didn’t change. I don’t know if it will happen, it might, it might not. I don’t know what that looks like if it happens.

“Basically, it if it means that I can keep working, great, that’s what I want.”

Once you taste the delights of holiday pay, it can be hard to go back.

The Office Australia is on Prime Video from Friday, October 18