Ramona Young Talks Tight-Lipped Audition Process for “The Paper” and More

Who knew a simple adaptation from the early 2000s would become such a culturally significant piece of media? Following its television premiere in 2005, the American adaptation of the BBC mockumentary series The Office, developed by Greg Daniels, gained a foothold in the hearts of critics and casual audiences worldwide. Outside of its burgeoning critical acclaim, The Office has been immortalized through its loyal fanbase, who often refer back to jokes and quotes, such as Michael Scott’s (Steve Carell) oh-so-cheeky catchphrase, “That’s what she said.”
Reminiscing on the series’ past successes and wanting to commemorate it further, the original showrunner, Greg Daniels, teamed up with Emmy Award-winning television writer Michael Koman to craft a spin-off series that would lightly tread in the footsteps of its predecessor and diverge onto a path of its own. And thus their brainchild mockumentary series The Paper was born.

One of Daniels and Koman’s first orders of business was lining up the perfect cast, which would comprise established names and hidden gem talents — such as Chinese American actress Ramona Young. Over the course of her career, Young has strategically grown her strength in the comedy sector, appearing as a cast member in films and series like The Prank, Santa Clarita Diet, The Real O’neals, and most notably Never Have I Ever.
In the midst of a busy press schedule for The Paper, Young chatted with EnVi over Zoom to give us insights into the mysterious audition process, how she adjusted to the unconventional filming style, and her favorite unaired improv moment.
Setting the Scene
Twenty years after the completion and airing of the documentary that followed the staff at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, the filming crew returns to Scranton, Pennsylvania, to catch up with their beloved subjects — only to find out they’re no longer in business. Upon further investigation, the documentary crew learns that the Dunder Mifflin trademark was acquired six years prior by the paper manufacturing company Enervate in Toledo, Ohio. From office supplies to toilet paper, they cover all of your paper product needs — oh, and they own a newspaper too, but, unfortunately, it’s not a very good one.
The fictional newspaper, known as the Toledo Truth Teller, employed over a thousand journalists worldwide during its peak, and made a name for itself due to its upright coverage of politics. However, in modern times, the once-historic newspaper scrapes by engaging in shady practices, such as plagiarizing stories from established publications like the Associated Press.
Joining the ranks is Ned Sampson (Domnhall Gleeson), the newest editor-in-chief, who is ready to breathe a new life into the slowly dying Midwestern newspaper. But between the lack of funding, a pestering managing editor, and an underdeveloped staff, Sampson has his work seriously cut out for him.
As compelling as the concept was, Young revealed that she was given virtually no information throughout the entire audition process, which made for an interesting experience all around. “The audition came through my reps, [and] the whole process took multiple months. It started as several self-tapes with no character description, no character name, no real sides. It was very cryptic,” Young explained to EnVi. “And then after that, I had a chemistry read where I met Melvin [Gregg]. And then I had a one-on-one sit-down with Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, which was very nerve-wracking, and it lasted a while. Then I was invited to lunch with the writers and creators of the show, and found out I got the job without even really knowing what the show is about,” she said.
After some time passed, Young came to understand that the mysterious project was actually a spin-off of The Office, which she herself was a fan of. In discussion about whether she used the original series as a reference point at all, Young explained she did revisit some episodes, but further clarified that she wanted to enter the filming process with a clear head. “I used [The Office] maybe tonally, as research, [seeing] like, ‘What is the vibe?’ [or] ‘How big is the humor?’ But, other than that, during the actual filming, I had to stay away from it because I knew how important it was to create original characters and to really bring myself to the table.”
Along with addressing how to approach her character, Young had another major hurdle set before herself. Although she has appeared in over thirty live-action productions to date, her role in The Paper marks the first in which she had to engage with the camera intentionally. While giving insight into the experience of navigating the mockumentary filming style, Young explained how she wore her angst on her sleeve and created an authentic performance that accurately reflected her fictional counterpart. “We, as actors, are always taught to never look down the barrel [because it’s] like breaking the fourth wall. So in this type of show, it was very new, very bizarre and strange, and it made me anxious, but at the same time, it’s just — that’s how Nicole would feel because she’s not used to having cameras around [either]. So I just used that [feeling in my performance],” Young explained.
Despite the varying challenges, bringing your best self to set every day was all that mattered, as the show’s creators possessed the expertise needed to uplift the promising cast. While reminiscing about the overall filming experience, Young expressed gratitude towards Daniels and Koman and the writing team for their uplifting spirit.
“What’s so great about working with Greg Daniels and Michael Koman is that they’re always very collaborative. And they’ve always been so kind and encouraging of that,” Young said. “And it’s the same [experience] with the writers. [Sometimes] I’ll freely bring up ideas, or bring in journal entries and try to bring up books that I’ve read that might influence my character and whatnot. It’s pretty collaborative — at least they make me feel that way. They’re always very nice and open to it. And I think, in the end, of course, they get the final say, and they make the calls, and I show up.”
Introducing Nicole Lee
In the ten-episode series, Young takes on the role of Nicole Lee, a circulation department staffer who also manages the online version of the newspaper, called TTT Online. Given her introverted nature, Nicole typically opts to keep her head down at work, but the presence of the cameras and her zany coworkers makes things all the more difficult.
Outside of her interactions with the overly eccentric managing editor, Esmeralda Grande (Sabrina Impacciatore), Lee must also deal with countless awkward advances from the advertising sales representative Detrick Moore (Melvin Gregg). Even though she is very aware of his romantic feelings for her, she simply isn’t interested in him — at least not in the beginning. As the series progresses, Nicole and Detrick become entwined in a complicated relationship. Or situationship? Or maybe even a secret third thing?
Whatever it is, the root cause of confusion between the pair seems to stem from Nicole’s guarded exterior. Throughout the series, Nicole makes references to her various disastrous relationship attempts, with her most recent one leaving quite an impactful emotional wound.
Due to his blind desire, Detrick fails to notice Nicole’s avoidant behavior, and he tries to woo her by offering gifts, such as a custom hand-carved bird. In his head, he interprets this action as a simple way of saying “What’s up,” but Nicole — and the rest of the office staff — sees that he is doing entirely too much. After an intervention, Detrick decides to tone down his energy and give Nicole some space, to which she expresses relief, but only momentarily.
From the series midpoint onward, the tables are constantly turning as Detrick fails to decipher Nicole’s actions. And by the finale, audiences are left equally flustered as we see Nicole mourning over the end of a relationship that never really began in the first place.
As she expressed her thoughts on the dynamic between the two coworkers, Young explained that the complexity they share is somewhat of an unfortunate norm. “I think it’s definitely relatable. I think a lot of people have complicated relationships that are messy, especially in the workplace,” she said, before continuing, “I personally related to Detrick’s POV more than Nicole’s. I feel that [typical] dynamic was swapped, which is really interesting and unique.”
With the show already renewed for a second season, viewers don’t have to worry too much about being left in the dark about Nicole and Detrick’s ensuing relations. It is unclear how things might progress as time goes on, but it appears that Young and Gregg have already had a few brainstorming sessions of their own: “Moving forward — I know Melvin wants Nicole to yearn for Detrick and [for her] to come back crawling, but I totally ship them. I hope they work out eventually, one way or another,” Young said.
As the interview came to a close, Young left off on an amusing note, revealing a memorable improv scene shared between her and the series’ lead actor, Domhnall Gleeson — which unfortunately didn’t make it to air. “There were a lot of improv moments that didn’t make the final cut, but one of them was, I had a scene where I was playing two truths and a lie with Domhnall, and he has this special skill where he can, like, throw his leg over his head,” she explained with a gesture. “And it’s so strange because he’s so incredibly tall, and he has these really long legs. And I guess that his lie [was] that he can’t do that. And then he does it in the scene, and it’s hilarious.”
For more updates on Ramona, be sure to keep up with her on Instagram and TikTok! And tune in for The Paper now on Peacock!
Ready for more television talk? Check out our interview with actress Shakira Ja’nai Paye here!