Felicity Ward (Hannah Howard) Photo: JOHN PLATT
Australian actor-comedian Felicity Ward has stepped into the high heels of Hannah Howard - as boss in the latest incarnation of The Office.
The hit TV show has had an Australian remake and sees a woman at the helm of Sydney-based box company Flinley Craddick.
The British version of show, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first aired in 2001. Four years later Steve Carell took over at the helm of the US version - which ran for nine seasons.
This new version is very Australasian in flavour, with a number of Kiwis in the cast including Josh Thomson and Edith Poor.
Jackie Van Beek is also one of the main writers.
The character of Hannah Howard, Ward tells RNZ's Nine to Noon, is something of "a riddle, swallowed by an idiot and s**t out by a moron."
"...She's a loving, compulsive liar."
"Hannah is a really good-natured character, but she's so manipulative, and she'll just say anything to get out of a difficult situation. I describe her as a baby goat on ice.
"She's constantly trying to find her legs, because she's such a slippery character, a loveable but slippery character with no self-awareness and delusionally optimistic."
When Ward's agent called to tell her she'd got the role in The Office, there were tears.
"You know what I cried about? Having a job for 10 weeks in a row. What a dream. What an absolute dream."
It wasn't until later the history behind the legendary character sank in, she said.
"A couple of weeks later, I'm going, oh my God, these are big boots to fill."
As soon as she saw the script, she knew she could inhabit the character of Hannah, she said.
"The character has essentially every annoying personality trait that I already have.
"She is me, but with no self-awareness, which sounds like an absolutely liberating way to live. Imagine not knowing what other people thought of you or even thinking about it? Heaven, heaven."
Hannah was so well fleshed-out on the page, it was a sound basis to improvise from, she said.
The Office Australia Photo: BBCS & Bunya Entertainment
"I didn't think about how am I going to play it, or how am I going to do it differently? I just did what was on the page. And because it was so well written and well formed, it was easy then to adlib and improvise from a place of that character - without sounding too pretentious."
Ward is aware that there will be many opinions on her character and the Australian version of the much-loved comedy in general.
"I live by the mantra, specifically this show, that other people's opinions are none of my business, so I let everyone have their own opinion."
The Office premieres on Prime on 18 October.
