‘The Office’ Actor Creed Bratton Talks a Potential Spin-Off and the Truth About the Scranton Strangler (EXCLUSIVE)
"They are talking about things. I don't know how far along they've gotten. But we'll see!"
Published April 26 2024, 12:12 p.m. ET
One of the most-watched sitcoms of all time, the American version of The Office was a groundbreaking television series. Nearly 20 years later, people are still bingeing episodes on repeat, mostly because of our favorite characters. From Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute to Meredith Palmer and Creed Bratton, we’re never short of quirky and laugh-inducing entertainment on The Office.
Now, AT&T is partnering with The Office cast to show off the power of AT&T Business. They created a sketch that brought together several original cast members, including the kooky Creed Bratton. He gave Distractify the inside scoop on getting the cast back together again, a potential Office spinoff, and what he’s up to now.
The cast of ‘The Office’ reunited to film an AT&T commercial.
While AT&T brought many members of the cast together again, this isn't the first time they've been reunited. Creed is also a musician, so he decided to do a benefit concert in Australia during the forest fires in 2021. “Angela [Kinsey], Rainn, Brian [Baumgartner], and Ed [Helms] came down and they all joined, we sold the place out and it was crazy. When they saw all of us together, [the people] went absolutely crazy."
“This thing with AT&T — thank you very much, AT&T for getting this all together — because that's the first time six of us got together in years and years and years. So that was wonderful to see everybody. And again, we just enjoy working together so much,” Creed shared. Despite his character’s lone-man persona in The Office, the real-life Creed loves his co-stars!
Creed says he slowly worked his way into the good graces of creator and showrunner Greg Daniels. “Greg said 'We'll see if we can work you in but I can't promise you anything,'” he explained of his original role in the show. “So I wrote the character. I wrote an hour's worth of stuff, ad-libbed a bunch of stuff, shot it, and gave it to Greg. And they said, ‘Oh well you're actually pretty funny,’ and then they gave me the shot with Halloween.”
Creed Bratton teased a potential spin-off of ‘The Office.’
Luckily, Creed stuck, because his contrast to the other straight-man characters became a mainstay of The Office. And if there were to be a spin-off, Creed would be the first to jump on board. “I certainly would because I like to work with everybody, that would be fun,” he shared. But he actually has some insider information about whether or not there will be a spinoff of The Office.
“But I talked to Greg Daniels a few months ago, we had lunch together at the Glen here in Los Angeles, and he said, ‘We did it. We're not going to be able to catch lightning in a bottle again like that. It's just ridiculous and not going to happen,’” referring to a direct spinoff. But there’s still hope!
“[John] Krasinski had a great idea a while back that we could do a Christmas special for TV of us getting together at some place, maybe Steve's house or something, we all ride there for like an hour Christmas Special. That would be fun,” he teased. But that’s not all. “[Greg] is doing, I believe, a younger version. Not us. But I think that's the case. I don't think I'm jumping the gun here. They are talking about things. I don't know how far along they've gotten. But we'll see!”
If there is a younger version of The Office with a new cast, we can only hope it’s half as good as the original American version. And maybe Creed will still be there since he did seem to move into the office by the end of the series. “I think actually I should just be there with these young kids. And they never mention me or [I'm] just the elephant in the room. No explanations. He's just the old man. That was still there. Sitting there. Not doing any work, just playing Sudoku.” It would be the most Creed thing possible!
These days, Creed is focusing on his music and comedy career as he tours around. As a member of the former Grass Roots band, Creed is an experienced musician and performer. Now, his The Office persona has elevated and expanded his career opportunities. But in reality, while he’s much warmer and way less creepy than The Office’s Creed, the real Creed still has some similarities to his character.
When we asked about who the real Scranton Strangler is, all he could say was, “I don’t really want to say … What’s your home address? They asked me that on the commercial too, and there are a few people missing now,” he joked. Luckily for us, the real Creed’s sense of humor created the character’s mysterious oddball persona, but we may never know the truth about the Scranton Strangler.