"The Cool Guy" Interview

The Office received a visit from "The Cool Guy" in last weeks' "Chair Model" episode. Paul Faust is the man that brought "The Cool Guy" to life as Kevin and Andy tried desperately to regain Dunder Mifflin's parking spots.

"Cool Guy Paul", as he is known to MySpacers, has graciously agreed to answer some questions about The Office, Disaster Kits Limited, and fan support.


What was going through your mind when you realized that you had been hired for the part?

The first thing I thought was….did this really just happen!!! Then both panic and excitement hit me. It was like…UH OH…now what. It all happened so quickly so I got to experience pretty much every emotion at once. I didn’t have time to let in sink in a think about it….I just kept moving. I emailed one of the writers and said….I hope you have some stand-by actors in the prop closet there in case I SUCK!!!

Courtesy of Paul

Were there any particular characteristics of “The Cool Guy” that you had envisioned as a back-story for your character?

No…they created the character based on some of the things they knew about me. I am the farthest thing from a comedy writer and the ones on The Office are about as talented as you get….so I think its best if I leave all character stuff to them.

Your character was the manager of Disaster Kits Limited, a business that you operate in real life. After discovering the similarities the writers had used, what qualities do you possess that are similar/different to “The Cool Guy”?

I think for the most part…I played the part as me. I am certainly not always that serious….but I do tend to hate meeting just for the sake of meetings. I think people who know me know that while I can be serious and very focused when I have to be (but that’s rarely) I am mostly pretty nuts. I love to joke around, have fun and I tend to always be doing a million things at once. I would say 50% of my friends have no idea what I really do for a living.

Cool Guy Paul owns a disaster kit company called Disaster Kits Limited. The company my partner Gregg Hamerschlag and I started in called 1-800-PREPARE, LLC. www. 1800prepare. com. I have always loved the security/safety/preparedness space. One of my first jobs out of school was for a surveillance/counter-surveillance product/service company. Then I spent 11 years as a security consultant for a great company in NY called DGA Security Systems. I have also been a volunteer firefighter with the Chappaqua Fire Department in Westchester. I had to resign because I moved to a new town. I hope to join a new department soon.

As a longtime fan of The Office, who is your favorite character on the show and why?

That is a very hard question as I think they are all very talented and funny and I think they work great as a cast. I happen to be a big fan of Kevin and I also love Toby and Angela.

Do you have a particular line from the show that you love to quote?

Well now I will have to quote my own lines….but I think that Andy’s line….”Andrew Bernard is the name of me” from my episode was great.

If you could create any future storyline for “The Cool Guy,” what would it be?

Again…I will leave the creative, funny stuff to the writers but I do have some ideas. I think there could be a lot of funny things to do with Dwight. He could order kits and make everyone in the office do preparedness drills or even make the entire office go to preparedness training. I really think the ideas are endless…its whether or not it fits into the overall story line and where the writers want to take it. They are pros and if there is something to do that’s funny…they will come up with it.

Screencap from "Chair Model"

Are you a Jim/Pam or Jim/Karen fan?

Jim/Pam

What do your coworkers in New York say about your scenes on The Office?

Everyone is having a blast with it. I get a good mix of jokes and congratulations. I think people genuinely are psyched for me and they are just having some good natured fun with it all.

What can fans do to get more scenes with “The Cool Guy”?

I think if I had 10 million or so myspace fans, a few thousand articles on the web and maybe an angry march through Scranton…..they would have to at least consider it. If not…..maybe an Office fan hunger strike would do the trick.

Interviewer's Note: "Cool Guy Paul" has a MySpace page - be sure to friend him up! And check out his Web page about Disaster Kits Limited. A huge thanks to Paul for the interview - I hope to see more of "The Cool Guy" in The Office!