The latest remake of beloved sitcom The Office features its first female lead, with Felicity Ward starring as the new boss, Hannah Howard. The idea of another remake, and a female-led one at that, has led to certain section of society (otherwise known as sexists) flat-out rejecting the series, as well as resulting in a lot of backlash online. As is sadly the way these days. Now, in an interview with THR, Ward has responded directly to the negative reaction directed at both the show and her in the lead role, saying, “I’ve been a stand-up comedian for 16 years. I’ve had this sh*t before, like that just exists.”
“I mean, it’s like everyone’s asking me ‘Do you feel the pressure?’ And I’ve heard that 40 times in the last week. ‘Are you feeling pressure, Felicity? Are you getting the pressure? What do you think of the pressure? How’s the pressure getting to you?’ And I’m like it’s you [journalists]. No, I’m not getting it from anyone else. My family are like ‘we’re so proud of you.’
Here is an exercise: Go on YouTube or Google literally any stand-up comedian that is a woman and then read the comments. So that’s gonna happen with this. Of course, this is gonna happen. There’s some angry people out there. And so of course they’re gonna come for me because it’s a double whammy because it’s The Office and because I’m a woman and I don’t say that as a victim. It’s just like the facts. I’ve been a stand-up comedian for 16 years. I’ve had this sh*t before, like that just exists.”
Felicity Ward Sympathizes With the Legitimate Concerns About the Remake
However, while Felicity Ward has seemingly become hardened to such sexist criticisms, she does understand the more legitimate disapproval of the remake, saying, “I know what it is to love something and have it remade and feel furious about it.”
“Also, I know what it is to love something and have it remade and feel furious about it. Now that sounds insane to me saying out loud, but I absolutely have felt furious about some things. Point Break is my favorite film of all time, love Point Break. Why would you touch Point Break if it’s a perfect film? And then they remade it, and I was angry. What I didn’t do is get on the Internet and hunt down the lead actors to try to make them understand how awful they are. That’s the madness. I get the anger, but call a friend, you know what I’m saying?”
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Ward even goes on to compare the initial negative reactions to The Office Australia with how British fans reacted to the U.S. remake, which she points out has now become “literally the most beloved comedy of all time.” So, maybe we should give this latest effort a fair chance?
“With the American Office, this exact same thing happened 20 years ago. The American Office came out and people were mad. They were like, ‘You can’t touch this British legacy comedy, it’s an institution.’ And it is. For the first series [of the U.S. Office] they were using British scripts and then when they started writing their own stories, it’s turned into literally the most beloved comedy of all time. It’s a different show. It’s just not the same thing. We’ve got all original scripts, all original characters, all original story lines. We’re just having the same thing that the American Office had 20 years ago.”