Kathy Bates is an accomplished actress with two Emmys and an Oscar under her belt, but she still had a hard time getting to grips with Dunder Mifflin.

The Matlock And misery Star reflected on her guest appearance The office during a recent appearance on the Office ladies Podcast hosted by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey.

“Steve Carell, I couldn’t believe what an amazing actor and improvisationalist he is,” Bates said of the show’s comedic host. “It was great for me to be around guys like him and John (Krasinski) and a whole bunch of guys and girls. It’s just about learning from them how they do what they do because it’s invisible.”

Bates played Jo Bennett, an eccentric executive with two comically oversized dogs, in eight episodes of the sixth and seventh seasons of the sitcom. The actress explained that even though her time is over The office While it was “a lot of fun,” she had issues with the show’s spontaneous approach.

“I had a problem with the transition from the written lines to the improvisations that we were allowed to do,” she said. “I don’t know if I ever really succeeded. I kept stumbling over it. But it was a wonderful experience.”

Bates also revealed that she was considered as a potential replacement for Carell after he began leaving the series in Season 7. “I know that toward the end, when Steve left, they were interested in me potentially staying,” she explained. However, she was busy with another NBC show that ultimately only ran for two seasons.

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“I had carried on Harry’s Law. But you know, I don’t want to denigrate anyone. But I think it would have been fun to stay here The office” she said, laughing at the missed opportunity, “and really developed that character further.” (James Spader’s Robert California ultimately succeeded Carell as front-runner.)

Bates also shared how she developed Jo’s unfashionable wardrobe. “I had this fur coat that I found out was made of some kind of strip of fur that was really inferior,” she said. “But I insisted on wearing this because it was just so inappropriate. And I think, yeah, we worked on the hair and the look for her.”

Bates and the costume department wanted Jo to look like she hadn’t updated her wardrobe since she was a teenager. “They say, once you figure out what style looks good on you, you stick with it, regardless of your age or anything in fashion,” she said. She explained that she also imagined Jo as a ruthless leader: “I felt like she was very boastful and that she was probably a bull in a china shop – that’s how she ran her company, just running everyone over and along with her was.” money. And I really loved the Great Danes.

Listen to the full conversation between Bates, Fischer and Kinsey above.