Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania Writer Jeff Loveness Remembers His Small Role On The Office

"Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania" is out in theaters, bringing us the further adventures of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). The gang has been transported to the Quantum Realm, where Janet had been trapped for 30 years. As it turns out, she didn't tell them some really important information about someone she met down there named Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who (in one or several of his many incarnations) may be about to start another multiversal war.

Writer Jeff Loveness ("Rick and Morty") brought the Quantum Realm and the Ant-fam's adventure to life for the first offering in Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. /Film's own Ethan Anderton recently spoke with Loveness, who does a little acting here and there in addition to writing. Loveness told us all about his small role on "The Office" and working with Steve Carell, which actually made Loveness believe he could follow this career path. He also gave a little nod to /Film for posting an early project that got him noticed.

Ethan Anderton asked Jeff Loveness about getting a bit part on "The Office" when he wasn't producing or writing the show. Loveness mentioned that he does do some acting. In fact, he said while he was a writer on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," he would do sketches here and there:

"I pissed myself in front of Liam Neeson, which apparently has 80 million views now on YouTube, and I would do sketches with Harrison Ford and stuff. But 'The Office' was cool, and that was just from an audition. I had made a YouTube video with my friends called 'Wes Anderson Spider-Man' and /Film was one of the very first to ever put that up, and it changed my life, so thank you."

Loveness explained that when it was posted, Kimmel saw it, and that's what got him the job. That and some auditions led him to his small role on "The Office." It was season 7, episode 7, entitled "Christening." In the episode about Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam's (Jenna Fischer) daughter Cece getting christened, Loveness plays a member of a youth ministry from their church. Michael (Steve Carell) and Andy (Ed Helms) try to join a ministry trip to Mexico to build a school, but they and Loveness's character decide to ditch it, leading Erin (Ellie Kemper) to drive them all home. It was Carell's move with his script that helped Loveness see that a career in this industry was within his reach.

Jeff Loveness spoke about how, when he would make short films with friends, there was "always a moment where you crumple up your script that you wrote by hand, and you put in your pocket, or you'll see the script on a desk in the background of the scene. It's always lo-fi stuff like that." As it turns out, he wasn't the only one who does that while working, and though he was nervous, learning that helped:

" [...] Steve Carell's there, who's like the funniest man in the world in his prime, and I saw him do exactly what I did when I made my little YouTube videos. He has his little script, he brings it out, and he looks at it, and he mouths the words, and he crinkles up his script again and puts it in his pocket. And that made it seem like it was all possible. That actually did kind of break the mystique for me. I'm like, 'Oh, he's doing exactly what me and my friends did. Even he needs to run his lines before he does the scene.' It took away some of the mystique and the professionalism, and it was so cool to see him do that. And he was super nice."

Loveness said Ellie Kemper was really kind as well, and that performing his three-line role was a "fun" experience. It makes sense that Carell would have a script on set. Television production can go fast, and when "The Office" was airing, the seasons were often over 20 episodes long. Sounds like it's time for a rewatch of "The Office" in honor of Loveness's work on "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania." 

Loveness's writing work will next be seen in "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty," set for a 2025 release.