Why Zach Woods Never Wants To Play The Office's Gabe Again

Many actors from "The Office" are known for playing beloved characters like Pam (Jenna Fischer), Dwight (Rainn Wilson), Michael (Steve Carell), and Jim (John Krasinski). Others are associated with, well, let's say, less attractive fictional individuals. Zach Woods, unfortunately, falls into the latter category. Woods portrayed Gabe Lewis for several of the later seasons of the Scranton-based super-sitcom, and his character managed to go from bad to worse as time went by. After an awkwardly dominant start, Gabe devolved into a running joke (both with real-life audiences and with his Dunder Mifflin co-workers) as the lanky sad sack's story waffled between his foibles as an ineffective leader and his uncomfortably tragic non-starter of a personal life.

"The Office" wrapped up shop in 2013, and since then, several actors have talked about their time on the show or, in Carell's case, why they left the cherished NBC sitcom when they did. On their extremely popular "Office Ladies" podcast, Fischer and her former "Office" co-star Angela Kinsey are constantly revisiting the past as they analyze and revel in the glory of what was. In stark contrast to this tendency, Woods decidedly shot down the idea of him revisiting his Gabe persona during a 2022 interview with ComicBook.com. His reasoning makes sense, too, and is surprisingly protective of the character. Here's what he said:

"I loved playing Gabe, but that was my first job really, TV job. That poor man, I would be happy to never spend another instant in his skin. Even though I have great affection for him. It was a fun part to play because it's a funny show, but to be Gabe is not something I would wish on anybody, especially on Gabe."

Gabe's story arc on "The Office" is a strange one. When he pops up in season 6, it's as part of Sabre's takeover of Dunder Mifflin. He's technically in a position of power as the on-site representative for Sabre and big boss Jo Bennett (Kathy Bates), but he's also clearly a puppet rather than an autonomous and empowered leading figure in the hierarchy of the giant printer-based corporation.

Once on site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Gabe settles into the annex and proceeds to be an ever-present yet only occasionally noticed presence. At various points, he attempts to assert his power by suspending employees (with pay), unsuccessfully corralling insulting caption contests, and hosting "Glee" watch parties. And, of course, he dates Erin (Ellie Kemper) for as long as she can put up with him.

Gabe is initially something of an inconsistent presence on the show before settling into steady appearances throughout seasons 7 and 8 (the latter being one of the low points of "The Office"). By the end of season 8, however, Gabe disappears along with Jo Bennett when David Wallace (Andy Buckley) takes over their company. But even at that point, he isn't quite done with the Scranton branch.

Gabe remains out of sight in "The Office" season 9 with the sole exception of episode 16, "Moving On." In that episode, Andy (who was actually an aspirational figure to Ed Helms at one point) rehires Gabe as a way to terrorize Erin. During his brief appearance, we also find out that Gabe was fired at Sabre and entered a downward spiral that resulted in him somehow losing 50 pounds. Mind you, that's after Nellie (Catherine Tate) called him skeleton man.

After this, though, Gabe really does disappear. He doesn't even make it back for the series finale. According to an online NBC feature, the only bit of closure we get for him is that after the show ended, he supposedly "enrolled in a Chinese corporate program which 'rents' white people to appear more impressive to clients. His only job there is to be seen and not heard."

Sounds pretty on brand to us.