James Spader (Boston Legal) turned in a memorable performance in the season 7 finale of The Office, and apparently his work impressed the studio and audiences enough that he was invited back. Spader will be a series regular on season eight of the American version of The Office, but he won’t be taking over as the boss of the Dunder Mifflin office (the role previously played by Steve Carell).
Instead, James Spader will be playing CEO Robert California of Sabre, the parent company of Dunder Mifflin. That means Kathy Bates is out, Spader is in, which makes sense as she’s busy with her own series – Harry’s Law.
“James will reprise his role as Robert California, this uber-salesman that has a power to convince and manipulate, like a high-class weirdo Jedi warrior,” stated Paul Lieberstein, one of the series’ executive producers and a series regular, in the official press release. “He’ll have been hired over the summer as the new manager but, within hours, got himself promoted. Within days, he took over the company. James has an energy that is completely his own, and ‘The Office’ has no tools for dealing with this guy. We’re thrilled he’s joining our cast.”
Spader won three Emmys for his role as Alan Shore on The Practice and Boston Legal. He’s the only actor to win consecutive Emmys for playing the same character on two different series, according to NBC.
