The Office's Oscar Nunez Wishes He Had A Zanier Part (But Understands The Need For Normal Characters)

Anyone who has seen "The Office" at least once knows that the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin is filled with quite a variety of employees, some of whom are more over the top than others.

A prime example of the "over the top" category would be regional manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell), who is constantly getting into some fresh antics. He can be loud, offensive and downright silly at times. Still, his big personality makes him the heart of Dunder Mifflin, which is why many fans feel the show loses something when Carell leaves at the end of Season 7.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nuñez), a member of the accounting team whose matter-of-fact personality sometimes rubs his colleagues the wrong way. In fact, they refer to him as "Actually" because, as Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) says, "... he will insert himself into just about any conversation to add facts or correct grammar. He really does fit that old stereotype of the smug gay Mexican."

Of course, Oscar isn't without a few juicy storylines, most notably when he falls for Senator Robert Lipton (John MacDonald Coleman) while the elected official is dating Oscar's accounting co-worker Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey). However, looking back at the series, Nuñez wishes his character got into just a few more shenanigans than he did.

In an interview with Nerds and Beyond, Oscar Nuñez fondly reflected on his nine years playing Oscar Martinez, the logical, LGBTQ+ accountant. Despite this being a fun role to portray, Nuñez wouldn't have opposed Oscar causing more of a ruckus at Dunder Mifflin than he did.

"I would've liked to have maybe had more zany parts, like what Rainn [Wilson] and Steve [Carell] got to do was crazy. But their characters are insane, and Oscar wasn't insane. He was on the sane side of it," said Nuñez. "It was like him, Pam [Jenna Fischer] and Jim — those were the sane people. And then you had the crazies, like Rainn and Steve, and a couple others. But yeah, Oscar was on the common sense side."

Nuñez may have craved some zanier situations, but Oscar's dialed-back demeanor ultimately makes him one of the most relatable gay male characters seen on TV. On Reddit, u/why_areyoustillhere shared that, as an LGBTQ+ viewer of "The Office," they felt Nuñez's portrayal was extremely realistic — Oscar doesn't want his sexual preferences to become his entire personality. This user said, "I vastly prefer this to the canonically flamboyant and stereotypical representations of gay men. These typical representations oftentimes reinforce stereotypes which adversely affect LGBTQ people."

Oscar might not be the loudest or craziest employee at Dunder Mifflin, but he allows a portion of viewers to see themselves in him, which speaks volumes.