Amy Ryan, Academy Award nominated actress, will be returning to The Office in the Fall.  Ryan played Holly, Dunder-MIfflin's new Scranton HR manager in the season finale, taking over for the departed Toby Flenderson.  Steve Carell's Michael Scott and Holly immediately hit it off over the course of the finale, sparking discussion among fans of The Office whether Holly would return for season 5.  She will, but not permanently.  Variety announced today that Amy Ryan has signed on for five more episodes of The Office for next season.

Though there has been no confirmation, I suspect that those five episodes will actually be the first five episodes of the season.  Since Holly works in the office, and will likely be involved in Michael's character arc at the beginning of the new season, it just wouldn't make sense for Holly to pop up intermittently throughout the season.  If this is the case, though, we might assume that Holly and Michael's relationship (if there is one) will end poorly.  Knowing Michael, this is probably a certainty. 

About the role, Ryan told Variety: "It's a funny thing to enter a show that you're a great fan of — and it's nice to tell lighter stories. I love the dark, grittier side of life, but it's nice to take a break from that, put a skirt on and brush your hair."  Ryan was a fixture on HBO's critically-acclaimed TV series The Wire for multiple seasons, and she was recently nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in Gone Baby Gone.  She's an extremely talented actress, though I wasn't head over heels about her Holly character during The Office's season finale.  I didn't believe her, and was kind of iffy on the chemistry between her and Michael.  I'll definitely give her the benefit of the doubt, and look forward to seeing what The Office writers cook up for her next season.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: Variety
(Image Courtesy of NBC)