Despite having a friendship of nearly two decades, former cast member of The Office Brian Baumgartner, âKevin Malone,â is still learning new things about his friend and former cast mate Oscar Nunez.
For instance, Baumgartner recently learned just how close his fellow fake accountant was to the Cuban Revolution in the 1950âs.
â(My parents) were at school with (Fidel Castro),â Nunez said on his friend's podcast Off The Beat with Brian Baumgartner. âThey knew he was an aâhole from school and were like âoh no this isnât good.ââ
âI canât believe I didnât know this about you,â said Baumgartner. âWe sat next to each other for years and this never came up.âÂ
Nunez said after his parents turned down a government job that would have taken them to Moscow, they decided it was time to leave Cuba. The family was not allowed to take anything with them except a ham and took a boat to Venezuela.
âWe were there a year and didnât like it. My mom in particular didnât like it,â he said. âMy dad was hanging out with some new friends and one of (them) said something to the effect of âyou should be in the kitchen,â and she was like âwe are leaving this country.ââ
The Nunez family eventually settled in New Jersey where the future TV accountant struggled to find his calling. The Cuban American actor followed his mother in the field of dentistry and became a certified dental technician. Nunez said he was never surprised when he was let go from the various laboratory roles he held over the years.
âI was terrible,â he said laughing. âThey would always have to do my work over again. Every job liked having me around, up to a point.â
Nunez launched a career in stand-up comedy, improv comedy, and acting where he performed up and down the East Coast before heading out West. It was while living in Los Angeles he landed one of his most notable roles, âOscar Martinez,â one of Dunder Mifflin's grouchiest accountants.
Catch the full conversation between Baumgartner and Nunez along with all their dry humor on Off The Beat with Brian Baumgartner on the iHeartRadio app, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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