The Office: Everything to Know About John Krasinski and Randall Park’s Hilarious Cold Open Prank

In the course of nine seasons, a lot of famous faces appeared on The Office (streaming now in its entirety on Peacock, alongside seven seasons of superfan episodes!), even outside of the famous faces who were part of the show every week. From major guest stars to hilarious cameos, the show was always packed with either huge celebrities or rising stars who were about to become huge celebrities. But for one actor, his Office cameo was basically a footnote in his career, until fans started to remind him.

The Arrival of Randall Park's "Asian Jim" on The Office

One of the funniest cold opens in the show's history comes in the Season 9 episode "Andy's Ancestry." The episode features yet another prank organized by Jim (John Krasinski) to throw off Dwight (Rainn Wilson), but this time there's an extra twist. Basically, Dwight sits down at his desk and finds another man (Randall Park, of Fresh Off the Boat and WandaVision fame) sitting in Jim's chair. When Dwight questions this, the man insists that he's Jim, Dwight's longtime coworker and occasional friend. And what's more, he's got proof. As an incredulous Dwight keeps questioning him, "Jim" reveals that he knows all of Jim's work information, gets a kiss from Jim's wife Pam (Jenna Fischer), and even shows off the family photos he keeps on his desk, which look like flawless recreations of Jim's actual family photos.

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Dwight, ever the believer in all sorts of strange possibilities, starts to feel his whole world unravel. He doesn't know what's real anymore, and he feels it. But of course, it's all just a prank, as the new Jim is actually just Steve, an actor friend of Jim and Pam's who stepped in to be part of the fun. You can check out the whole cold open in the clip below:

In the years since the episode aired, "Asian Jim" has become a fan-favorite Jim-Dwight prank, and a fan-favorite cold open. If you're an Office fan, there's a good chance you recognize it instantly, but that wasn't the case for Randall Park himself.

Randall Park Forgot About "Asian Jim" Role Until a Fan Yelled at Him

Back in 2021, during an appearance on Conan, Park explained that shooting the "Asian Jim" bit only took him about an hour, and while it was fun, it eventually took a backseat in his memory to bigger jobs and more recent roles. But of course, while Park was slowly forgetting about his brief time on The Office, fans were always remembering, and when a fan yelled out to him on the street, Park had to take a second to recall what they were yelling about.

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"And then several years later, I'm walking down the street, and this car drives by and a guy yells 'Asian Jim!' and drives off," Park said. "And I'm thinking, 'Is this some racist thing that I don't know about?'"

He continued, joking, "I thought it was a hate crime because I had forgotten about my appearance on The Office."

Of course, now Park remembers, but let that be a lesson to all Office guest stars: No matter how small your role is, fans will find you, so keep those memories close to the surface.

All nine seasons of The Office are now streaming on Peacock, alongside seven seasons of extended Super Fan Episodes!