Guess Who Almost Played Jim on The Office (and Pam, and Dwight, and Michael…)

OK, I’m in full-on TV geek mode right now. Rainn Wilson, who, much like Mindy Kaling, is clearly feeling nostalgic as The Office winds down its run, posted this on his Facebook last night:

“This is the original sign-in sheet for the first day of casting for > The Office given to me by Allison Jones, our incredible casting agent. I was the very first person to audition for the series, 11/06/03. Notice all the amazing talent on the sheet, including the amazing #13! This is perhaps the greatest Office keepsake I have. So grateful for the best job I will ever have.”

Along with a pic of said keepsake:

Let’s break this down—here’s who coulda been who.

JIM__

Adam Scott auditioned for Jim. (I could totally see it. This is THE stance and smirk.)

Wait, HAMISH LINKLATER read for Jim too? I don’t know how many of you were into The New Adventures of Old Christine, but he’s adorable. And he’s got that lanky Krasinski thing going on. I get it.

PAM

Mary Lynn Rajskub read for the future Mrs. Halpert. (Now we need to pause to picture Mary Lynn with not only John Krasinski but also Adam Scott and Hamish Linklater. And Jenna Fischer with all of them. And so on and so forth.)

Ever Carradine, who was recently seen on Bones, tried out—and she’s totally dressed to play Pam in this publicity shot.

And so did Anne Dudek (House, Mad Men, Big Love), who kind of looks like Fischer, actually.

DWIGHT

You’ll recognize Matt Besser, who admittedly could rock Dwight’s signature center-part, from tons of guest-role hilarity on shows like Parks and Rec, Modern Family, and New Girl. He also co-founded, with Amy Poehler and others, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.

Men of a Certain Age, anyone? Matt Price totally has a Dwight-like look, in this still anyway.

MICHAEL

OMG, Ben Falcone—Melissa McCarthy’s real-life husband and air-marshall Bridesmaids boy toy—would’ve killed it, I’m sure. But it would’ve been a totally different Michael.

Alan Tudyk (Suburgatory) kinda makes sense to me for a very odd reason: Though he’s a Texan, I just feel like he looks British, and this was a show adapted from a U.K. format. Do with that what you will.

I don’t know who radio host and comic Jim Zulevic is, but I can respect a risky option.

Bill Chott could’ve been working in Scranton—instead of Waverly Place. (Mr. Laritae!)

__What do you make of all these? Interesting to note that Rainn read for both Dwight and Michael. Fun fact: If you wanna see a woulda-been Michael (Alan Tudyk) and a woulda-been Jim (Hamish Linklater) together onscreen, go see the Jackie Robinson movie 42 in April. Which is not at all a comedy.

Photo: IMDB, CBS, NBC, ABC, Facebook