Ramona Young’s journey from playing teenagers to a calculated introvert with claws

Among the volunteer journalists is Nicole Lee, the introvert from circulation. Despite being easily overlooked, Nicole, played by Ramona Young, is smart, calculated, and makes many of her moves and machinations under the radar. She knows what she’s doing, but you won’t know that she’s doing it—even if you’re on her sh*t list. “Yeah, kitty has claws,” Young tells me.

I recently spoke with Young about the new show, which dropped last month and has already been picked up for a second season. We talked about how she got the role, her character’s romantic situationship, what she’d like to see for her character next season, and what she’s learned about working in local journalism (and as someone who spent the first decade of her career in local journalism, I also couldn’t help but give my own feedback).

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Samantha Pak: How did you get connected with The Paper?
Ramona Young: The show came to me through my managers and agents as an untitled audition. It seemed very high profile, very mysterious. There was no character breakdown, no character description, no synopsis, no real sides, no character names. [Laughs] The email was basically blank. I did a couple self tapes, would get called back every other month, and then about five months down the road, I got asked to have a meeting with (show creators) Greg Daniels and Michael Koman. Did a chemistry read with Melvin (Gregg, who plays Detrick Moore), and then sat down and had, like an hour and a half meeting with them. And then eventually got invited to lunch with a group of writers, and I had really no idea what the lunch was for or what it entailed. And that was when I found out that I had booked the job. And I was like, “Great, what's the name of my character?”

SP: In the past, you've played a lot of high schoolers, in Never Have I Ever, in The Real O'Neals, Santa Clarita Diet. A lot of teenagers. Is this your first time playing an actual adult?
RY: It's one of my first times. I’ve definitely played an adult before for movies mostly, like in You're Cordially Invited. I think in Santa Clarita Diet, I was an adult, but you're right. The last project I was on, which went on for four seasons, I played a high schooler. And it's a nice change of pace to finally be an adult.

SP: Before this, were you a fan of The Office and of Greg Daniels and his work?
RY: I love The Office. I've actually worked with several cast members from The Office prior to booking The Paper, so it was really nice having all of that come full circle.

SP: Can you tell me a little bit about Nicole? What is her role at the paper?
RY: Nicole Lee starts off guarded, and she's very introverted. She's kind of the underling of Esmeralda. Esmarelda Grand (Sabrina Impacciatore) bosses my character around constantly. She works in circulation, so she goes and makes cold phone calls. She tries to get subscriptions going, to keep the newspaper from dying. Eventually, when Ned (Domhnall Gleeson) comes into the picture, she lets her guard down a little bit. She shows her ambitions a little more, and she joins the team of volunteer journalists.

SP: An ongoing, overarching storyline for your character is your romantic relationship with Detrick. What was it like to film those scenes? Because usually, the female character is the one that's more into wanting to be part of a relationship. But in this case, she's just like, “No, we're not really in a relationship.”
RY: Melvin is one of the best scene partners an actor can ask for. He's so grounded and he's so funny. And he does comedy and drama so well. But this situation was hard for me to wrap my head around because I related to Detrick's character way more than Nicole's character in this situation.

SP: Have you had any experience, maybe when you were in school, writing for a newspaper or anything like that?
RY: I prepared for this role as a journalist by not having any journalism experience, just like the character.

SP: [Laughs] That's fair. Pretty much all of the characters don't have experience.
RY: Yeah, I actually was in an elective journalism class in high school, but all we did in that class was watch movies. So I wasn’t prepared at all.

SP: I spent the first 10 years of my career working at local newspapers. And so watching this, I related to some things. Other things, I was like, “That's not how it would happen.” But also there were flashbacks like, “Oh my gosh, I remember those days.”
RY: We did get to interview some real local journalists for research. And Greg did give us some book recommendations. So there was research on that end.

SP: And during that research, what were some of the things you were surprised to learn?
RY: I loved how involved journalists get. Some of these local journalists, they will have campaigns, and they will drive around, and they will talk to people. And they really built an environment of community. I knew about that on a surface level, but from day to day, you're really out in the sun, trying to get people to sign up and to subscribe.

SP: What's been your favorite part about being part of this show?
RY: I just love how different everyone is—anywhere from the writers to the directors, the actors—everyone's so different, but so talented and so funny. And everyone brings something really different to the table. And I love having the opportunity to show up and embrace that and to experience that.

SP: Is there a favorite episode of yours of this first season? Without giving too much away.
RY: Yeah, I won't give anything away. But my favorite episodes are one and 10.

SP: The show has already been picked up for a second season. What do you hope to see for Nicole? What do you hope happens to her in the next season?
RY: I hope she gets her situationship figured out.

SP: [Laughs]
RY: Right?! I hope she learns to let her guard down a little bit. And I want to get to know Nicole more. I feel like she's still a little guarded, still a little doesn't want to stir the pot too much. I want to see her be a little more confrontational.