Oscar Nunez is perhaps one of the more underrated comedic actors today. His wide variety or work ranges from his upbringing in the business with performing over 300 shows with The Shock of the Funny theater company in New York; to his outstanding work with The Groundlings; and most recently playing accountant Oscar Martinez on The Office.

He is now venturing into a new role, with a new cast of characters on USA’s prime-time show Benched, premiering this Tuesday night, October 28th at 10:30 pm ET. Nunez will play Carlos, who is a public defender.

While the scenery changes for Nunez, the same comedic brilliance he brought to his previous roles do not. Also, choosing to play a character that is forced to wear a tie and work in an office seems to be a curious coincidence, (from accountant to lawyer.)

TheCelebrityCafe.com's Rob Sabo was lucky enough to catch up with Oscar to discuss his new show, and how he would fair with Michael Scott as his real-life boss.

Rob Sabo: Your new primetime show Benched premieres on USA Network this coming Tuesday. What drew your attention to this project?

Oscar Nunez: Well, my buddy Damon Jones and Michaela Watkins are the creators. I know them from The Groundlings, and Damon thought he may have a part for me here. They sent me over the Pilot, and as soon as I read it, and my wife read it, and I said “Wow, I think this is really smart and really funny.”

I think they’re awesome, Michaela and Damon. And then after that, I got to meet the cast and we just started working. I didn’t know Eliza (Coupe) or Jay (Harrington). The only person I really knew was Maria Bamford, who is so funny. The rest of the kids I met and it was great. We shot it really quickly. I think we shot 13 episodes and I am looking forward to the premiere.

RS: What kind of character is Carlos?

ON: He’s one of these guys, like I am in real life, who wants to help people, help the downtrodden and all that stuff. And yet sometimes they get on his nerves. It becomes “oh, you idiots” (referring to the people he’s trying to help.) The whole vibe in the office drew me to the character as well. The idea of a show about public defendants; over-worked and under-paid. I like that dichotomy.

RS: How has it been working with Eliza Coupe and Jay Harrington?

ON: It’s been great. Like I mentioned I just met them, and Eliza is easy on the eyes, very talented, and she’s crazy. It’s a wonderful combination. She’s very funny and nuts. And Jay’s awesome. He’s from Boston who’s just a regular guy who’s also very talented. Carter MacIntyre is great too. Maria Bamford is a stand-up, I’ve known her for years. We also have a lot of people from The Groundlings come and do guest spots: Jim Rash, Nat Faxon and Jeremy Rowley.

RS: Why do you think you thrive in the comedic setting?

ON: I just always loved it. It’s what I do, it’s what I like. You know, when I was a kid, I grew up watching The Carol Burnett Show as we watched it together as a family. I loved Harvey Korman, The Odd Couple, and really any other sketch-comedy shows I just loved growing up.

RS: For fans of The Office, like myself, we miss Oscar Martinez. Are there any similarities between the two characters of Oscar and Carlos?

ON: First off, they both wear ties, and both office workers. I think Oscar may have it a little more together, while Carlos is a little more frazzled.

RS: I’m sure you hold many special moments near and dear to your heart with your time at Dunder Miflin, but is there one particular moment or person that stands out?

ON: I just had dinner a couple weeks ago with Brian (Baumgartner) and Angela (Kinsey) and that was fantastic, and we hope to do it again soon. It’s kind of hard to get together. Kate (Flannery) I miss. I follow her on Twitter, and we text back and forth, and hopefully we’ll go out to dinner sometime soon. So yeah, it’s nice to be able to get to see them once in a while.

RS: How do you think you would fair if Michael Scott was your real-life boss?

ON: Oh, Oscar Martinez has way more patience than I do. I would get fired, I wouldn’t last. It would be very hard to last a year.

image courtesy of Bruce Fredericks/INFphoto.com