Brian Baumgartner Spills the Beans on His Famous Chili Scene in the Office

You wouldn't typically expect a 9-5 office job to call for so much chaos. But back in 2009, as Kevin Malone made his way into Dunder Mifflin one regular morning, nothing would ever be the same. Of course, we're talking about his famous pot o' chili and the tragedy it soon called for.

But if you're anything like us, Malone's little mishap left you with lots more questions than just: How in the world did Dunder Mifflin manage to get that stain out? Lucky for us, the mastermind behind the infamous scene just sat down to spill the beans on his iconic chili fiasco. What'd he have to say for himself?

In the latest episode of his podcast, The Office Deep Dive, actor Brian Baumgartner (a.k.a Kevin) gave us a backstage pass into the making of his messy fall. For starters, it appears no Mr. Clean or Tide were involved in the making: "We came up with a plan to have a large section of the carpet on top of our carpet," Rusty Mahmood, the former first assistant director, revealed.

And while The Office's production team managed to nail the scene in one take ("Brian was a one-take wonder," as Mahmood put it), it actually almost ended very differently. That's right, did you know Kevin's famous chili almost met an entirely different fate?

According to staff writer Aaron Shure, Kevin's little tumble didn't end after his signature dish hit the floor. Well, that is, if he had things his way. "I had initially written an extended version of the scene when Erin (Elli Kemper) walks in after the spill," the former screenwriter revealed. "She sees a giant stain and footprints going into the kitchen."

As the story goes, though, Shure's extended scene was ultimately axed, and the rest is now history. But don't worry, Aaron's not too bummed about his rejected storyline. In fact, "I’m glad we cut it short to this being just Kevin’s private moment," Shure confessed. Same, Aaron, same.

Stay tuned, folks. We've got a feeling there are lots more Dunder secrets headed our way... (Sorry, David Wallace.)