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The real Michael Bolton hilariously stands in for his namesake in Office Space

office space the real michael bolton plays funny or die
Image used with permission by copyright holder
If you’ve ever seen the cult-classic, highly-quotable 1999 flick Office Space, you’re familiar with the running Michael Bolton joke. And now, pop singer Michael Bolton has teamed up with Funny or Die to recreate scenes from the movie, digitally filling in for the film’s original “Michael Bolton,” played by David Herman.

Let us explain. The movie follows the mundane daily office life of Peter (played by Ron Livingston) and his coworkers, all of whom are stuck in a rut, in dead-end jobs they hate. From the sleazy, annoying boss Bill Lumbergh who keeps asking for their “TPS reports” to the printer that never works (and eventually gets what’s coming to it), Peter has had enough. Following a botched hypnotherapy session and a bad breakup, he just doesn’t care anymore, and does what he wants. In perfect timing, a team comes in to downsize the company, misinterprets Peter’s apathetic behaviour for confidence and gusto, and promotes him instead of firing him along with his buds.

So where does Bolton come in? In the movie, one of Peter’s nerdy co-workers is a young lad named Michael Bolton, who is forced to annoyingly introduce himself to someone every single time by adding that he is not related to the ’80s pop crooner. In the parody video, the real Bolton recreates popular scenes from the movie, playing the Bolton character in his so-called original screen test for the part. Except, of course, he actually is Michael Bolton.

Sadly, Jennifer Aniston doesn’t reprise her role as Peter’s waitress/love interest.

Yeah, you’re going to have to go ahead and take a look at this video.

Christine Persaud
Christine has decades of experience in trade and consumer journalism. While she started her career writing exclusively about…
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