Anna Camp will travel from Bon Temps to Scranton for a wedding. The actress who plays anti-vampire Sarah Newlin on “True Blood” has been billed to fill in a guest spot at “The Office” as Pam’s sister named Penny.

A rep from the show has told E! Online that Camp’s Penny will be at the wedding of Pam and Jim which is held at Niagara Falls. No word yet whether Penny will discover Pam’s secret of carrying Jim’s baby. The episode is scheduled to be held in the fourth episode airing October 8.

To go along with the family affair storyline, an actress has been hired to be Pam’s mom earlier this month. Linda Purl, who was relatively unknown, nabbed the role because an average actress would suit the show’s chemistry.

Premiering September 17, the new season will pick up a few months after the fifth season finale when Pam and Jim discovered that they are going to be parents. In the episode called “Gossip”, words are flying that at least one employee is pregnant, one is cheating on his or her partner, and one is questioning his or her sexuality.

TV.com chatted with The Office’s Oscar Nunez about his character, working with Steve Carell, and what fans can expect from Season Six.

Season Six of The Office is fast approaching, and while fans are getting excited about Jim and Pam’s pregnancy and upcoming nuptials, we here at TV.com wanted to catch up with some other Office notables. So we sat down with Oscar Nunez, who plays Oscar Martinez on the show, to chat about the upcoming season. A couple story lines are revealed, but there are NO SPOILERS in here! (Even the stars don’t know what’s scripted for the future.) To find out more about the making of the show, read on.

TV.com: Other than Jim and Pam’s engagement and baby news, how does Season Six start?

Oscar: Andy has a lot of funny stuff coming up, and, of course, Dwight, as usual. They kind of team up in a couple of episodes together as buddies, and it’s actually quite funny. I think we’re shooting that one right now.

Michael has a relationship that he gets into that is absolutely sick and hilarious. And it’s not long-lived. It’s a short-lived fling, but it is absolutely hysterical and we just finished shooting that one.

Michael is trying to do something good, and it comes out horrible, and then he backtracks and tries to fix it by making the hole even deeper and worse. There’s gossip flying around the office about everyone, little things about everyone.

TV.com: According to a preview video released last week, there will be an episode about office gossip this fall. Why hasn’t office gossip come up on the show before?

Oscar: Bear in mind it’s a 20 minute show. What comes out on TV always surprises me because it’s only 20 minutes. So it’s never the way I picture it.

TV.com: What was it like last year when Michael Scott was replaced as the boss?

Oscar: Oh dear God, he was still there. He was still there, even when he’s kicked out, he’s still there. He won’t leave. He can’t leave that place. There’s an umbilical cord. And poor Idris Elba’s character tried to not lose his cool, but Michael was always there. And then had like a stupid office down on the first floor or whatever. He never goes away really.

TV.com: What role does the accounting corner play on the show?

Oscar: It’s like we’re on a really really good basketball team, like the Lakers. We win championships and we get rings, but we’re on the bench, and if they need us we come in and we do our thing, and we try to get some rebounds and score some — that was a bad analogy — and score some points. But we’re on the bench and we’re happy to be there. But we’re not the starters.

TV.com: What was it like auditioning for The Office?

Oscar: Well, I just hoped we wouldn’t mess it up, because I was a big fan of the British one, which was genius — I watched all the episodes. And then I heard they’re making an American version, and I auditioned for it, and luckily I got picked, and then I thought, well okay, it’s a pilot. We’ll shoot the pilot, and that’ll be it. It won’t get picked up. I’ll make a little money, and go back to whatever it is I was doing.

And then I found out Steve Carell was cast as the lead, and then I kind of thought, you know what, we have a shot at this because that’s perfect casting. Other than Ricky Gervais, I think only Steve could do that part.

TV.com: What’s it like working with Steve Carell? What, if anything, have you learned from him?

Oscar: It’s nice to see him, like, learn huge amounts of monologue in five minutes, and that’s inspiring and it lets you think you could do it. And then you find yourself doing it. Everyone’s nervous when you first get there and then you get used to it, and you’re like “Wow. This is kind of really cool.”

He’s funny. Everyone has their own funny thing. Everyone [on the cast] pretty much has chops, but what I’ve learned from Steve is not how to be an actor, but how to be a person. He’s very very responsible. Loves to be with his family. Works his butt off. And is pretty damn normal, and that’s a cool thing.

TV.com: How are you different from your character on The Office?

Oscar: I’m not that anal. Not at all.

TV.com: Who (or what) inspires you as an actor?

Oscar: I always liked Tony Randall on The Odd Couple.

TV.com: How have the characters developed over the past seasons?

Oscar: You know who we are, but in the end it’s a workplace, and so we come into work and just kind of do our jobs. I always think: I’m at work, and I’m being filmed by a film crew that I don’t want to be here. And I don’t want to be filmed. I just want to do my accounting work.

There’s been a lot of buzz on the ‘net recently about how John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer were spotted together in Niagara Falls, filming sequences for Jim and Pam’s wedding on “The Office,” but when I talked to Oscar Nunez earlier today (I’ll post the whole interview in the near future) and the topic of the impending nuptial episode came up, he teased that there’d be a guest star turning up. He wouldn’t give any specific names, damn him, but he let slip that it was someone from the cast of “True Blood.”

So who is it?

After doing some digging and checking in with NBC, I was able to confirm that Anna Camp, who you may remember as Sarah Newlin – you know, Reverend Steve’s hot and sexy wife – will be playing Pam’s sister, Penny.

One of the most high profile job openings in Office history — the role of Pam’s mom — has been filled. And true to their word, producers resisted the urge to cast Meryl Streep. Or Goldie Hawn. Or Bonnie Hunt. Or…… anyone else whose name you’d recognize. Instead, they handed the plum part to Linda Purl, a relatively unknown actress whose biggest claim to fame was playing Andy Griffith’s daughter in the first season of Matlock.

Stop the presses! On second though, don’t.

It’s not like I didn’t see this coming though. Last month, Office producer/star B.J. Novak warned me that Mrs. Beasley probably wouldn’t get an A- (or B- or C-) list portrayer. “That’s the rule we have stuck to on our show — it is supposed to be real average Joes, and casting a famous actor takes away from that,” he said. “We have only cast a famous actor when they can blend right in as was the case with Amy Ryan. Or if it makes sense for the role, like with Jack Black.”

I can respect that. I don’t have to like it, but I can respect it.

Back to whatsherface Purl, she’ll make her Office debut next month at Pam and Jim’s wedding.

Bonus footnote: This is technically a recast. We first caught a glimpse of Pam’s mom in season 2 when she was played by actress Shannon Cochran (The Ring).

Thoughts? Happy the show maintained its creative integrity by hiring Purl? Or are of the “Screw creative integrity, hire Bette Midler!” mindset? Sound off below! (Additional reporting by Jennifer Armstrong and Carrie Bell)

MICHAEL GETS CAUGHT UP IN OFFICE GOSSIP–Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) feels left out as the rest of the office gossips about the summer interns. While Michael searches for the next juicy rumor to share, Andy (Ed Helms) struggles with heterosexuality. Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Brian Baumgartner, Leslie David Baker, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, Phyllis Smith, Oscar Nunez, Creed Bratton, Paul Lieberstein, B.J. Novak and Ellie Kemper also star.

When “The Office” returns this Fall, Pam and Jim will finally tie the knot with their future brood inside the bride. Several on-set photos of their weddings, which can be spoilery, are coming out to indicate that the scene has been shot in recent days. Jenna Fischer is seen in the pics with a loose white wedding gown that conceals her growing baby bump.

The new season which starts airing on September 17 will pick up a few months after the May season finale where Pam and Jim discovered that they are going to be parents. “We pick up three weeks before the wedding,” executive producer, actor and writer Paul Lieberstein said in an interview. “She’s not showing yet. She’s hoping to get through the wedding without showing.”

Fischer suggested earlier this month that the wedding will take place in a location far from Scranton. “It’s going to be a destination wedding, probably in Niagara Falls,” the actress said. “By making it a destination wedding, the hope is that nobody from the office will come.”

Pam and Jim becoming parents won’t occur so soon though because Pam will give birth in a February 2010 episode. Responding to the fear that a show will be ruined once a baby is present, Lieberstein said, “… given that we’re an office, people have to come to work and they’re not allowed to bring their babies to work, not yet at least. So I think we’re still a show without a baby, even though two of our main characters have a baby.”

Yes. Jim and Pam are actually going to get married this season on The Office.

That’s finally been established, so the only question is when. The current rumor is sooner rather than later. Episode 4 of the upcoming Season Six, according to TV Guide.

Why the rush? Because Pam doesn’t want anyone to know that she’s expecting: “Hilarity ensues when an unlikely party becomes her accidental confidante. No, not Phyllis.”

The Office is back in production, with Season 6 set to premiere September 17th and I recently had the chance to speak to Mindy Kaling about what’s to come. Kaling does double duty on the show, serving both as a writer and a cast member - playing the role of the eternally bubbly Kelly Kapoor.

Kaling talked about writing a pivotal episode this season, Kelly’s taste in men and more – not to mention her recent deal with NBC, that has Kaling developing her own series.


IGN TV: The Michael Scott Paper Company storyline was a pretty big departure for the series. Going into this year, are things a bit more back to normal for the time being?

Mindy Kaling: Yes. I think the show is going to stay in that classic Office stuff for awhile – for at least six to eight episodes. The wedding episode is the fourth one and that has some kind of crazy stuff in it, but I think because it is the wedding and people have been waiting for so long, we’ve earned it a little bit for that one. Plus, you can’t have a wedding in an office! But everything else will be good old fashioned Office episodes with A stories and B stories inside the office.

IGN: You’re writing the wedding episode, right?

Kaling: Yes, [Office Executive Producer] Greg Daniels and I are co-writing the wedding episode.

IGN: The many rabid Jim & Pam (or “Jam”) fans are going to expect a lot. Does that put the pressure on?

Kaling: I know! Well, the thing about writing with Greg is it’s not like writing with just another writer, because the buck kind of stops with him, because he’s my boss. I’ve been nervous about pissing him off and stuff! But he loves Jim and Pam, or Jam, more than almost anyone. Of all the people on the show, he’s the most committed to the extreme romantic aspect of the show.

IGN: How do you determine who writes a big episode like that?

Kaling: I think Paul Lieberstein, who’s now the showrunner, he just has an idea of whose voice he’d like to see on something. And I think when I did the two-parter last year, “The Lecture Circuit”, that maybe he was thinking, “Okay, well this episode should be funny, but have serious stuff too,” which is what this [wedding] episode hopefully will be.

IGN: Kelly has had a busy love life the past year. How is she doing this season?

Kaling: Somebody said to me, “Kelly’s into black men” and I’m like, “I guess she is!” Kelly loves black men. Obviously there’s going to be some stuff with Ryan again, because they have a… BJ [Novak] and I love acting together, because we’re like best friends. We always think of scenes when we can be together, and unfortunately, they’re almost always romantic. But actually, there’s going to be a lot of music and dance for Kelly this season, because I love music and dance… But in a relatable Office way!

IGN: I really loved the dancing in “Cafe Disco” last season. It seemed like it had to be fun to shoot, because you got to be so goofy and just dance together.

Kaling: Yes, it was completely fun to shoot. And someone like Ed [Helms], who is now like a movie star, basically… To get him to come back to our dingy little office and cut a rug is so fun. I feel like it’s really rare and it’s just great. When he and Steve [Carell] do stuff like that, you’re like, “Oh my god, someone would pay a lot of money to see this, and I work here.”

IGN: We recently went back and reviewed the second episode of The Office, and our writer, Travis Fickett, noted that Kelly was quite different back then.

Kaling: Completely, yeah.

IGN: His theory was that perhaps Michael so damaged Kelly during “Diversity Day” that she reverted to her high school persona.

Kaling: That is a great rationalization! The actual thing that happened was I said, “I am not wearing that outfit for another four years! I am 25 years old!”, because that’s when we started the show… No, I was 24 then. My god. I’m 30 now, because I’ve been doing the show for so long! But I was like, “I can’t!” Everyone changed though. Nobody really looks the way that we used to.

IGN: Congratulations on your development deal.

Kaling: Thank you!

IGN: I know it’s still early, but any ideas you’re mulling over?

Kaling: Yeah, I do. I would love to do an office-set comedy. It’s not going to be a mockumentary I think, because Mike and Greg, I think they do it well enough that I don’t want to try. I just want to do a straight up theatrical show with scoring. Maybe it’s dated to do a straight comedy now, but 30 Rock does it!

IGN: Are you on any sort of timetable with that? Are you aiming to have a show for next fall, or two years from now?

Kaling: Next fall would be amazing. I’ve wanted a show since I was a little kid, so I’ve had lots of pre-production time on this! I would love to finish the script sometime soon and maybe get a cool producer attached and do it. It seems like NBC is the no-brainer network if you’re a woman in comedy right now, so I feel like if they want to take a risk in me now, they’re crazy, but I might as well strike while the iron is hot!

IGN: If your own show began while The Office is still going, have you thought about what would cause Kelly to leave Dunder Mifflin?

Kaling: I feel like there’s not enough murders and deaths in half-hour comedies. So if we can think of a really creative way to kill her, that would be it.

IGN: [Laughs] It could be a mystery thing.

Kaling: Like a Simpsons, “Who shot Mr. Burns?”

IGN: Yeah. “Who killed Kelly?”

Kaling: God, I can already see Greg rolling in his grave when I propose that Kelly gets murdered. He’s like, “What show do you think we are?!”

A wedding bell will soon ring for Pam and Jim on “The Office“. A complicated relationship, an engagement and a baby on the way after, the on-screen couple is confirmed to tie the knot in season 6. Yet, Michael Scott is still clueless about everything including Pam’s growing baby bump.

The news of the wedding was first sparked by actress Mindy Kaling who confirmed that she was writing an episode for the scene. She revealed that the wedding will occur as soon as the fourth episode, reasoning “Wouldn’t people kind of get annoyed if we kept it (engagement) going for years and years?”

Jenna Fischer who plays Pam gave more details to TV Guide magazine, revealing that she had been doing some fittings for wedding gowns. “It’s going to be a destination wedding, probably in Niagara Falls,” Fischer elaborated. “By making it a destination wedding, the hope is that nobody from the office will come.”

Regarding Michael’s absence of knowledge about Pam’s pregnancy, Fischer said they would like to keep it that way. “We’re keeping it a secret from Michael for a couple reasons,” explained the actress. “First, Jim and Pam aren’t married yet, and also, just, you know, it’s Michael Scott we’re dealing with.”

The sixth season begins September 17 at 9/8c on NBC.