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Eight years ago this spring — while this fall’s incoming college freshmen were finishing up fourth grade — NBC debuted a new sitcom based on a British hit. Tonight, The Office signs off with its series finale, finishing its run as one of the signature comedies of the last decade.

With it, we say goodbye to Angela Martin, portrayed for all nine seasons of The Office by 1993 Baylor graduate Angela Kinsey. Her character’s relationship with Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrute was a central storyline for much of the show’s run, and tonight’s finale reportedly covers their long-awaited wedding. But don’t get the impression that Angela Martin and Angela Kinsey are the same person.

“She’s nothing like that,” says Baylor professor Robert Darden, BSED ’76, who taught Kinsey as a student. “Angela was a perky, outgoing, spontaneous person, not a grim control freak. Her nickname was ‘Junior Mint,’ and her screenplay characters were always funny and irrepressible.”

Back in 2007, Kinsey was the subject of a Baylor Magazine cover story in which she told the writer she still gets “real excited” to meet Baylor folks. As a student at Baylor, Kinsey was a member of Chi Omega, took theater classes and performed in All-University Sing. Her memories of Baylor include “the millions of squirrels” and Carroll Science Hall, her home as an English major. “I love the beautiful wooden staircase in it. And the professors’ offices are like little rooms tucked away in a big mansion.”

What’s next for Kinsey? She’s shot a couple of pilots for new shows, including one called The Gabriels with Saturday Night Live veterans Rob Riggle and Tim Meadows, but for now, it’s wait and see.

Sic ’em, Angela!

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NBC is in for an emotional night on Thursday. ”The Office” is ending and fans will be saying goodbye to the characters they’ve come to know and love over eight years. Angela and Dwight will finally tie the knot, and Michael Scott might make a surprise appearance.

Angela Kinsey (Angela) took a few minutes to talk to The Huffington Post via phone on Tuesday to discuss her character’s relationship with Dwight (Rainn Wilson), what fans can expect from the finale, and whether or not Michael (Steve Carrell) will show up to watch the Dundler Mifflin couple say their “I do’s.”

What will you miss most about playing Angela?
Well, I think I’ll miss the bitch — just the license to be prickly. It was great. I hope everyone would agree that it’s definitely not my norm, so it was fun to get the chance to be someone a little pricklier than what’s socially acceptable.

What do you think kept Angela from Dwight for so long?
Pride and fear — things that hold a lot of us back in our real lives. She loved Dwight, and then he killed her cat Sprinkles. That cat meant the world to her. And he didn’t understand how that hurt her, and she felt like, “Well, you must not really know me if you think this is something I’ll be OK with ever.” So then, I think she revenge-dated Andy. I don’t think she ever loved Andy. I think Andy’s just looking for love anywhere, which is a recipe for a disaster. I think she always thought Dwight was the one, but they sort of blew their moment.

Then, she met the senator, and there were so many things she liked about him: She liked the idea of moving up in the world; she liked the social status that the senator brought; let’s face it, Dwight is kind of awkward publicly [so] she liked having the cache and going to the openings of the mall. She didn’t love him, but I think once she makes a commitment, she sticks with it. So she was in it until there was nothing to be in anymore. Then she could be really honest, and I think she really felt the heartbreak of not having Dwight. I think that’s what she was trying to tell Andy when she ran out in the parking lot before he pooped on the boss’ car. But you can’t be afraid to tell people when you’re wrong.

What do you think Angela and Dwight’s baby will grow up to be like?
I think he’s going to grow up to love beets, farming and paper. And probably cats!

Do you think his personality will be more Dwight or Angela?
He’ll be a rule-follower, because Dwight and Angela love rules. I could see him at West Point or something. And they both love serving their country.

I know John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer have said they had this immediate onscreen chemistry. Did you feel that way about Rainn Wilson?
Totally. We gave each other crap from Day 1. I think John and Jenna had this really lovely chemistry, whereas Rainn and I had this lovely spat. We were both like, “No, you’re an idiot!” “No, you are!” And then we’d crack up and have to make out. So like I say, he’s seriously one of my favorite people that I’ve ever met. I love him. I call him my favorite tall weirdo.

What’s it like playing a character with your own name?
It’s weird. When I was out and about at the beginning of the show, Rainn and I were on the sidewalk filming a scene and cars were driving by and someone yelled, “Angela! Dwight!” They yelled Angela first, and I quickly whipped my head around and said, “Oh my God, I think I know that person.” And Rainn goes, “Oh my God, they yell your name. That must really trip you up.”

Did you know from Day 1 that Angela and Dwight were going to get together?
No. You know, so much is revealed to us at table reads. I’ll never forget the table read where we found out that Dwight and Angela were hooking up at Jim’s barbecue and we were like, “No way! Oh my God!”

Were you excited?
Of course! Because it opens up a whole other world to the character. How will she be in an office relationship? How will it affect them? I would read about all those secret meetings and how they thought they were being so sneaky. There were so many layers. I remember the table read we were at when we all read that Oscar was gay. I think that was four seasons in, and we were like “Oh my God! That’s brilliant!”

What was the last day on set like for you?
Oh God. Gut-wrenching. Just absolute waves of emotion. We were laughing in one moment and crying the next. There was so much anxiety building up to that last scene. We knew all day. There was a lot of crying and hugging.

I have to ask. Will Michael Scott make an appearance in the finale?
Well, I would certainly be the last person to tell, wouldn’t I? Because I’m very chatty. I’m not going to comment.

Don’t you think fans will be disappointed if he doesn’t show up?
Yeah, I do. And I would say that I feel like Greg Daniels wrote a love letter to the fans. So I think the people who have loved this show are going to be happy.

What do you hope viewers get out of the finale?
I hope they feel that they get to say a real goodbye to this world and that they have an idea of who these people will be and what they’ll be doing. There are going to be a lot of laughs, not just tears. I mean I’m going to be crying — ugly crying! — but there’s laughter mixed in. And awkwardness. It’s really what our show does best.

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Link: Angela Kinsey Shares Photos of The Office’s Final Season

For nine years, Angela Kinsey’s alter ego has been Angela Martin, the thimble-sized, Puri-tyrannical head of accounting on “The Office.” A woman of prodigious sweater sets and ruthless party-planning skills, Angela Martin is the definitive expert on workplace decorum and properness. As we prepare for the series finale of NBC’s long-running sitcom on Thursday night, who better to ask for a detailed list of her favorite moments from the show?

Click here to see Angela’s eight favorite moments

After nine seasons, ‘The Office’ will say goodbye this month, with its final episode airing on May 16. One of the stars of the series, Angela Kinsey, stopped by our LA studio recently to talk about the emotional last scene the cast shot together and why she thinks Dwight and Angela (her character) belong together. She also gave us a hint as to which familiar faces we might see before the show comes to a close. Tune in for the final two episodes of The Office beginning tonight on NBC at 9/8 Central.

Over nine seasons, one of the most dependably awkward annual rituals of The Office was the Christmas party, as joylessly organized by party martinet Angela Martin. In a Bizarro-world twist, it turns out the cast itself also celebrated an annual Christmas bash — at the home of none other than Angela Kinsey, who plays Angela. With the series finale airing tomorrow night, we reached out to Kinsey to see just how the two parties compare. Which has more drinking? Which Yankee Swap has caused more strife? And has she ever been in any danger of Phyllis taking over her home party too?

On the show, Angela presides over the party committee like a despot. But in real life, Kinsey is a party-planning committee of one. “It’s pretty much me and last-minute runs to Target,” said the actress, who does wear a Santa hat, if not the whole suit, and has been hosting the cozy affair for cast and friends at her Los Angeles home for the past few years. She always bakes cookies and brownies (and buys a bunch of finger foods — “but the good stuff!” she says) and braces herself for a night of Yankee Swap, a tradition that began on the show in the series’ first-ever Christmas episode, season two’s “Christmas Party,” written by Parks and Rec boss Mike Schur. (The one where Michael Scott turned the Secret Santa exchange into a ruthless game of gift-snatching, and we saw Jim’s recently referenced teapot for Pam.) “Yes, I stole the idea,” Kinsey laughed. “Everyone has to buy a gift and wrap it and then we do that crazy gift exchange and steal each other’s gifts.”

Oscar Nuñez, who plays Dunder Mifflin accountant Oscar, is the game’s unofficial wrangler; with presents changing hands — and more than 30 guests playing — there’s always some whining. “When that happens, like when a bunch of gifts get stolen, Oscar rallies,” Kinsey said. “Last year he just started chanting. He was like, ‘Come on, guys. It’s Yankee Swap. YAN-KEE SWAP! YAN-KEE SWAP!’ Then it got rowdy.”

True to the spirit of the game — and the way the original gang played it — clunker gifts abound. Kinsey tells her guests not to buy anything lavish, and some take the order to heart. “Zach Woods, who plays Gabe, brought a weird little Egyptian sarcophagus jewelry box. No one wanted it. Someone else brought a huge gift that everyone was like, Oooooooh, and it was just a whole bunch of toilet paper,” Kinsey recalled. “But I’ll tell you what: More people wanted the toilet paper than the weird sarcophagus.” And some of the players are less than gracious about the loot they wind up with. “A few people hid their crappy gifts throughout my house that they got but didn’t want to take home!” she said. The game then becomes a weeklong solo game of hide-and-seek. “Days later, I found, kind of rolled up in a fetal position, this weird China doll stuffed into one of my pitchers. It was like a court jester with this porcelain face. I also found a silver-plated cat jewelry stand with holes in its body where you stick your earrings just sitting amongst several books in a bookshelf. It’s like, You jerks. Take this crap home with you!” As Angela Martin might do, Kinsey’s already plotting revenge for next year, when she plans to rewrap the lot and throw it back into the swap. “Someone’s going to get it, and I’ll go, Ha!” She added that not everyone brings junk. Jenna Fischer’s husband brought a small ax. “The dudes were very into that. They all wanted to get to chopping.”

The biggest difference between the Office parties and the real deal might be Kinsey herself: Real Angela gets her drank on. “Of course! What is a Christmas party without some kind of adult beverage?” she laughed. Remember when Angela accidentally had some Champagne at Phyllis’s wedding and spit it out? Kinsey said that would never happen at her party. “If anyone has one too many, it’s me because I host it and I don’t have to drive home. I’m usually the one who’s like, ‘C’mon you guys. Staaaaay!’ And they’re like, ‘Uh, we’re going home, Angela.’”

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There are just two episodes left of NBC’s The Office, and Angela Kinsey says they are among the most important for her character.

After nine years of playing Angela, the judgmental accountant with an affinity for cats, Kinsey tells The Hollywood Reporter she’s happy where her character ends up on the finale.

“There’s one moment coming up that I love so much, but I can’t tell you,” she says. “I’m so excited for fans of the show to see.”

Kinsey admits she has had trouble letting go of her character, saying the cast cried and embraced each other after completing the final scene. While shooting the Fox pilot The Gabriels, she found herself being a bit too harsh to her onscreen children, just as Angela would be.

“I was like, ‘I’m so sorry. I’ve played a bitch for nineyears,’” she recalls telling her director.

Read the rest of THR‘s conversation with Kinsey, where she reveals more details about the emotional final day of shooting and shares what idea she pitched to the writers that didn’t make it into the final season.

The Hollywood Reporter: You’ve wrapped onThe Office. Are you happy where Angela ends up?

Angela Kinsey: I’m really happy with it. When Greg [Daniels] announced this was going to be the last season of our show, and he was going to write to a real end, even though it was bittersweet, we were happy our show has a true ending.

The head writers of our show invited each castmember into the writers’ room to pitch ideas and to tell what hopes and dreams we’d always had for our characters. Some of those things were incorporated, and it’s going to make these last two episodes really meaningful.

THR: Are you able to share what ideas you pitched for, or would that be a spoiler?

Kinsey: I can’t share all of it. One that I pitched that we never got to see is Phyllis and Bob Vance’s house, because I figured it was the tackiest place ever. I was so thankful that Greg Daniels has set the bar for these creative collaborations. I think it’s one of the true successes of our show. I know a lot of shows don’t have that back and forth between the writers and the actors. He did a special thing for our show by having that.

THR: Were you surprised by this season as far as where Angela went?

Kinsey: An interesting twist for me is this coming together of Angela and Oscar. It’s actually really sweet. I am now going to go live with Oscar, so you’re going to see Oscar’s apartment and us being roommates. Part of me wishes there were a spinoff of just Angela and Oscar [laughs].

THR: Who were your favorite Office characters for Angela to play off of?

Kinsey: I love my scenes in accounting. Angela, Oscar and Kevin are all this misfit family. We sort of joked that I’m the mom and Oscar’s the dad and Kevin is our idiot kid. The three of us have sat next to each other for nine years. As friends, we’ve gotten to know each other so well back there in the corner.

I absolutely love doing scenes with Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute). There’s just as spark there and we really have a good time. We both go for it and know and trust Rainn is going to be right there with me.

THR: In your mind, do you see Angela as a good person?

Kinsey: I think she’s a good person. She’s someone who makes decisions based out of fear, so that’s why she’s quick to judge and quick to be insensitive. Some people need rules in life because it makes them feel safe. If you’re someone who breaks the rules – like Jim – she can’t stand you. Dwight follows rules. That’s what they’ve always had in common.

THR: Now that the show is done, do you still carry Angela around with you? Or have you put her aside?

Kinsey: She’s still with me. I did a pilot for Fox called The Gabriels. Jason Winer was the director and I had moments where I was interacting with my children and I would have to reprimand them, and Jason would say “OK, Angela, that was a little too harsh.” I was like “I’m so sorry. I’ve played a bitch for nine years.”

THR: Can you share what the last day of shooting like?

Our very final scene was the whole cast. Greg wanted us to all be together, which was really special and so amazing that we got to have that. We were in the bullpen of the office in the very last scene. It was Saturday night at nine o’clock at night. We knew all day this scene was coming and now we were finally in it.

It’s our final scene ever. We were emotional going into it and we all had to focus to get through the scene. Then our crew began to gather around the stage. And you could just feel that energy in the air. They yelled “cut, cut,” and Greg Daniels said “That’s a series wrap on the cast of The Office.”

We all just disintegrated. We all began to cry and hug each other and hug the crew – these people that we’ve been together for nine years. It was a really special moment, and I’m glad we got to do it together like that.

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The end is coming. We can’t stop it, no matter how hard we want to. We’ve even tried closing our eyes, covering our ears and yelling “lalalalala,” but The Office series finale is still happening next week.

To help celebrate the end of a TV era, we have this exclusive video of Angela Kinsey, aka accountant Angela, reminiscing about her favorite moment from the final season. And no surprise here: It involves Rainn Wilson.