For nine successful seasons, viewers followed the daily work-lives of those working at Dunder Mifflin Scranton in The Office. While the series had its core characters, new characters came and went as the seasons went on. And one of those characters was Nellie Bertram.
Nellie is first seen in the seventh season when she interviews for the new regional manager position. However, it's obvious that she's not fit for the job. That's why it was surprising when we saw her again in season eight as the President of Sabre's Special Projects and later the new regional manager of Dunder Mifflin. Hailing from England, Nellie is raw, honest, and a little nutty — but that's what makes her special.
After a hard start at Dunder Mifflin, she eventually finds her footing and starts making friends. Let's take a look at some of her best moments throughout The Office.
SHE LITERALLY TOOK SOMEONE'S JOB BECAUSE HE DIDN'T SHOW UP FOR WORK
After her special project in Tallahassee failed, Nellie heads to the Scranton branch where she looks for an open job. As a close friend to Jo (the CEO of Sabre), she sees an open seat in Andy's office. With Andy's absence, Nellie decides "If the seat is open, the job is open."
She decides that she is the new regional manager, leaving her colleagues in confusion but she holds her ground for three months while Andy is away sailing to the Caribbean. Although she ruffled some feathers, this was a major power move and she has to be commended for it.
WHEN SHE KISSED TOBY TO SHUT HIM UP
In "Dwight Christmas," Toby is telling the tale of the Scranton Strangler, which grabs Nellie's attention because she's never heard of the story before. When everyone leaves the kitchen to celebrate the Christmas party, Nellie is trapped with Toby's boring storytelling. She tries to leave but it doesn't work.
Nellie eventually places her finger up to Toby's lips and tells him to "Stop talking," which prompts Toby to wonder if the two are going to kiss. He pins her against the counter, takes off his glasses, and kisses her ionately — much to Nellie's surprise. She handled the entire situation much better than the other workers would have.
SHE BEGS PAM TO TEACH HER HOW TO DRIVE
With Nellie being from England and hoping to set up roots in Scranton (much to her dismay), she needed to take a driver's test in order to get her American license.
However, she needed some help. She eventually gets Pam to agree to take her driving during their lunch break, which the two used as a bonding moment. Funny enough, Nellie is not the best driver and Pam is seen picking branches off her car at the end of the episode.
SHE TELLS ANDY HE'S RELATED TO MICHELLE OBAMA
In "Andy's Ancestry," Andy and Nellie are not on good . Andy took his job back from Nellie and is teaching her a lesson by giving her his dirty work (on top of treating her horribly). As part of her special project duties, Andy asks her to find out more about his
To play around with him, she claims he's related to Michelle Obama, which makes him feel like he's better than everyone else. Nellie reveals to Pam that she never even did the ancestry paperwork, she just made it up. Her little joke had the office in a hilarious debate that practically drove Andy crazy.
THE WAY SHE ATE A TACO FOR THE FIRST TIME
Nellie may have come to Scranton on a wrecking ball but she eventually proved herself a good person and an even better friend. She really took to Darryl and was upset when he decided to leave Scranton and work fulltime in Philly.
In an attempt to be better friends, Darryl buys them both tacos — a food that Nellie has never had before. She hilariously grabs the taco and has no idea where to start with the strange-shaped shell, making Darryl see a better, more humble side to her. (But let's be real, there was nothing funnier than seeing try to bite this taco.)
GOING HEAD TO HEAD WITH DWIGHT OVER CHARITIES
As President of Special Projects, Nellie decides to create a charity initiative for Dunder Mifflin but as always, Dwight had a big problem with her idea. He doesn't believe there's proof that charities actually work and that it would be a waste of time and money.
When Nellie asks Dwight to choose a charity, he chooses the Taliban, which forces Nellie to remind him of Taliban law. She pushes him even further and steals something off his desk and encourages him to chop off her hand because thieves are not tolerated under Taliban law. The two spent the rest of the episode preparing to chop off her hand before watching 127 Hours, courtesy of Darryl. How she played Dwight was sheer genius.
PRETENDING TO INTERVIEW DWIGHT ON THE RADIO
In another classic prank on Dwight, Nellie s Jim in doing a fake radio interview with Dwight. She acts as radio personality Iris Black and asks Dwight a series of questions (in an American accent) about the paper Dunder Mifflin sells. With every answer Dwight gave, Nellie spun it around negatively and eventually acted like David Wallace kidnapped a mailman due to Dunder Mifflin's bad press. This had Dwight half-dressed and in tears in the breakroom.
We all thought Jim was the prank king but it's obvious that Nellie shouldn't be underestimated.
WHEN SHE SAW FAILURE IN PAM
Whether it's Nellie's British accent or her polite appearance, she always surprises viewers by how crass and vulgar she can really be. In "The Target," the office workers decide to make a pyramid out of all the customer complaint cards they've gotten over the years. The only person who hadn't had a single complaint was sweet, innocent Pam.
To the fun, everyone encourages Pam to fail on purpose. Or as Nellie said, "You can do this Pam, you can fail, I see failure in you!". She ends up making a prank call to a customer and insults them over the phone, which then prompted a complaint against Pam. Way to fail, Pam!
SETTING UP ERIN AND PETE
In "Customer Loyalty," Nellie asks Pete and Erin to create a Facebook page for Dunder Mifflin to bring a more youthful vibe to the company. Not realizing that Pete and Erin had this unspoken crush on each other, Nellie liked the teamwork that came from her paring but was nervous due to Erin's relationship with Andy. Nellie was never on Andy's good list and she was worried she'll be to blame for this love match.
However, with a little help from Toby, she realizes that Erin and Pete really are a good match for one another and is happy with the work being done in the office. Was Nellie the pushy matchmaker Erin and Pete needed?
SHE TOOK RYAN'S SON DRAKE AFTER YEARS OF WANTING KIDS
It was typical Ryan and Kelly to run off into the sunset together at Dwight and Angela's wedding. Who cares that Kelly had a serious boyfriend and that Ryan had a baby, right? With a stranded baby, Nellie saw it as the perfect opportunity to finally adopt a baby and create the family of her dreams. No matter how much she got on people's nerves in the beginning, they can't deny that she would be a fantastic mother. This was a sweet moment for her.