Adam Scott’s Daughter Left Mortified When Dad’s Failed ‘The Office’ Audition Became Acting Class Lesson

Actor Adam Scott has a funny and mortifying story about the time one of his biggest career near-misses became an unexpected teaching moment. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week, Scott revealed that his daughter, Francesca “Frankie” Scott, attended a summer acting program in New York. Her instructor then made an unusual choice: He used Scott’s old audition for The Office as a classroom example.

To make the situation even more awkward, the teacher had no idea that one of his students was Scott’s daughter. The teacher showed the students Scott’s audition for The Office and then played John Krasinski’s audition for the same role. He asked the class to discuss why Krasinski landed the part of Jim Halpert while Scott did not.

For Scott, the situation made for a funny story. For his daughter, however, it was much more uncomfortable. Frankie reportedly felt mortified as her classmates analyzed her father’s audition. The teacher eventually noticed her reaction and asked whether she knew either actor in the clips.

That was when he realized that he had spent the class examining Scott’s failed audition in front of Scott’s daughter. Instead of dwelling on missing out on the iconic role, Scott found the humor in the experience. He joked that he was actually happy to learn that his audition had made its way into an acting classroom, even if the students were using it as an example of what not to do.

The story also shows how differently career setbacks can look years later. Scott did not win the role of Jim Halpert, but the rejection did little to slow his career. He later became widely known for playing Ben Wyatt on Parks and Recreation. He also appeared in Big Little Lies and The Good Place before taking on the leading role of Mark Scout in Apple TV+’s Severance.

This is not the first time Scott has joked about his children and his acting career. The actor has previously mentioned that his kids watched shows such as The Office and Brooklyn Nine-Nine but somehow skipped Parks and Recreation, despite his starring role as Ben Wyatt.

More recently, however, they started watching Severance. That gave Scott the chance to see his family become genuinely invested in one of his projects.

The latest anecdote adds another funny chapter to Scott’s relationship with his children and his long journey through Hollywood. In an industry where actors hear “no” far more often than “yes,” his failed The Office audition has found a surprising second life as a lesson for aspiring performers.

And judging by Scott’s reaction, he has no problem playing the cautionary tale.