Interview: Sabrina Impacciatore on Going From ‘The White Lotus’ to ‘The Paper’ and Digging Into Comedy
There were rumblings of frustration when Peacock announced its spin-off of The Office, mostly raising the question of the necessity of sequel and spin-off series in the gluttonous amount of television that comes out yearly now. The Paper, which initially premiered all episodes on Peacock and is now airing its first season weekly on NBC, defied expectations by only “using the same camera crew” as the original series, only adopting its mockumentary style and sense of absurdity, but with a scene change. The series follows the staff of the Toledo Truth Teller, an Ohio paper that’s under new management. One such person working there is the nonsensical Esmeralda, the managing editor that’s already there when new management is brought in. She’s absurd, funny, and terrible at her job, with the makings of a character that will grow over the next few seasons.
At the center of Esmeralda is Italian actress Sabrina Impacciatore, an actress American audiences might remember from the sophomore season of The White Lotus, but she’s given much more to do in the newer series. She explodes onto the screen, demanding the attention of everyone in the room and audiences at home. As Esmeralda, Impacciatore has tapped into a comedic prowess that allows her to control most scenes she’s in. It’s a hilarious role that could see the actress gain more attention than she’s used to.
I spoke to Impacciatore about Esmeralda, her fashion choices, why she walked in with her hair ready on day one, and what scares her about going back to the role.
Tyler Doster: When you’re coming back to a character, does that change your preparation in playing that character?
Sabrina Impacciatore: Well, that’s a very good question. I think this is, apart from theater, because when you work on a play, maybe you have some stop and then you go back to the character. That was my only experience about going back to a character. To be honest, I must confess that in this moment my feeling is that I will never be able to go back to Esmeralda. I don’t know how to go back to her because now such a long time has gone by and I feel very insecure about meeting her again. At the same time, I have faith that it’s going to be organic exactly as when you see a real friend after a long time, and after a few seconds, it’s like time has never passed.
You feel, oh my God, we are still the same. We’re still connected. We still love each other. At this moment, I hope that this is what’s going to happen. For sure, some awareness subconsciously grows. We’ll see. We’ll see, Tyler. We’ll see.
TD: Does that kind of fear bring on an excitement for you as a performer?
SI: Excitement is always there because to me, to be able to play is to be able to be eight years old. It’s to be stuck in childhood, which is always a graceful moment in life. When I play, I’m back at eight years old, and so I feel excited. I am excited because I am in contact with the purest part of myself that never grows up. Fear is always part of what I’m doing, always. It pushes me to give everything. It never really blocked me from doing things. It’s okay if fear is there. It’s okay.
TD: Some American audiences might already be familiar with you from your role on The White Lotus in season two, but I wanted to ask, being in a larger role here, have you noticed any difference to how people are reacting to you as this has already come out?
SI: People were surprised to see the differences between these two characters. It’s still happening now. It’s still happening because people, for example, I’m coming from Paris, and in Paris the series is, they only heard about The Paper and they’re still thinking about White Lotus, and they loved White Lotus so much, but then they saw a clip about Esmeralda, so they get curious. I think that their reaction about Valentina was more emotional. For example, I had a huge, huge response from the community. They really showed me gratitude for how I played that role. They wrote me the most beautiful things, being grateful about me making them somehow feel good about themselves.
While Esmeralda is more like a crazy, funny character that makes people laugh, and so they are grateful, but in another way. They say, “Thank you for making me laugh. Oh my God, you’re hilarious, blah, blah.” Yeah, it’s a different approach probably.
TD: Esmeralda starts with this reluctance and dislike towards Ned when he first gets there. Then, there’s a more nurtured relationship there by the end of the season. I was wondering how you and Domhnall Gleeson worked on that throughout that first season to get that right.
SI: Wow, we are still working on it. I must confess that I was in awe of Domhnall. On the first day I invited him to have lunch with me in my trailer and we sat on the floor and we started to meet each other, to introduce ourselves to each other. But still, that feeling of being in awe with him never really went away. When I am on set, I don’t even know how that happens, but the feeling is that Esmeralda shows up and I just follow her. There is no Sabrina anymore. I really don’t see Sabrina. I don’t feel Sabrina. There is only Esmeralda that needs to save her life. Esmeralda needs to protect her life. It’s not that she has anything personal against him. It’s just that he threatens her.
He threatens her position and she needs to survive. In order to survive, she has to defend herself with any possible tool, any possible weapon, and that’s not going to stop. For example, but in episode five, there is that moment when Esmeralda is heart-broken, they are upstairs in the terrace, and he says something really nice because he tells her, “You know what? I think that he’s not good in the season.” He says something that makes her feel supported. In that moment, as an instinct, I hugged him. That was completely not planned.
Maybe there was also a bit of Sabrina hugging him in that moment, but that moment stayed in the series and it’s a very sweet moment. We see, oh, wow, maybe these two people could also be closer. We don’t know.
TD: She is one of the only people at the Toledo Truth Teller that’s already working there before Ned brings on the volunteers. What kind of reporting do you think she was doing before Ned got there?
SI: (laughs) Oh my God. Any kind of reporting. She doesn’t even know what she’s doing there. That’s why there is a scene where I am reading the basic manual of how to be a good journalist. It’s only a bunch of seconds, but I got that book, and to me, that’s everything. To me, Esmeralda is someone that is not good at anything. She’s only good at selling bullshit. She’s the queen of impostors. She’s the real impostor. She doesn’t have impostor syndrome. She’s the actual impostor! That’s why I have so much fun with her and it’s so refreshing because she’s just very good at selling bullshit and that’s her only ability.
TD: Speaking of having fun while playing Esmeralda, she connects with the camera probably the most frequently of any of the characters. How do you remain playful and find new ways to be playful when you’re making faces at the camera, glancing over at the camera?
SI: I made the choice at the very beginning, and then I shared this choice with Greg [Daniels] and Michael [Koman]. I arrived on set and had chosen how Esmeralda was supposed to be hairstyled. I thought Esmeralda secretly in all those possibilities, she maybe secretly wants to use this crew to become a star one day. What she wants to suggest is, “Hey guys, I could be a diva. I could be a star.” That’s why I had the idea of having the hair like Gilda in the ’40s. Actually, day one, when I arrived on set, actually, it’s not in the screen, it’s not in the series, but me, I introduced Esmeralda to the camera exactly like Gilda does in the movie.
It’s starting from down and turning the head like this to present her red hair. Greg and Michael, they didn’t get it right away. They said, “What’s happening there? What are you doing?” I said, “Guys, because I’m going to be a star. This is Esmeralda appearing to the audience.” Then, of course, that is not in the series, but what stayed is her relationship with the camera. Sometimes she adjusts her hair just before, knowing she’s getting on camera, or she looks at the camera in a seducing way to remind the audience that she’s the one that is really talking to the audience. That somehow helped me to have a relationship with the camera.
Because I wanted to do something different. We’ll see if that will ever develop in something else. But this is my way of breaking the ice with the camera.
TD: She’s also pretty consistently the best dressed in the office.
SI: Thank you. I appreciate that, Tyler!
TD: Does that help inform your choices as Esmeralda, being dressed like that?
SI: Of course. That was my goal. When I met Kathleen [Felix-Hager] the costume designer, I told her, “Kathleen, let’s think big.” Actually, I also told her “Let’s think gay because gays think big, think playful, think joyful, think that Esmeralda.” Also, my objective was, in a moment where society is going in a direction where people are liquid, it’s a moment that is very interesting about where society is going. I was having fun with the idea that Esmeralda was representing the pure essence of female matter, the pure essence of femininity. She never wears pants. It’s impossible. The only time she wears pants is when she’s dancing and she’s having that cat woman black outfit. To her, to be female, it’s a weapon.
The way she’s dressed is part of her manipulative way of getting attention, trying to be sexy, trying to affirm her female power, and she’s obsessed with her little body. She’s a bit of a narcissist, but not in a traditional way. She has a bit of a disturbed personality. To me, that’s why I used so much of the fantasy because I don’t want Esmeralda to be necessarily realistic, but believable, believable. With Kathleen, we had the best fun, the best. We used a lot of gold, bells, tight skirts, colorful shirts, and we wanted to create an icon somehow. For example, the nails are a big part of having a weapon. For example, in these days that I don’t have my long nails, I promise, Tyler, I feel less powerful.
To me, choosing to have those long nails, like using those hands to hypnotize people, to manipulative people, to do noises with nails, to recall… Everything is part of her manipulative attitude to get what she wants. Because she doesn’t have money enough, what we thought is sometimes she doesn’t buy dinner for her child to get the dress she wants. She’s a horrible monster. She’s a horrible monster. We’ll see what happens also with those dresses in the next season.
TD: Do you know anything about season two so far, and if there’s anything you can share?
SI: No. The only thing I can share is that Greg and Michael, they called me and they said, “Sabrina, we need you to come to the writer’s room. We need to talk.” I went a couple of times and we were having so much fun because we were putting out so many ideas about Esmeralda. They asked me, “What would you like for her to happen? What do you think? What are you imagining for her?” Actually, I felt quite inspired because of this character, I was very scared that this series could work well and that I would be forced to play the same character again and again. That’s why I decided to put a little element of craziness in this character so I could never get bored.
Because my character is a little bit crazy, you can do anything. We’ll see. We’ll see, but we want to explore a few things about relationships, about how she’s a mother and about… No, I can’t say more. I cannot say more.
Season one of The Paper is currently available to stream on Peacock.
- Interview: Sabrina Impacciatore on Going From ‘The White Lotus’ to ‘The Paper’ and Digging Into Comedy - December 29, 2025
- Rhea Seehorn Breaks Down Carol’s Existential Loneliness as the Last Woman in Albuquerque in Episode 7 of ‘Pluribus’ - December 11, 2025
- Interview: Alexander Skarsgård on His New Dom-Com ‘Pillion’ and Presenting Kink with Care - December 9, 2025
Interview: Sabrina Impacciatore on Going From ‘The White Lotus’ to ‘The Paper’ and Digging Into Comedy 
Critics Choice Association (CCA) Awards Predictions: Expect ‘Sinners’ and ‘One Battle’ to Duke It Out 
North Texas Film Critics Association (NTFCA) Awards: ‘Sinners’ Wins Big 
Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Nominations: ‘Frankenstein,’ ‘One Battle After Another,’ ‘Sinners,’ Weapons’ Lead