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How Domhnall Gleeson took advice from Richard Curtis – and his actor dad Brendan – for his latest role as a newspaper man

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Many were sceptical upon learning that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's workplace mockumentary The Office was to have an American spin-off.

That was 20 years ago, and the US version proved a massive success, propelling Steve Carell and John Krasinski into the spotlight in one of the most beloved sitcoms in US history.

Fast-forward to today and the Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson is poised to win a similar spot in our hearts as the documentary crew who immortalised Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch in The Office return to examine the inner workings of a struggling Midwestern newspaper.

In The Paper, Domhnall, 42, plays Ned Sampson, the overly enthusiastic new editor of the Toledo Truth Teller and a man who grew up idolising Clark Kent rather than Superman.

“He's very romantic about journalism because he hasn't done it since he was in college, so he's obsessed. He doesn't know the reality of what it is now," Domhnall says. "So it's like your first girlfriend; it's painted with rose-tinted glasses."