 Krasinski and Helms appeared in fewer episodes in order to film several upcoming movies . Helms was temporarily written out the series with a storyline that saw his character travel to the Caribbean with his brother on a boat . As such , Helms made only a small appearance in " The Whale " and was absent from the following eight episodes . He returned in the episode " Couples Discount " . According to TVLine , he returned to work right before the show 's Christmas break . Wilson was initially slated to appear in only 13 episodes before leaving for a planned Dwight @-@ centric spin @-@ off , but the spin @-@ off was not picked up by NBC . Mindy Kaling and B. J. Novak have much lesser roles as Kelly Kapoor and Ryan Howard , respectively . Both Kaling and Novak appeared in the season opener " New Guys " , and both returned for the series finale . Actress Catherine Tate , who joined the series as a series regular midway through season eight portraying Nellie Bertram , continued with the series . Clark Duke and Lacy joined the cast as customer service representatives hired to deal with the many neglected customer service complaints Kelly has amassed over the years ; Lacy 's character , Pete , is also a love interest for Erin . 
