Robert California
California first appeared in the season 7 finale "Search Committee" as an interviewee for the Scranton branch manager's job. Gabe voices that he's concerned Robert might be overly qualified, and asks him if he thinks that he might be, only for Robert to ask him if he looks like a person who would waste his own time. After he leaves the interview, Jim admits "he creeps me out...but I think he might be a genius". After the interview, he stops by Dwight's Caffeine Corner in the lobby, and attempts to sabotage Merv Bronte, who is on his way up for his interview by telling him that the people in the office act like they're in prison, waiting out life sentences in a dying industry. When Dwight questions Robert why he feels qualified to judge a place after a mere interview, he stares at Dwight for a moment and then tells him he's already figured him out and now knows him. Dwight then asks him if he even knows anything about paper, which Robert responds to by saying he saw an episode of how they make paper on Sesame Street. Dwight, disgusted, orders him to leave. Later, in a talking-head interview held in the parking lot, Robert tells the camera he is sure he will be offered the job, as it is a call he has received many times. In "The List", it is revealed that Robert was hired as the branch manager over the summer, but quickly drives to Florida and convinces Sabre CEO Jo Bennett to give him her job. He appoints Andy Bernard as the regional manager. Jim notes that Robert spends half his time working out of the conference room, and occasionally wanders around the office picking random people to have strange conversations with, an experience that Jim describes as simultaneously terrifying and highly desirable. Robert makes a list of the people in the office, dividing them between perceived "winners" and "losers"; he takes the winners out to lunch. When confronted about the list, he states that those are his impressions, and they could change, concluding, "winners, prove me right; losers, prove me wrong".
Robert California is portrayed by James Spader.
Robert California is portrayed by James Spader.