Ricky Gervais said recently that Sarah Palin could have played his role in The Office, and it looks like turnabout is fair play for the comedian, who took part in his own Sarah Palin pas a deux on Graham Norton's talk show this week. Never fear, Simon Pegg's portly rival wasn't playing the veep candidate himself — that honor fell to Thandie Newton, extending the political impersonation duties she honed playing Condi Rice in W. Oh, one other thing? According to Norton, the script he had both actors read was a scene from Nailin' Paylin, the instantly notorious, Hustler-produced porn film starring a decidedly more fulsome Palin doppleganger. Lest you ever doubt the ability of British actors to spin gold from dross, the Gervais/Newton recreation immediately racked up five Oscar nominations from an insecure, California-bred Academy. [Graham Norton]

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