Oscar nominee will appear in multiple episodes next season

Amy Ryan will keep punching a timecard at "The Office" for a while.

The Oscar-nominated actress will reprise her guest role as Holly Flax, the new human resources rep at Dunder Mifflin Scranton, in several episodes of the NBC comedy next season. The show begins its fifth season on Sept. 25.

"Amy gave the character of Holly an openness and matured innocence that exposed a new side of Michael," says writer/executive producer Paul Lieberstein, who also played Toby, the previous HR rep at Dunder Mifflin. "She placed her character right on his level. With her, we now go into our fifth season with the possibilities of our first."

Holly was introduced in last season's finale as the replacement for Toby, Michael's (Steve Carell) office nemesis who finally made good on his dream to leave Scranton and move to Costa Rica. She and Michael hit it off, much to his surprised delight, and she also developed a bond with Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) -- though presumably she'll learn at some point that Kevin isn't mentally challenged.

Ryan earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations and numerous critics' awards for her role in "Gone Baby Gone" last year. Her movie credits also include "Dan in Real Life" (where she co-starred with Carell), "Capote" and the upcoming Clint Eastwood film "Changeling."

On TV, she had a recurring part on "The Wire" and has guest-starred on "Kidnapped" and all three "Law & Order" shows.