Back in 2005, 'The Office' made a huge splash, becoming one of the greatest sitcoms on television. Steve Carell would lead the way with pinpoint humor, John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer also played a huge role, as their romance kept bringing the viewers back, especially early on.
Surprisingly for Jenna, she faced rejection early on. Alongside The Hollywood Reporter, Jenna advises young actors and actresses to enter the business debt-free, "The path to financial security as an actor is a very, very long one and a very unpredictable one. My first piece of advice: try to start your acting career debt-free or with very little debt. Then, don’t spend your paycheck. Save as much as you can. I talk about the stressful moments where I had to decide between a low-paying acting job to further my career or a better-paying temp job to pay off my credit card debt or get new headshots that I really needed. It was definitely, definitely stressful."
That financial stress all changed when she landed the role on 'The Office'. It was during the audition process that she first met John Krasinski. So, what did they two think of each other when they first met?
Jenna Was Advised Not To Be Funny During Her Audition
Imagine someone telling you before an audition, don't be funny and don't look good... that was exactly the case when Fischer auditioned for the role of Pam, "The casting director before I went in - I had known her for a few years and she had called me in for other jobs. And she gave me some coaching on the phone. What she said was, don't come in looking pretty; which, you know, a lot of times, when you go in on an audition, they want you to look inappropriately sexy or hot for the role. And I used to get called in to play things like, oh, like, a third-grade schoolteacher but look really hot. And so, in this instance, the - when I went in for "The Office," the casting director said to me, she said, please look normal. Don't make yourself all pretty, and dare to bore me with your audition. Those were her words. Dare to bore me."
Like a typical episode of 'The Office,' Pam sat in her chair and was interviewed in a documentary style. It was clear early on, she was meant for the role. That was only amplified when she met John Krasinski, who would later be named Jim. However, John getting the part was a little more complicated.
It Was Right From The Start
The chemistry between the two was electric from the start. Alongside The Hollywood Reporter, Jenna admits she knew instantly that nobody played Jim better than Krasinski, "When I met John and I was reading with John, everything was easy. It was effortless. I just felt the most like Pam in the easiest way. All of our work together felt so honest. The chemistry between actors, it’s a very elusive thing. To me what it means is it’s easy and effortless to access your character with that other actor. I did feel that immediately with Jim. I mean with John! I was relieved that they cast John because it made my job so much easier."
Turns out, John felt the same way and he desperately tried to audition for the role of him once he met Fischer, "I actually spent all day not being able to audition with her — they hadn’t paired me with her,” he remembers. “I was extremely bummed about that, because I knew whoever was reading with her was being considered [for Jim].”
“I went on set and said to no one, ‘I think you forgot to send me home.’ And then from behind a wall, I heard people say, ‘Just give us 20 more minutes!’ The last 20 minutes were me and Jenna auditioning, and I thought, ‘My god, if I audition with this girl, I might have a chance."
It all worked out the way it should have, the two were a perfect match alongside one another during the show's lengthy run. The duo shared instant chemistry even before the show was underway. A remarkable connection and one that simply cannot be duplicated.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, NPR, YouTube & Yahoo News
