<p id=”par-1_41″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/jenna-fischer/”>Jenna Fischer</a> scored the part of a lifetime in <em>The Office </em>after being used to <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-office-jenna-fischer-always-lost-roles-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-actor.html/”>always losing roles</a>. Although playing the iconic Pam catapulted her career, there was one thing about the shy receptionist Fischer wanted to tweak just a little.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-jenna-fischer-named-the-pros-and-cons-about-playing-pam”>Jenna Fischer named the pros and cons about playing Pam</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-Office-Jenna-Fischer.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Jenna Fischer posing at ‘The Office’ series finale party.” class=”wp-image-3759335″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Jenna Fischer | Michael Tran/FilmMagic</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_90″>For Fischer, playing Pam in <em>The Office </em>has been both personally and financially rewarding, helping the actor amass a <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-office-john-krasinski-jenna-fischer-net-worth-higher.html/”>life-changing net worth</a>. But another underrated benefit about playing Pam was that Fischer didn’t have to doll herself up for the role. Pam was known for her wholesome, dressed-down appearance, which was even a running gag on the comedy. This meant Fischer could save time on make-up and other cosmetic applications before arriving on <em>The Office </em>set. However, the luxury of looking natural all the time also came with a drawback.</p>
<p id=”par-3_106″>“It’s nice because it doesn’t take long to get ready in the morning,” Fischer once said in an interview with <a href=”https://www.redbookmag.com/life/interviews/a11465/jenna-fischer-interview/”>Red Book</a>. “But there are times when I wish Pam could be… I don’t know, maybe a little prettier. I think the most common compliment I get — which is very sweet, and I’m not complaining — is ‘You are so much prettier in real life.’ And I’ll say thank you. And then I think, <em>What does that mean, though? That I’m very unattractive on the show?</em> But I’ve never been the kind of girl who turns heads. And that’s a good thing — it’s served my career.”</p>
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<p id=”par-4_19″>Still, Fischer wasn’t opposed to dressing herself up. But she didn’t want to make a habit out of it.</p>
<p id=”par-5_41″>“I like doing hair and makeup and putting on the dress, but then I want to take it all off 45 minutes later. Because you have, like, a corset in your ribs and then you’re bruised for two days,” she said.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-jenna-fischer-was-told-not-to-come-into-her-office-audition-looking-pretty”>Jenna Fischer was told not to come into her ‘Office’ audition looking pretty</h2>
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<p id=”par-6_38″>Fischer managed to <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-office-cast-jenna-fischer-pam-audition-one-word-answers-interview.html/”>nail her <em>Office </em>audition</a> by giving a performance that might’ve turned most job interviewers off. Speaking with <a href=”https://www.npr.org/transcripts/182650368″>npr</a>, Fischer spoke to a well-acquainted casting-director about the part. The casting director gave Fischer some much-needed advice.</p>
<p id=”par-7_103″>“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,” she recalled. “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 <em>The Office</em>, 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.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_16″>The advice came in handy, given the very unconventional audition Fischer walked into for the show.</p>
<p id=”par-9_90″>“My very first audition for <em>The Office</em>, I had to sit in a chair, and the producer interviewed me in character. There was no script. He just said, we want you to act like Pam, or your idea of Pam,” she said. “And we’re going to interview you like a documentary film crew might. And they asked me a lot of questions about – did I like working at a paper company? How long had I lived in Scranton? How did I feel about being filmed by a documentary crew?”</p>
<p id=”par-10_18″>All Fischer had to do was behave the way Pam does on the show to clinch the part.</p>
<p id=”par-11_85″>“And my take on the character of Pam was that she didn’t have any media training, so she didn’t know how to be a good interview,” she added. “And also, she didn’t care about this interview. And so, I gave very short one-word answers. And I tried very hard not to be funny or clever, because I thought that the comedy would come out of just, you know, the real human reactions to the situation. And it was great. It was great. We clicked quickly.”</p>