My phone call with Jenna Fischer — exclusive!
Thursday, July 19th, 2007When I got home today after work (yes, I know it’s hard to believe, but I do have a full-time job outside of OfficeTally), I had a lovely surprise waiting for me in my inbox — an email from the newly Emmy-nominated Jenna Fischer, asking if I would like to chat briefly with her this evening.
Um, yes please.
She had decided not to do any formal interviews today, preferring to give an exclusive to OfficeTally to thank the fans! How great is that?
How her morning went: She woke up bright and early, turned on E!, and watched the announcements with her husband, James. She was disconcerted when she realized that only the outstanding show and lead actor/actress categories were read live, but luckily received a call from her publicist immediately after the show, with news of her own nomination! WOO HOO!
She then got on her computer to get on the Emmy site to see if there were other nominations for The Office, but the site was jammed and she couldn’t get in. That’s when she headed over to OfficeTally to see the complete list. (I had the same trouble as Jenna getting onto the Emmy site, but did finally manage to snag the list.)
James, who was not feeling very well, still managed to surprise Jenna with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers that Jenna says was “as big as a coffee table.”
Who she’s talked to from the show: She hasn’t talked to Steve Carell yet, but she did receive congratulations from pretty much everybody else, including Angela, B.J., David, Kate, Brian, the writers, and the editors, Dave and Dean. “It’s a great group of folks.”
Phyllis was the first cast member to email her, which was “especially cool considering she was one of the people responsible for casting me on the show!”
Jenna text messaged Rainn the minute his name was announced this morning, but for some reason, he didn’t receive it. I asked if she read Rainn’s disparaging remarks about her in the People article, and she laughed and said yes.
Jenna was very disappointed that John Krasinski did not receive a nomination. She received a wonderful congratulatory email from him “that would make you cry — John is an amazing guy.” There is no denying that John and Jenna have unstoppable chemistry and deep affection for one another.
Jenna gave kudos to Executive Producer Greg Daniels for his genius in assembling the cast and staff for the show; I called it kind of “magical,” and she agreed.
Jenna’s performance this past season: The most emotional part of the phone call, at least for me, was when Jenna talked, with great affection, about her character, Pam. And how this Emmy nomination was really Pam’s nomination. When Jim left for Stamford, Jenna was concerned that Pam’s character would be left by the wayside.
It was really important to her that Pam was allowed to develop as a full and complete character on her own. That certainly happened in Season 3.
Jenna spoke of how important it was for her to “honor” the character of Pam in her performance. If this nomination doesn’t validate Jenna’s commitment to Pam, I don’t know what would!
Jenna seems to be a little in awe of the fact that a character like Pam, who she says isn’t a “laugh-out-loud, larger-than-life comedic character,” would garner an Emmy nomination. (But, of course, that is precisely why she did receive a nomination.)
Shout-out to the writers: Jenna visited The Office writing staff earlier this week. I asked her what the mood was in the writers’ room: stressed and panicked? Frantic to get scripts finished? She said no, they’re not stressed, they’re actually pretty relaxed and pumped up. “Like the first day of school,” she said. She calls herself a “writer’s groupie” — if you can’t find her on set, chances are she’s either hanging out with the writers or in the editors’ room. The writers did reveal a few tidbits to her about Season 4!
When the writers were planning Season 3, their roadmap for Pam covered every bump in the road, including Pam breaking down crying and Dwight comforting her, and her moment of weakness in her brief reunion with Roy. I’ll say it again: the writers are extraordinary.
Preparing for the big day: Jenna’s mentioned before how she’s not big into dressing up. Now that she’s an official Emmy nominee, I asked, doesn’t she need to step up the stylin’ this year? She joked, “why can’t we just go to the Emmys in jeans and t-shirts?” (I’m with her.) Of course, Jenna mentions she wouldn’t mind borrowing that gorgeous $900,000 pink diamond ring she wore to last year’s Emmy evening …
Recovering from injury: I asked Jenna how she was doing physically — she says she’s doing really well. Resting by the pool, enjoying her two months off, reading a lot. And catching up on Big Brother. (Do NOT post Big Brother spoilers when you comment on her MySpace blog!)
What the fans mean to her: Jenna had to mention again how floored she was by the outpouring of support and well wishes that greeted her when she went to her MySpace page today. She wants to thank all The Office fans, here and at MySpace, and sites like OfficeTally, Northern Attack, and Give Me My Remote, “who have supported us from the beginning. I feel like we’ve taken this journey together.”
Signing off: Our short phone call ended when the CPK delivery guy arrived at her door with dinner. Much too soon. Thanks Jenna. And CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN! Your fans love you to pieces and are so excited for your nomination.
P.S. Don’t forget that Jenna has a special MySpace blog coming up later this week. You don’t want to miss it! Her MySpace page is at http://www.myspace.com/pambeesley.
cool
124 | Alex Thu. Jul. 26, 2007 at 8:53ami am so excited for the whole cast and rainn as well, but jenna is such an under dog to me and she has gone beyond my expectations with pam during season 3 so i’m rooting for her like no other to win. she deserves it. how many days until season 4?
123 | winoforever Tue. Jul. 24, 2007 at 8:29pmWow! I miss a whole weekend of Officetally and look what happens! I’m now a whole week behind! Great interview Tanster.
About the Emmy nominations regarding John Krasinski, I can kind’a understand why he might have been left off the nomination this year. For one thing, this whole season of The Office was mostly about Pam; it was her story, her story to tell.
If anything else, John should’ve gotten the Emmy nod during Season 2… he really deserved it.
122 | Augustine Mon. Jul. 23, 2007 at 12:00amI love her to pieces! She deserves the award, no question about it.
Thanks Office tally!!
And a huge Thank You to Jenna!
121 | Priscilla Sat. Jul. 21, 2007 at 10:45pmJenna mentions the interview in her Myspace blog!
120 | ZippityZoppity Sat. Jul. 21, 2007 at 9:46pmThank you so much for the interview! The dedication that goes into this website is amazing. It is wonderful to actually have a dialogue between the cast and crew of a show and it’s audience–not a common occurence.
119 | Administrative Assistant Sat. Jul. 21, 2007 at 3:45pmAww! Jenna is so gracious to her fans!
Tanster; A far-fetch but oh so awesome idea for a contest would be somehow picking someone to interview one of the cast members either on Office Tally Chat or by phone. Man, would that be awesome!
118 | Adelaide Sat. Jul. 21, 2007 at 12:30pmgreat interview tanster…and in case I don’t say it enough….wonderful site.
117 | OpalArk Sat. Jul. 21, 2007 at 6:02amJenna, you’re a good egg. Congrats!
116 | LookAtThesePurses! Fri. Jul. 20, 2007 at 10:27pmTanster, thank you so much for getting all this fabulous information to us…the show rocks because of its actors, writers AND fans! It’s cool that Jenna asked for her first interview after the nomination to be with you.
115 | Rachel Fri. Jul. 20, 2007 at 8:47pmOkay, this whole thing just kind of sums up how I think this show is really special and set apart from pthers on the air today. It’s evident that the actors and actresses truly care about their roles and also care alot about the fans.BTW Tanster, I’ll say it again, you are very good at what you do!!!
114 | Emily Fri. Jul. 20, 2007 at 8:39pmCongratulations Jennie on the interview! You are so deserving, after all you do for The Office and the Cast and of course, us, the fans. You’re the best! : )
113 | JoJoJo Fri. Jul. 20, 2007 at 8:17pmWhat a great interview tanster! So glad Jenna spoke with you! All of us at the NBC Office Message Board have our hearts full at this moment - for Jenna, Steve, Rainn, and all the other castmembers and crew that make this the best show on television! :)
112 | Officionada Fri. Jul. 20, 2007 at 7:58pmnice interview
111 | lil Fri. Jul. 20, 2007 at 7:45pm95 | lemoñadé I concur with your statement. I love The Office, but one of the reasons is because the people involved are so FREAKING AWESOME!! Could we BE any luckier to “know” them? Tanster, this definitely speaks volumes about your work on the site and how much attention it garners because of its excellence.
110 | Purple Belt Fri. Jul. 20, 2007 at 4:35pmIt is incredibly sweet of Jenna to talk to a fansite instead of the national press. Congratulations to Jenna and to Tanster, for scoring such an awesome interview!
109 | Elizabeth Fri. Jul. 20, 2007 at 4:11pmyay! more contests!
108 | Sara Fri. Jul. 20, 2007 at 3:32pmIts Official! Jenna is the coolest celebrity there is!!! I am so happy for her getting the nom. I hope she wins!!!! She deserves it! THank you Jenna for being so great to your fans ;)
107 | jimlover Fri. Jul. 20, 2007 at 3:05pmI have a contest coming up that will be pretty fun … ;)
106 | tanster Fri. Jul. 20, 2007 at 3:04pmTanster, how cool is that when you could get a casual email from J-Ficsh (yea I just made that up) asking you to interview her?!? Next contest should be to come up with a question for Tanster to ask Jenna for their next interview.
105 | UNSHUN Fri. Jul. 20, 2007 at 2:54pm