"I have a wonderful balance right now, and that is a first for me." Jenna Fischer told me in our interview on the eve of the Screen Actors Guild Awards. It was mid-awards season, when the flurry of red carpets and parties alone can keep actors busy, or at the very least, entertained. Jenna, however, is plenty occupied with work: in the middle of filming the sixth season of "The Office," she recently wrapped two films set to release this year and just started filming on a new movie co-starring Owen Wilson.
It had been a few years since I had last caught up with the St. Louis-raised actress, and I must admit; hearing about everything she had going on, I was a bit surprised by how content she seemed. Here is a woman who has been making a name for herself on a hit TV show and is just beginning to land roles opposite actors the likes of Susan Sarandon and Michael Douglas. Seems like this is just when things start heating up.
And they are—but in other parts of her life. Currently planning a summer wedding with fiancé Lee Kirk, Jenna finally feels grounded. And after a short time with her, it's clear that, despite her booming career, she's happy right where she is, and is focusing on just what she needs to be: building a solid foundation for the next phase of her life. Here, the demure and everapproachable star of NBC's "The Office," who charms viewers in her role as Pam, Dunder-Mifflin's comically low-key receptionist, shares her advice for actors and thoughts on wedding planning.
ALIVE: Congratulations on the nominations this season ["The Office" received both Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations.] What's it like sitting with your co-stars on nights like those, being recognized together in that way?
Jenna Fischer: It's weird, because to us, we're very isolated where we work, on an independent sound stage. We don't come in contact with famous people all the time, and we all became famous at the same time so we don't see each other as celebrities. You have a moment where you're like, "What are we doing here? Are they sure?" To be at one of those big award shows all dressed up, the spectacle of it all, is always surreal. Even years later.
ALIVE:How do you choose what to wear to the shows?
JF: When I first started on "The Office," I went to my first Golden Globes. I went to Macy's and bought a dress. As the show became more popular and we became more visible, we started to have designers reach out to us. It's all very daunting because I'm not really a fashionista, so I started hiring a stylist for the big events. They talk to all the designers and they get a bunch of their samples and come to your house. It's sort of like having a little dress boutique in your living room.
ALIVE: How fun.
JF: It's great; I get to borrow them, which is really nice because these gowns are like $7,000. Where are you going to wear that again? You can't wear it to another Golden Globes because you can't wear the same thing twice. But also, where am I going in my regular life that I need a $7,000 beaded gown? Nowhere. I'm going nowhere that I'll need that! So it's very nice that they let us borrow them. Actually, one of the outfits that I wore to a recent event the designer gave to me so that I can donate it to Nerinx Hall when I come in town to host their charity auction [AuctioNerinx, on March 13].
ALIVE: Let's talk about Nerinx Hall. Why is supporting your alma mater so important to you?
JF: Nerinx was the place that gave me my voice as a young woman. I wasn't flourishing in the public school system—I was very shy. I got overlooked. It wasn't a matter of being unpopular; I was just kind of invisible. When I went to Nerinx, it was like every girl was valuable. They really try to find what's special about each person and bring it out of her. It was a very safe environment. It gave me confidence and courage, and I felt very supported there, to try new things, like move to Los Angeles and have the will and determination to stick it out and become an actress.
ALIVE: What advice do you have for aspiring actors?
JF: I think that anyone that wants to pursue acting seriously should go to college. Go to an acting conservatory, go to Webster or go somewhere in Chicago or come out to L.A. even, but just get a four-year degree. It has nothing to do with needing something to fall back on. It's that there's this four-year period where you're like an adult but you're also still a kid. College is a really safe place to fail. Hollywood is not the place you want to be as an 18 year-old kid. I'm very happy that my years were spent in Kirksville, Missouri and that I was able to grow up a little before I came out here. And, when you're on a set, it's a business. It's not about looking cute or having the right hair, like Heidi Montag; all those surgeries are not going to make her a better singer.
ALIVE: You were here in July for the All Star madness to play (Yeah!) in the celebrity softball game. Did you have fun playing with all of those celebs from St. Louis?
JF: Yeah, well we got rained out, we had about a five hour rain delay. So we all were stuck down in the, you know, in the belly of the stadium in a little club room eating sandwiches and cookies and waiting for our turn to play. And so we all became pretty close friends over that day. And it was a really fun experience. James Benton is the nicest man, we had so much fun together. And John Hamm is very cool and Andy Richter, we uh… they were all making me laugh a lot while we were down in the clubhouse, and it was really… it was a really profound experience. Being from St. Louis and having gone to baseball games my whole life, stepping onto the field to play in that game was my first time being in the new stadium. And that was a pretty extraordinary way to be introduced the new stadium. And it’s beautiful, I was so impressed.
ALIVE: Let's talk about "The Office." This season has been a really big one for you, starting with your character, Pam, getting married on-screen to Jim in October. What was it like to shoot that muchanticipated episode?
JF: It was a very special, very emotional episode. It felt like it was time for this couple to get married and be together. John and I really did go to Niagara Falls together— and the rest of the cast did not go. We celebrated the wedding with the cast and had all the big scenes together, then John and I got on a plane and we flew to Niagara Falls and we shot all the stuff on the boat—so it mirrored the show in that way and really was like a small elopement.
ALIVE: Off-screen, you're also getting married this summer, to your fiancé, Lee Kirk. What's he like?
JF: He's a playwright and a screenwriter.[Gushing] He's the perfect man as far as I'm concerned. He's certainly the perfect man for me.
ALIVE: How are the wedding plans coming?
JF: Really well. We happened to pick a venue where you have to bring everything in yourself. I never realized how many decisions I would have to make. Usually they’re like, “Okay these are the three kinds of chairs we have.” But since my place doesn’t have any chairs to choose from, I can have any chair in the whole world! I got an email with eight different kinds of chairs. I never thought I would have an opinion about a chair. But then I suddenly did! I suddenly had a very strong opinion about chairs! And the same thing went for tables and table cloths. And my first response is always, “Oh. I don’t care. Whatever. Just as long as it’s pretty”. But by the end, I’m like, “It MUST be the rectangular table with the table runner!” Suddenly I got a very strong opinion where I had no opinion at all. But it’s been fun. We haven’t picked a wedding cake so we still have a cake tasting to do, which I’m looking forward to.
ALIVE: Are you going with a specific theme for the day?
JF: No, I really don’t want anything to stand out too much. I feel like if people walk away remembering my escort cards, then I’ve done something wrong. What I want people to remember is that they had a great time; I want the details to blend into the background. And even though it’s my wedding day, I don’t feel the need to be a princess. In my life I get the chance to be in the spotlight a lot, where people take your picture and you’re all dressed up. That makes me feel like I’m at work. For my wedding, I want it to feel more like it’s everyone’s day and we’re just sharing in this exciting moment. We’re not having a videographer—no video cameras on me! I’ll keep a mental memory of the day and that will be more special to me. You put a camera in front of me and I just don’t feel like I can be as natural anymore. And I just want to feel like myself as much as possible.
ALIVE: Do you and Lee collaborate at all creatively?
JF: I am actually producing a film that he wrote and we collaborated a little bit on the story. He’s a great writer; I definitely have to say that’s part of the attraction. His writing is very romantic and very funny. I’ve always had a thing for writers, I guess [Her ex-husband, St. Louisan James Gunn, is also a screenwriter]. When you can express yourself with words, I find that very attractive.
ALIVE: You’re starting a new film project with Owen Wilson called“Hall Pass.” What can you tell us about it?
JF: I am so excited about that. I really wanted the role in this movie; it’s really funny. It’s Owen Wilson and Jason Sedakis who I think are going to make a great set of friends in this movie. Owen Wilson and I are married and we have three kids and he’s got a little bit of a wandering eye and he and his friend are always talking about all the girls they could get if they weren’t married. It’s just sort of like a “boys will be boys” type of thing. So my girlfriend and I decide to give our husbands a hall pass. For one week they have no marital obligations. So they don’t have to take care of the kids, they don’t have to take care of us. We’re going to take the kids, go away, and they can be single men for one week and let’s see what they do with it. And so, what happens is, it totally backfires on them. They try to get a date and they’re so off their game that they can’t. And while we’re on vacation we actually meet people and it’s possible that their whole idea of having a hall pass in the marriage might backfire on them because we might end up cashing it in before they do.
ALIVE: What was it like working with Michael Douglas and Susan Sarandon on “Solitary Man,” a film due out this year?
JF: It was, it was amazing. They are both legends. So, to do a lunch scene where I’m sitting with Susan Sarandon and Michael Douglas, that was definitely a “pinch-me” moment. And in that movie I did my first New York walk-and-talk scene, which is, you know you see a movie and you see two characters walking down the streets of New York, walking and talking. I did my first walk-and-talk with Michael Douglas and I… I mean I grew up watching Woody Allen movies and he has tons of those. So when I was walking down the street, I turned to Michael Douglas and said, “Michael this is my first walk-and-talk. And it’s with you, I’m so excited!” And he was so sweet! He was like, “I’m so honored to be your first New York walk-and-talk Jenna”.
ALIVE: That’s cute.
JF: It was really, really sweet and the whole movie was like that. It was very surreal to get to shoot on location in New York City, which I love the city. And I got to live there for a few weeks while we filmed, which was also, it’s always nice when a movie means you get to live in a city and experience it for a period of time. That’s such a great perk of my job. “Hall Pass” is going to shoot in Atlanta so I’m actually going to get to live in Atlanta for five weeks and I’m very excited about that. I love to travel so much, but what I love about traveling is really getting to experience the cities, which is hard to do on a vacation. So one of the things I love about acting is that I get to go to different cities and live there while I make a movie. I love that part of the adventure. Sometimes you get in places that aren’t so great, but even then it’s an adventure.
ALIVE: Your character on “The Office” is having a baby this month. How do you go about prepareing for a birth scene?
JF: Well, I keep telling my sister that she needs to go into labor because she’s due to have her baby next week. And I keep telling her she needs to go into labor so she can tell me all about it so I can properly perform my role on television. Having my fake baby.
ALIVE: That’s so crazy—a real baby and a fake baby.
JF: Yeah she’ll be in real labor while I’m in fake labor next week, probably. So, that’ll be very crazy. But I want her to have her baby now so that she can tell me how to do it.
ALIVE: That’s so funny. And you don’t know whose baby will be your baby in a few weeks on the show every week.
JF: Yeah, that’s true too. What we actually, we’re filming some things out of order. So right now we’re actually filming an episode that will air after I give birth, so they did cast a baby already for that episode. But it’ll have to change, the baby will have to change, because it’ll have to get older and it won’t get older in real time, so you know. Like we’ve already cast the two week old baby, but we haven’t cast the newborn yet.
ALIVE: Do you think you will become a parent yourself?
JF: Absolutely. It’s really important to us. I hope that’s in our near future; I really do. It’s definitely a part of why we were attracted to each other and why we want to get married; we both want that.
ALIVE: What do you think the biggest challenges will be in balancing parenthood with your career?
JF: One of the things that is really hard is that I’m very attached to Midwestern values. I really love the fact that I grew up in St. Louis. My family ate dinner together every night and my parents had jobs that allowed them to be home. Those are the values that I want to emulate when I have a family and yet I’m in a career where sometimes I go to work at five in the morning and get home at seven at night. I don’t have that same structure. I’m always trying to find ways to create that for myself in my personal life. I think that’s going to be the biggest challenge for me having a family—It’s not going to look like how I grew up because it’s going to be L.A., not St. Louis; because I live an artistic lifestyle, which is very different than the traditional lifestyle that I grew up with. I’m not sure what that’s going to look like, but I definitely feel like I found the right partner and I found the right person to figure it out with me. It’s interesting. I have right now what I feel to be a wonderful balance of adventure and a very grounded life. We go on these great adventures together and yet I always feel like my feet are on the ground—and that is a first for me. I feel like I’ve figured out some sense of balance and that’s the thing I’ve been most concentrating on these past couple of years. Lee’s been a big part of that. It was hard, you know? You can feel very unstuck [in L.A.] and, coming from such a traditional upbringing, it is sometimes hard to adjust to the way things are here. I wish that either the entertainment industry would move to St. Louis or my entire family would move to Los Angeles. [Laughs.] I don’t think either of those things are going to happen so for the time being I just have to try and figure it out.
AuctioNerinx takes place Saturday, March 13, at the Sheraton Wesport-Lakeside Chalet. Auction items include a set visit for four to "The Office," featuring lunch and a photo opportunity p at Michael Scott’s desk. Funds raised at the event will go toward special programs of the school.
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