Jenna Fischer, best known for portraying Pam Beesly in the acclaimed US sitcom The Office, has disclosed that a single word delivered with deliberate restraint helped her secure the part – despite the audition being “so scary”.
Fischer starred as Pam across all nine seasons of the beloved mockumentary-style series, which ran from 2005 to 2013 and followed the day-to-day antics of employees at the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
Speaking on the Fly on the Wall podcast, Fischer recounted her journey to landing the role, highlighting advice she received from casting director Allison Jones. Having auditioned for Jones for five years prior to The Office, Fischer felt comfortable enough to ask for guidance.
“She said, ‘My advice is don’t come in looking hot. Don’t come in all done up,’” Fischer recalled. “Then she added, ‘We’re going to have you improvise during the audition and my advice is: dare to bore me.’”
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The audition was held with executive producer Greg Daniels. Recalling a pivotal moment during the session, Fischer said Daniels asked her if she enjoyed being a receptionist.
“I just paused and said nothing. And then I said, ‘No.’ That’s all I said,” Fischer explained. “I thought it would be funnier to watch me think of all the things I wasn’t going to say than to say any of them.”
She described Pam as “a deeply honest person” who couldn’t lie about enjoying her job, but who also wouldn’t elaborate unnecessarily. “Greg told me that’s what got me the job,” she added.
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Fischer, who recently appeared in the reboot of Mean Girls, reflected on the nerve-wracking nature of her approach, admitting: “It was so scary.” She concluded by emphasising that subtlety can sometimes be more powerful than bold theatrics in auditions: “Restraint can be better than going for the fences.”
