Jenna Fischer by Stephanie Rushia
In a town where success tends to be measured by the breadth of one’s walk-in closet, here’s a comedic talent for whom a single pair of shoes is plenty.
In the figure-skating farce Blades Of Glory, Jenna Fischer, otherwise known as the easy-going receptionist Pam Beesly on the Emmy award-winning comedy The Office, plays one-third of a love triangle opposite Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. The latter are skating rivals who, after being banned from competition, find a loop-hole that allows them to compete as a pairs team. It's the perfect setup for Fischer’s brand of dry, slightly offbeat humor.
Stephanie Rushia: Something tells me you were a creative kid.
Jenna Fischer: Yeah, I would go through the house and take different household cleaners and make a potion and pretend to be a witch or a scientist, or I'd build a tent out of blankets and pretend to go on some sort of mountain trip.
SR: So how did you get into comedy?
JF: Even though I'd always planned to move to Los Angeles after college to pursue acting, I started out as a prelaw major--my parents were very practical and encouraged me to have something to fall back on. [laughs] I don’t know what I was thinking! But I got bored and ultimately made my way over to the theater department. Later I found that I had more of a natural slant toward comedy. Somehow it got my creative juices flowing.
SR: Are you interested in doing more physical comedy?
JF: Yeah! One of the things that was really cool about Blades Of Glory was that it was physically broad. In the film I got messed up in a weird love triangle. I don't ice-skate but I do have a scene with Will Ferrell that has a lot of physical comedy in it--a very awkward seduction scene--so that was fun. I was surprised by how athletic you have to be to get through this stuff.
SR: But no ice-skating, huh?
JF: No, and I was a little jealous--I felt left out that I didn’t get to be part of that boot camp. They got to wear these crazy skating costumes.
SR: So what's the secret to your success?
JF: When I look at some of my friends who came out here and then moved back, there's only one thing that I can see that I had that maybe some of them didn't; a high tolerance for being really poor. Like, I didn't need more than one pair of shoes; I didn’t need to look good. I'm that person that if come over and say, "Can you help me paint the garage?" I would answer, "Sure, and I don’t need to change, I’m already dressed for it!" In fact, I was talking to my husband the other day, and I said, "If it all went away tomorrow, you know what I would miss the most? Not being to buy a $300 plane ticket home to St. Louis." I'm very attached to doing that and to food---I do like eating in nice places.