‘The Office’: These Actors Were Allowed to Work for Only 20 Minutes
There were rules for filming The Office, and some actors only got to work for 20 minutes. Jenna Fischer, who played Pam Beesly, explained why some actors got so little time in front of the camera.
These actors on ‘The Office’ were allowed to work for only 20 minutes
Many characters had babies throughout the run of The Office. That meant some real babies had to act in scenes. Fischer and Angela Kinsey, who played Angela Martin, talked about “Baby Shower” on the Office Ladies podcast. They revealed how they filmed with babies.
Fischer explained there are usually multiple babies on set for the same role. “This is because there are rules about babies working on a set. They can only work for like 20 minutes,” the actor explained.
“Also, if you have a baby and one of them’s fussy you can swap them out for a different baby,” she added. “They’re all dressed the same.”
Fans asked who played Astrid, Jan Levinson’s (Melora Hardin) daughter in the episode. She was played by a set of twins named Matthew and Joey Levinson. There was also a third baby named Harvey Green. Another day there was a set of triplets playing her named Chase, Chloe, and Juliette Parcel. There was also a fake baby.
Fischer said Pam’s daughter Cece was played by the same twin girls throughout the show. “They were absolutely sweethearts, and I love them,” she said.
The real children of ‘The Office’ stars have appeared in the show
There is a scene in “Baby Shower” where Michael Scott (Steve Carell) says he tries to hold a baby every day. There is then a montage of the manager interacting with babies. All of these babies were children of writers and crew members.
Some of the children of stars have also appeared in the show. Kinsey’s daughter, Isabel, is in the episode “Customer Loyalty” for Cece’s dance recital. Kinsey explained why her daughter wasn’t included in the montage.
“The day they filmed the scene with all the babies was my day off. And I wanted to be home with my baby, not bringing my baby to work,” she said laughing.
“So I wasn’t in it and they said ‘Don’t worry, Angela. We’re gonna get Isabel in there and they did,” she said.
Who is the father of Jan Levinson’s baby?
Jan gets pregnant through sperm donation, so this leaves the question who could be the father? Fischer and Kinsey talked about this in the episode.
Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) has previously donated sperm, so he believes the baby might be his. There are a few deleted scenes speculating further. Professional tennis player Andy Roddick is a possibility along with Hunter Raymond (Nicholas D’Agosto).
But what is the truth? “What is the canon of the show? Well, I guess it would have to be what aired, right?” Kinsey said. “So that would mean it’s just a mystery,” Fischer said.
Michael is completely ruled out because he always had to wear two condoms. This was heartbreaking to him at the time, but everything worked out in the end.
