‘The Office’: Jenna Fischer Revealed the Cast Was ‘Excited Every Time We Filmed in the Parking Lot’
Talk to any former cast member of The Office, and they’ll tell you how much they enjoyed their time on the show. Whether they were main cast members, guest stars, or supporting stars, everyone involved seems to have a really soft spot for the documentary-style comedy show. But, just because the cast of The Office enjoyed their time on the show doesn’t mean that it was as glamorous as most fans think.
While some shows are shot in multiple locations, there’s always a main set that the cast and the crew of a show utilize. The Office was no exception to this rule and, in fact, it was rare that the show doesn’t utilize the main set. A few instances where the cast did have the opportunity to go somewhere else was when Jim and Pam got engaged and for the beloved “Dinner Party” episode.
‘The Office’ was mostly filmed in one location
Loyal fans of The Office will remember “Dinner Party” as the episode when Micheal hoodwinks Jim and Pam into joining him and Jan for a dinner at his small condo. Andy and Angela also make an appearance before Dwight shows up, wine glasses in hand, ready to crash the strange dinner. As amazing as the episode turned out the be, the cast recalled that filming in the small space was actually fairly uncomfortable because everyone was in close quarters.
“It was a tiny condominium deep in the Valley, and so it really was uncomfortable. You really couldn’t get away from anyone. You had your dressing room, but it was, like, a block away, because they couldn’t park it right there. It was perfect for the episode, it really was. I kind of used that a lot and used the heat. It was just scalding hot, I remember. I mean, the place was air-conditioned, but it was hot outside. It was just scorching,” Melora Hardin, who played Jan Levinson on The Office, shared with Rolling Stone.
Filming the infamous ‘Dinner Party’ episode
But despite the challenges that the cast faced filming at the tiny condo, they admitted that they always enjoyed going on location. As they were generally confined to their main studio, any chance to change things up was welcome. In fact, Jenna Fischer even shared that The Office cast was excited for any and all change of scenery.
“I mean, we were excited every time we filmed in the parking lot. So the fact that we actually went on location was superduper-exciting. It was like the kids got to go to Disneyland,” The Office alum shared. And Fischer was far from the only one to hold similar sentiments. Ed Helms also added that there was something special about getting the opportunity to go on location with his fellow cast members.
‘The Office’ cast enjoyed shooting at new locations
“It’s always fun to kind of go on field trips, especially if it was a little bit of a smaller group. Those locations are always a little more social because you don’t have your same comforts to go back to your trailer and the lot. You just wind up socializing a bit more, and those group scenes are the same way. You wind up just sitting there at the dinner table with all these wonderful people and you’re just kind of killing time between setups and shots and making each other laugh. They were fun bonding experiences, in a way,” Helms recounted.
Clearly, the cast of The Office was able to enjoy their time on location. Though the “Dinner Party” episode may have been challenging to shoot, the outcome seems to have more than made up for it.
