‘The Office’: Jenna Fischer Said She Was ‘Disappointed’ With How Jim and Pam Treated Dwight in 1 Scene
Jim Halpert spent a lot of time on The Office pranking Dwight Schrute, sometimes with an assist from Pam. While the pranks were often harmless, Jenna Fischer, who played Pam, admitted that she was “disappointed” in the way Jim and Pam treated Dwight in one scene.
John Krasinski said Jim and Dwight had ‘magical’ comedy moments
Jim and Dwight had a lot of hilarious scenes together, something that John Krasinski, who played Jim, addressed during an August 2020 episode of the An Oral History of The Office podcast.
“Whatever happens when you put two polar opposite characters together is sort of magical because it’s the Odd Couple,” Krasinski explained.
The actor also believes that his character’s pranks were never mean-spirited but done in a brotherly spirit “that I think made them so great.”
“I was doing something that I knew he [Dwight] kind of got a kick out too,” he added.
Jim and Pam were mean to Dwight in 1 ‘The Office’ scene
During a January 2020 episode of Office Ladies, Fischer and Angela Kinsey discussed the season 2 episode “The Fire.” In the episode, Dwight is jealous of Michael giving Ryan more attention, so he takes some time to himself in his car, listening to the song “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M.
Jim and Pam take notice and talk to Dwight, but Fischer said she wasn’t that impressed with how the characters handled the situation.
A fan asked the podcast hosts, “How many takes did it take for the scene where you and John are helping Dwight with his emotions when he’s listening to R.E.M. in his car? Rainn seems to almost break at the end of that scene. Are you and John’s reactions authentic or scripted?”
“Well, it took a lot of takes,” Fischer recalled. “I’ll say that we spent a lot of time on that scene. And yes, I think Rainn is almost breaking.”
Kinsey brought up that she thought “Jim and Pam were being mean to Dwight” in the moment and Fischer said she agreed.
“When I watched this episode, I didn’t like us,” Fischer said. “I didn’t like it, I didn’t care for it.”
Jim even tells Dwight he should quit to get back at Michael and Ryan.
Jenna Fischer said she was ‘disappointed’ in Jim and Pam
Kinsey pointed out that “you guys laugh as you walk away,” which she found rude. “I don’t mind when you do pranks in the office because Dwight is so ridiculous and he takes himself way too seriously,” she explained. “But in this episode, his feelings have been hurt and he was feeling sad and kind of rejected.”
“And I thought you guys were doing like jokes at his expense,” she added. “And I didn’t like it.”
Fischer wasn’t impressed either, saying, “I thought we crossed the line.”
“You know, something that I like about our show is that we were whole characters,” she shared. “And as people in your whole life, you probably aren’t great every moment, right?”
Kinsey and Fischer both agreed that “Jim and Pam could have been better in that moment.”
“I was disappointed in them,” Fischer added.