‘The Office’: One of Jim’s Best Pranks on Dwight Was a Complete Accident
Any fan of The Office will admit that a large part of why the show is so successful is because of the plethora of colorful characters it boasts. Because there are so many distinct and unique characters, it makes for some truly hilarious interactions. Two characters that fans of The Office love to watch interact are Jim Halpert and Dwight K. Schrute.
Fans of ‘The Office’ love Jim and Dwight’s pranks
From the very beginning, Jim and Dwight had a love/hate relationship that viewers loved to watch. But, the best part of their relationship was the endless pranks their characters would play on each other. From Jim putting Dwight’s office supplies in jello to Dwight threatening Jim mercilessly with snowballs, there was always something for viewers to enjoy. But, one of the best pranks that Jim played on Dwight during The Office, was actually a complete accident.
The infamous fitness orb in the ‘Performance Review’ episode
The “Performance Review” episode of The Office opens with a hilarious prank. Jim and Dwight are sitting at their desks, but Dwight has swapped out his chair for an exercise ball. Dwight bounces up and down annoyingly and, breathing heavily, cites the benefits of the ball, bragging that his “fitness orb” has multiple health benefits. Fed up, Jim asks about the price of the ball before taking his scissors and popping the “orb”, leaving Dwight to flail around before hitting the floor.
The prank was positively hysterical, but it actually wasn’t supposed to happen that way at all. In an interview with Esquire, John Krasinski (who played the character of Jim) shared that the writers had something different in mind for that particular prank. “I was supposed to puncture it, and it was supposed to slowly deflate, but on the eighth take I hit the seam of the ball, and it just ripped open. He fell down and hit his head,” The Office alum shared.
John Krasinski admits he broke character for the scene
Krasinski was so taken aback by what happened he actually broke character and had to step out of frame. “If you watch the episode again, I literally lunge out of the frame because I’m laughing so hard,” Krasinski admitted. In an episode of the Office Ladies podcast, Krasinski’s costars from The Office, Angela Kinsey, and Jenna Fischer gave more detail about the hilarious prank gone wrong.
Prior to filming, Krasinski practiced popping the orb three times, leaving 14 for filming. After shooting 13 “perfect” takes, everyone was ready to move on but Paul Feig, who directed that particular episode of The Office, pushed for one more take and that’s where the beautiful accident occurred. “In all the 13 takes, Rainn slowly sunk to the ground. But on the last take, John accidentally hit the seam of the ball with the scissors and the entire thing popped,” Kinsey explained.
‘The Office’ cast reflects on the hilarious accident
Fischer continued on to say that all characters involved were floored by what happened. “You can see the shock on Rainn’s face, and he fell to the floor. We were all completely shocked, like, ‘oh my god.’ And you can totally see John break,” Fischer shared, also referencing Krasinski breaking character.
Despite the genius of the serendipitous moment, the “blooper” wasn’t going to be featured in the episode. But, Larry Willmore, who wrote this particular episode of The Office fought to use it. We’re sure fans of the show are happy that he did. We truly can’t picture this prank any other way.
