Pam Beesly was The Office receptionist until she went to work for the Michael Scott Paper Company. Jenna Fischer, who played the role, revealed a secret she hid behind the reception desk all of those seasons that fans never knew.
Jenna Fischer revealed the secret she kept hidden on ‘The Office’
During a November 2019 episode of the Office Ladies podcast, Fischer and Angela Kinsey discussed the season 1 episode titled “Basketball.” The former co-stars were chatting about some behind-the-scenes wardrobe details when Fischer revealed a secret about her time at the reception desk.
“There were times when I didn’t dress the bottom half of my body.” Fischer confessed.
Kinsey pointed out how her statement might require some clarification. “You weren’t commando,” Kinsey said.
Fischer explained what she meant and it’s a pretty well-kept secret that viewers never knew. “So sometimes if I was only seated behind the reception desk, I only dressed the top half of Pam and the bottom half was Uggs and sweatpants,” she said.
Jenna Fischer said she was ‘a rule follower’ on the show
The secret was revealed when Fischer and Kinsey discussed how they were supposed to wear pantyhose as part of their costumes — and Kinsey never wore them. Fischer, however, didn’t realize until years later that she could opt not to wear them.
“Jenna wore pantyhose every day. They were in her trailer,” Kinsey said. “The same pantyhose were in my trailer. They were put in my trailer every day, starting day one. I never put them on.”
Fischer admitted, “That blows my mind.”
Kinsey shared that she just chose not to wear them and there were no repercussions. “I refused to wear pantyhose,” she shared. “And Jenna, one day, I mean … it was years” before her co-star figured it out.
Fischer, it seems, had no idea that there was an option besides wearing the pantyhose. “I remember the day. It was years into filming.”
Kinsey interjected, “Like seasons upon seasons. And she looked over at me one day and she was like, ‘You don’t have on pantyhose.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, they put them in my trailer. I don’t wear those things. I’m not wearing pantyhose.’ And she was like, ‘What the hell? I’ve been wearing pantyhose for years!’”
Fischer said that she assumed she had to wear them. “I am such a rule follower that it never occurred to me that I could go rogue and just not wear the pantyhose,” she noted.
Fischer occasionally got a break from wearing pantyhose
In telling her story about not dressing her bottom half in character when she was behind the reception desk, Fischer said that was her “break from the pantyhose.”
Fischer also shared that she enjoyed filming the winter episodes because they gave her tights to wear and they were more comfortable than pantyhose.
She did draw the line at control-top hosiery, however. “And then after a while, I had to say ‘Stop putting control-top pantyhose in my trailer. I don’t want to wear control-top pantyhose for 12 hours a day,’” Fischer recalled.
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