Jenna Fischer Was Able to Land Her ‘Office’ Co-Star a Leading Role in James Gunn’s Superhero Film
Jenna Fischer had an unexpected influence on getting her Office co-star one of his most prominent movie roles. And it was all thanks to Fischer’s close connection with current DCU head James Gunn.
Jenna Fischer got her ‘Office’ co-star hired in this superhero film
Fischer and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn enjoyed a long six-year marriage together before their divorce in 2007.
Although their marriage didn’t last, Fischer and Gunn remained on pleasant terms afterwards. Fischer would continue her acting success on the popular comedy series The Office. Meanwhile, Gunn would reach greater heights as a filmmaker.
Fischer’s connection with Gunn came in handy for one Office co-star when the director was looking for a lead in the superhero flick Super. Super was Gunn’s 2010 movie about a superhero without any powers operating in a very realistic world. But Gunn temporarily scrapped the project after being unable to find the right candidate for the lead role. This changed after a conversation with his ex-wife.
“Two years ago, Jenna Fischer, my ex-wife–we’re still very close–called me up, and she said, ‘What are you doing with SUPER? That’s my favorite script you’ve ever written. I don’t know why you don’t do that movie,’” Gunn once recalled to Ain’t It Cool News. “I went through all of the reasons why I wasn’t making it, including the fact that I couldn’t find a lead actor, and she said, ‘Listen, have you ever thought of Rainn [Wilson] for the lead role?’”
After hearing that, Gunn quickly realized Fischer’s Office co-worker Wilson was perfect for Super.
James Gunn and Jenna Fischer started dating after starring in a superhero movie
Aside from directing superhero films, Gunn once also starred in a superhero feature of his own. The Specials was a movie written by Gunn and directed by filmmaker Craig Mazin. But it was a more comedic take on the superhero genre, focusing on the lives of heroes when they weren’t out saving the world.
Gunn came up with the idea after being inspired by the comic book stories that he enjoyed. But The Suicide Squad director noted he was more invested in the private lives of these characters than their super-heroics.
“The person who I really looked up to as a little kid, who I had the pleasure of meeting recently, was Stan Lee,” Gunn once said at San Diego Comic Con. “The fact that he focused on the private lives of superheroes, that always interested me much more than the battles. When I read The Avengers every month, I’d always be more interested in what was going on between The Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man than I was with whatever android they were fighting that month.”
The Specials was as important to Gunn’s personal life as it was to his professional life. The feature would lead to a long relationship with Fischer, although Gunn already knew the actor prior to the comedy.
“We met through my brother Sean, because they did plays together in high school. When we were doing the movie The Specials, we did readings of the script to potential financers, and Jenna played the main female role—one of the roles that was sort of opposite me. We started dating about a year after that,” Gunn once told St. Louis.
James Gunn once cast Jenna Fischer as a character that was similar to her ‘Office’ role
The Specials wasn’t the only film Gunn and Fischer worked on. The two actors also collaborated on Gunn’s horror flick Slither. Fischer wasn’t slated to be a part of the film at first. But a scheduling conflict with another actor led to Fischer doing the role.
“Originally that character was written for a man but the actor backed out on a Friday. Luckily Jenna was in town and we shot the scene on a Monday after I had to rewrite a lot of the dialogue. Jenna originally had more of a cameo-type role before she became Shelby,” Gunn once explained to Showbiz Monkeys.
Fischer portrayed a receptionist in the horror film, which reminded some of her iconic role in The Office. But Gunn quipped that he doubted Fischer was going to be typecast as a receptionist now after Slither.
“Well her next film is an ice skating comedy with Will Ferrell, so hopefully that will break her out from the receptionist stereotype,” Gunn joked.
