Before ‘The Office’ Jenna Fischer Lost 3 Roles to Alyson Hannigan
To say The Office made Jenna Fischer’s career isn’t an understatement. Fischer herself has revealed that she was ready to quit acting and gave herself one more year, during which she won the role of Pam. During her struggling time, Fischer also reveals that Alyson Hannigan was the most frequent competition she came up against.
Brian Baumgartner reran Fischer’s appearance on his Off the Beat podcast on March 7. During their conversation she described her many run-ins with Hannigan.
Jenna Fischer vs. Alyson Hannigan before ‘The Office’
Both The Office and How I Met Your Mother began in 2005. Prior to that, Fischer reveals that Hannigan was always the first choice in her auditions. Only The Office wasn’t looking for a star.
“That little caveat in the casting call that said unknown actors only, that was why this was my big break,” Fischer said on Off the Beat. “This was also why I’d been so frustrated and wanted to give up because I would go through these long audition processes for television shows. And I would get as far as the on camera test part and then they would give it to Alyson Hannigan. Alyson Hannigan got like three parts that I was up for. I could not break through Alyson Hannigan.”
Other ‘The Office’ contenders made it big lie Jenna Fischer
Fischer didn’t specify which Hannigan roles she went out for. They probably preceded How I Met Your Mother, since Fischer was already auditioning for The Office then. Could it have gone as far back as the first American Pie movie in 1999? If not, Hannigan had several appearances prior to Fischer landing The Office. Hannigan did episodes of Veronica Mars, That ‘70s Show, and a 2004 pilot and TV movie that presumably Fischer could have tried out for.
“But, I was this unknown actor and I had absolutely nothing to offer a billboard on Sunset Blvd,” Fischer said. “I had no name recognition so I couldn’t get these big lead parts until the Office when finally, the thing that had been working against me was my gift, that I was unknown.”
By the time The Office ended, casting director Allison Jones shared she had also read other then-unknowns who eventually made it big without The Office
“I’ve seen those casting sheets that Alison showed us at the end of the series,” Fischer said. “I saw all the various now well known people who came in to read for the different parts and none of those people were at my casting call that I remember. I was very focused on my audition.”
Allison Jones was part of many of those auditions
Jones has been a casting director since the ‘80s. By the time Fischer got to Hollywood, Jones saw something in her. It just took until 2005 to find the right fit with The Office.
“Now, I had been auditioning for Allison for five years,” Fischer said. “The first thing, I went on a general meeting with Allison. It was a great meeting and Allison called me in to audition for a one line role on Freaks and Geeks. I didn’t get it. Then Alison called me in to audition for Undeclared, which was a Judd Apatow show, for one line, and I got it. That one line led to a second episode where I had two episodes. So this was my first recurring role but this was all a while ago.”
Even when Fischer didn’t come close to Hannigan, Jones stuck by her.
“I think I also through Allison got my very first speaking role on television was for Spin City, the Charlie Sheen years,” Fischer said. “Those were a few of the ways Allison had been in my life. She was great. She also called me in for a Steven Spielberg miniseries that I bombed. It went nowhere, I was horrible. She said, ‘Maybe drama’s not your thing.’ She said, ‘You’re going to be fine, don’t worry. I’m still going to call you in for other things but maybe drama’s not your thing.’”
The Spielberg miniseries Jones cast was the alien abduction drama Taken.
