Jenna Fischer has revealed that she axed from the Matt LeBlanc sitcom Man with a Plan because of her past in the US version of The Office.
The actress might have become a household name thanks to her role as Pam in the hugely-popular comedy, but it also cost her a big opportunity after leaving the show.
After initially winning a part in the Friends star’s sitcom, she revealed she was cut after an unwanted reaction from a focus group.
The actress was speaking on the Office Ladies podcast, which she hosts with The Office co-host Angela Kinsey.
Discussing the focus group reaction to her casting, Jenna said: ‘They said – this is a literal quote – they said, “I don’t believe Pam would marry Joey. The chemistry doesn’t work between these two.”’
She added: ‘That was the feedback they got.’
When asked if her and Matt’s previous roles influenced the group’s reaction, Jenna said: ‘Yeah, so it wasn’t working for them that we got married and had a family.’
Recalling the moment her team called her to tell her the news, the actress added: ‘The first thing I said was, “Is [Man with a Plan] not getting picked up?” And they said, “It’s worse than that, hun.”
‘And I was like, “What’s worse than that?” They said, “It’s getting picked up, but without you.”’
In the end, the role on Man with a Plan went to Liza Snyder, who starred in the comedy which aired from 2016-2020.
Jenna might have missed out on the role, but her time on The Office helped to make it one of the most-loved comedy series of all time.
Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that HBO paid late actor James Gandolfini $3million (£2million) to reject an offer to be in The Office.
Following Steve Carell’s departure from the NBC show in 2011, James was offered a role to replace Michael Scott.
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from Entertainment – Metro
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