There’s no denying that when the perfect TV couple comes along, it’s hard not to want the people portraying that couple to become an item in real life. Last week, the news that Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski, the real life counterparts of Jim Halpert and Pam Beesley from NBC’s The Office, were actually in love during the filming of the show, took the internet by storm. Now, though, Krasinski has stepped forward to clear some things up.
I think that was wildly misquoted or taken out of context. I’m sure she was trying to say something nice about how genuine the acting relationship was, of bringing a relationship that became that popular onscreen—and I think we both feel it’s such an honor to be a part of that relationship. As far as how she was quoted about saying we were ‘genuinely in love,’ I think that was taken wildly out of context and I feel bad for her.
John Krasinski spoke with The Daily Beast about the last week’s kerfuffle, and immediately squashed the hopes and dreams heaped on the actors by eight long years of fandom. Krasinski was responding to Jenna Fischer’s comments to a caller who spoke with her during Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live. The actress noted that the two had “real chemistry” and said that they each had a bit of their characters in them. She also said that those bits were “genuinely in love with one another.”
Alright, before all The Office fans go crazy again, I will admit that it would be pretty easy to take Jenna Fischer’s words the wrong way. Especially if your fangirl or fanboy tendencies often lead you to dream that your favorite fake couples would saddle up to a real relationship. And, honestly, how many TV couples can top the slow, sweet burn that was Jim and Pam? They started off as inside-joke work buddies who were obviously hooked on each other, but couldn’t be together because of Pam’s slightly jerky fiancé. Viewers who cared about Jim and Pam stayed with them through furtive glances, confessions of love, dating new people, dating each other, engagement, marriage, babies and, finally, a move away from Scranton and the oddballs at Dunder Mifflin.
To be fair, Jenna Fischer, if you read her words clearly, did qualify her own comments very quickly. Instead of saying that she and John Krasinski were in love, she says that the parts of them that made their characters come alive were what was in love. And, that makes total sense. In order to get that lovely kind of relationship on screen, you have to tap into a part of you that adores your co-star.
John Krasinski is absolutely right to step in and clear the situation up. He and Jenna Fischer both married other people in 2010, and the last thing anyone in a solid relationship wants is to have rumors floating around that they were hooked on a co-star while getting together with their future husband or wife.
So, I hope that clears everything up. Pam and Jim were in super duper love, but John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer were just two actors doing a damn good job of making us believe it.
