Although Jenna Fischer has starred in multiple other roles, perhaps the one she is best known for to date is none other than that of Pam Beesly in The Office. Yet, as exceptional as her performance was in the role that had many (if not all) viewers hooked, this very role seems to have posed a barrier when she earned the opportunity to work with Matt LeBlanc.
As surprising as it may seem, the truth is that Fischer almost starred in the lead opposite the FRIENDS alum in a sitcom. However, simply because fans couldn’t imagine her renowned character Pam marrying LeBlanc’s equally famous character Joey, the 50-year-old actress lost out on her chance to work with the 56-year-old heartthrob!
How The Office Posed a Barrier to a Jenna Fischer x Matt LeBlanc Collab
Back in the mid-2010s, Matt LeBlanc was all set for his next sitcom series, Man With A Plan. Playing Adam Burns in the saga, the only thing he needed was Mrs. Burns, aka Andi Burns. And the one initially cast for this respective role was none other than Fischer.
As the actress shared on the podcast Office Ladies, she had shot the pilot for the critically panned yet fan-favorite sitcom. In fact, she was even set to shoot “more scenes” for the same, as the CBS executives initially wanted. But then something changed.
After the pilot was shot, it was shown to its test audiences. And, well, the response wasn’t all that great. For the record, it wasn’t because no one liked Jenna Fischer‘s performance, no. Instead, it was because fans couldn’t imagine the actors’ respective universes to cross over like that.
Or, to put it more simply, the reviewers of the pilot episode simply couldn’t imagine that Fisher’s famous character from The Office, Pam, would ever go ahead to marry Joey, who was LeBlanc’s respective character from FRIENDS.
As the Mean Girls star shared on the podcast:
“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.’ That was the feedback they got.”
Apparently, both the now-50-year-old actress and now-56-year-old actor were so deeply imbued in and associated with their previous iconic roles that fans just couldn’t imagine them otherwise!
Who Ended up Nabbing the Role from Jenna Fischer?
Since even the test audiences couldn’t imagine the two pairing up for an intimate relationship as marriage onscreen, Fischer ended up losing out on her chance to work with LeBlanc. As she recalled on the podcast about her team breaking out the news to her:
“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.’”
Well, ouch, because that most certainly must have hurt. But then again, what could be done? Thus, Fischer had to leave her role and watch Liza Snyder take it on in her stead.
Yet, even though Snyder’s performance was equally commended in the sitcom, we can’t help but wonder just how perfect Fischer could have looked playing the beloved LeBlanc’s wife!
You can stream The Office, FRIENDS, and Man With A Plan on Peacock, Max, and Prime Video respectively.
