The Office fans never quite managed to warm up to Karen Filippelli since her character was the only thing getting in the way of Jim and Pam’s epic love story at that time. But it looks like fans weren’t alone as Rashida Jones didn’t feel truly welcomed by the cast members either.
Jones’ character was first portrayed in the famous sitcom in season 3 when Jim Halpert was transferred to Dunder Mifflin’s Stamford branch. While Karen was seen for almost the entirety of the third season, her character slowly faded away into obscurity with Jones having only a few sporadic appearances season 4 onwards. Years after The Office ended, the actress herself admitted that she never felt like she truly belonged with the show’s star cast, to begin with.
Rashida Jones Felt Out of Place in The Office
The Office saw a horde of new characters being introduced every now and then, but only a few handful of them managed to stick towards the very end, and Karen Filippelii was unfortunately not one of them.
In an old interview with The Off Camera Show‘s Sam Jones, Rashida Jones opened up about her experience working on the Primetime Emmy Award-winning comedy series. She explained how while the rest of the show’s cast members were “nice” to her, she always felt like a mere “guest star” as compared to the others.
“I always felt like a guest around The Office. Everybody was so nice to me, but I always felt like a guest star, you know? I never felt like, comfortable. I felt like, you know….I knew because I was like the small point of a love triangle that I would…eventually I’d just have to be sacrificed.”
It’s interesting to note that Karen disappeared from the show completely after her appearance in season 5 as the manager of the Utica Branch. Meanwhile, Ed Helms, who was introduced as Andy Bernard in the show during the same time as Jones, ended up being a part of The Office till the very last season.
Rashida Jones Knew Her Time on The Office Was Limited
Helms and Jones were both a part of the Stamford branch of Dunder Mifflin when they first made an appearance on the series. When that branch was shut down though, both Andy and Karen along with John Krasinski‘s Jim and a few other Stamford staff members had been transferred back to the Stanford branch. But while the Parks and Recreation actress only got limited screen time till the third season, Helms was bumped to having a permanent place on the show.
Related: The Office – Andy’s 5 Biggest Freak-Outs
“I remember when he got offered, like a regular spot, I was like…I was pretty crushed. I mean, I knew it was going to happen, because there was kind of emotionally nowhere else to go with my character, but I was pretty crushed.”
Jones and The Hangover star had both spent quite a lot of “time together” when they first joined the show. Perhaps that’s why it hurt her more when her co-star was promoted while her character gradually got scrapped out of the script.
The Office can be streamed on Netflix.
Source: The Off Camera Show
