{"id":258561,"date":"2026-08-20T09:29:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T09:29:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/20\/the-offices-jenna-fischer-explains-decision-to-step-back-from-intense-leading-roles-on-tv\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T09:29:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T09:29:42","slug":"the-offices-jenna-fischer-explains-decision-to-step-back-from-intense-leading-roles-on-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/20\/the-offices-jenna-fischer-explains-decision-to-step-back-from-intense-leading-roles-on-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"The Office\u2019s Jenna Fischer Explains Decision to Step Back From \u2018Intense\u2019 Leading Roles on TV"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The Office<\/em><\/a>\u2019s Jenna Fischer<\/strong><\/a> is explaining her decision to take a step back from television.<\/p>\n

After the hit NBC sitcom wrapped in 2013, Fischer, 52, starred in ABC\u2019s short-lived Splitting Up Together<\/em><\/a> from 2018 to 2019 but realized that the demands of a starring television role were no longer compatible with her life.<\/p>\n

The actress revealed during an interview on Jesse Tyler Ferguson<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s \u201cDinner\u2019s On Me\u201d podcast<\/a> on Tuesday, August 18, that while she \u201creally loved that cast so much \u2026 the hours were so intense, it was like 65, 70 hours a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really, really hard, and my kids were very small,\u201d said Fischer, who shares son Weston Lee, 14, and daughter Harper Marie, 12, with husband Lee Kirk<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>‘The Office’ Cast: Where Are They Now?<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tIt\u2019s been nearly 20 years since viewers first followed the employees at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company on The Office. The sitcom, which premiered in March 2005, starred Steve Carell (Michael Scott), Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute), John Krasinski (Jim Halpert), Jenna Fischer (Pam Beesley), Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin), Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapoor), B.J. Novak (Ryan [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI just decided after that that being the lead of the television show or even a regular on a television show was not going to be a fit for me anymore,\u201d she continued. \u201cSo when that show was canceled, that\u2019s when I pivoted into podcasting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fischer, who hosts the Office<\/em> rewatch podcast \u201cOffice Ladies\u201d with former costar Angela Kinsey<\/strong><\/a>, said that moving into the podcasting space \u201cafforded me a lifestyle with both a steady income and also I was now at every school drop-off, every school pickup, every teacher conference, every concert.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have to beg someone to go to the Halloween parade,\u201d she shared. \u201cIt was like I was the agent of my own time, the architect of my own time, so to speak, and that was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

The consequence of her new role as podcaster extraordinaire was that her children weren\u2019t too familiar with her iconic role as Pam Beesly in The Office<\/em>, which aired from 2005 to 2013.<\/p>\n

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\n John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer in \u2018The Office.\u2019<\/span> Chris Haston\/NBC \/Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMy kids, because they were so little when that change happened, they thought of me as a podcaster,\u201d Fischer explained. \u201cLike, if anybody asked them, \u2018What does your mom do?\u2019 they [said], \u2018Oh, she\u2019s a podcaster. She has a podcast.\u2019 They didn\u2019t understand what my podcast was about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fischer also opened up about the \u201cemotional\u201d decision to end The Office<\/em> after season 9, noting that former lead Steve Carell<\/strong> had already left after season 7 aired in 2011.<\/p>\n

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