John Krasinski reveals the one scene he refused to shoot in The Office

‘That’s the only time I remember putting my foot down,’ recalled the actor

Annabel Nugent
Friday 19 November 2021 10:02 GMT
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Jim proposes to Pam in the rain on The Office

John Krasinski has opened up about the one scene he refused to film for The Office.

Krasinski played Jim Halpert throughout the hit show’s nine seasons, which ran from 2005 to 2013.

To the delight of fans, the actor’s character was married to Pam (played by Jenna Fischer) in season six.

In a newly released oral history of the series, Welcome to Dunder Mifflin: The Ultimate Oral History of The Office, Krasinski discussed the only scene that he refused to shoot across his time on the show.

Fans of the hit comedy will remember that in season eight Pam goes on maternity leave and is replaced by temporary office administrator Cathy (Lindsey Broad)

Cathy develops feelings for Jim and unsuccessfully attempts to seduce him in episode sixteen, “After Hours”.

Showrunner Greg Daniels, however, had initially planned to have Jim and Cathy kiss.

“That’s the only time I remember putting my foot down,” said Krasinski. “I remember saying things that I never thought I’d say before, like, ‘I’m not going to shoot it.’”

The Office was adapted from the seminal UK cringe comedy of the same name

The 42-year-old added: “My feeling is there is a threshold within which you can push our audience. They are so dedicated. We have shown such great respect to them.

“But there’s a moment where if you push them too far, they’ll never come back. And I think that if you show Jim cheating, they’ll never come back.”

As per Uproxx’s reporting on the newly released oral history book: “The kiss between Jim and Cathy would have happened while they were on a work trip in Florida, but creator Greg Daniels was convinced by Krasinski’s appeal and cut it.”

The US Office

Daniels, however, still defends the idea, stating that he believes the fans were too “comfortable” with The Office.

“I feel like [Krasinski’s] kind of worry was good in terms of the fans’ engagement,” said Daniels. “I think they knew what was coming. They were very comfortable with the show they were getting, and I needed to worry them that maybe I was going to give them a bad ending so they were happy when they got a good ending.”

Last year, Broad (who played Cathy) revealed that she is still harassed on social media by fans of the series who take issue with her character threatening Jim and Pam’s relationship.

In a post shared to Instagram, Broad wrote: “If anyone is wondering what it was like to be on The Office, the best comedy of this century: I just posted something on Instagram about how my dog was murdered and a bunch of people were like, ‘F*** you, Cathy, she deserved it!’ So. There ya go!”

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