Rashida Jones Reveals How She Felt Joining the Cast of The Office; Reveals What Was the First Scene She Filmed

Rashida Jones felt like she had won a radio contest joining The Office after loving the first two seasons. Being on set was a dream come true for the actress, as she was a big fan of the show.

Published on Jul 12, 2024  |  05:43 PM IST |  36.2K
 Rashida Jones Reveals Her Feelings About Joining 'The Office' and Filming Her First Scene
Rashida Jones (PC: Instagram/rashidajones)

Rashida Jones couldn't quite believe her luck on her first day on the set of The Office. The 48-year-old actress joined the cast in the third season as Jim Halpert's love interest, Karen Filippelli. For Jones, stepping onto the set felt surreal because she had been a dedicated viewer of the show before becoming part of it.

In an interview on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Show with Julia Cunningham, Jones shared that her first scene was shot with the entire cast, including Steve Carell, who was in character as Michael Scott doing one of his famously unpredictable acts. She described feeling like she was on a winning streak, transitioning from being a fan of the show for multiple seasons to suddenly finding herself in the midst of the show's core cast. 

Rashida Jones praises Steve Carell's exceptional talent and energy on The Office

An aspect that Jones specifically complimented was Carell’s humour and portrayal of Michael Scott, who is an inept branch manager of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. 

She also emphasized that she had never encountered a talent quite like Steve Carell's. According to Jones, what viewers saw on The Office was just a glimpse of what Carell brought to the set. She described each take as being filled with Carell's daring, quirky, exciting, fascinating, and hilarious actions, which she found to be mind-blowing. 

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Jones, who starred alongside Carell, noted that she had never seen anyone perform with as much energy and commitment as Carell did on the warm-hearted show.

Phyllis Smith recalls a hilarious scene with Steve Carell and the word 'Pungent'

In an Office Ladies podcast interview, Phyllis Smith shared a hilarious anecdote from filming The Office involving Steve Carell. She recalled a scene in the third season where Carell's character, Michael Scott, enters the bride's room to give her advice about dealing with Jan. During this scene, there was a part where they couldn’t say the word "pungent" without bursting into laughter.

Every time Carell said "pungent," he and others on set, including the sound crew outside the door, would crack up. The laughter became so disruptive that they had to move the crew downstairs because hearing the word "pungent" would inevitably lead to giggles. This added an extra layer of amusement to the filming process and highlighted Carell's ability to inject humor into every situation, even unintentionally.

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Rashida Jones delves into new series Sunny after The Office and Parks

Jones later appeared in NBC’s television series The Office, playing Karen Filippelli for one season, but her pivotal role came in the television sitcom Parks and Recreation, where she portrayed the character Ann Perkins. She starred alongside Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Chris Pratt, Aubrey Plaza, and Adam Scott, leading the show for seven seasons.

Currently, Jones can be seen in Sunny, a new series on Apple TV+ that premiered on July 10. This dark comedy revolves around an English-speaking American woman named Suzie (played by Alison Jones) and a domestic robot named Sunny (played by Joanna Sotomura), created by Suzie’s deceased husband’s company. Together, they uncover the dark truth about Suzie’s family and find themselves deeply entangled in a previously unknown world. 

Fans can watch The Office in its entirety on Peacock, while new episodes of Sunny are released every Wednesday on Apple TV+. 

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ALSO READ: ‘It's Been So Hard’: Agatha All Along Star Joe Locke On Keeping Secrets For Marvel; Says ‘I Wanna Talk About It’

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