Various stories of stars that made it big after waiting for so long make a person wonder just how many hopefuls are out there when it comes to acting and how many don’t make it versus those that do. Jenna Fischer is just one of many actors on The Office that did so well that people are now remembering her and everything that happened in any given episode, especially since Pam took on such a prominent role in the show and became one of the favorite characters. But there was a time when she was questioning herself and her career choice in a way that could have proved disastrous had she made the decision to go one way instead of the other. It’s easy to sit and think that a lot of actors have had to go through those moments of self-doubt and have come to question what they were doing and why they were still following what some would say is a pointless dream. The thing is, a lot of us follow those dreams all the time, sometimes to our detriment and sometimes to success that we never thought would come.
It’s amusing, in a good way, to learn that Jenna actually was a receptionist at one time while waiting for her acting career to go off, but at the time it was likely less than amusing since she entertained very serious thought of quitting at one point. So many people make their way to Los Angeles to find their way into the entertainment industry that some would describe it as an unending sea of people that all have high hopes and unbelievable dreams of success that stem from their faith in their own abilities. But the sad part is that Hollywood tends to dash a lot of those dreams on the rocks since only a fraction of people ever make it past a single audition if they’re even given that much.
Jenna was, at one time, one of those that had come to the city to act and wound up going through the majority of her savings while finding that LA is not a cheap place to live. At one point she was ready to quit, but upon getting the word that she’d been cast in a low-budget sex education video that paid only $100, she jumped on it. Hey, when you’re living in a place where the money flows from your pocket to the necessities that quickly, turning down a paying gig isn’t a smart thing to do, as she likely knew already. But upon completing the job things started to happen as she started getting noticed, and eventually, she did manage to land the job of Pam on The Office, which was likely a simple task simply because she had plenty of experience being a receptionist at that point. Sometimes real-life skills do come in handy for actors since it adds a bit more realism to the role and gives it a little more authenticity that some shows and movies don’t always have. But for Jenna, it was likely a little ironic that being a receptionist kept her in the right place until the right time came along.
That is kind of funny to think that she went from working behind a desk to once again working behind a desk since one has to realize that a lot of actors don’t tend to take on the same kind of jobs they might have had before becoming big stars, either out of choice or simply because the role they’re in doesn’t call for such a thing. It would be interesting to find out just how many actors have actually done the jobs that they’ve been seen doing in a movie or a TV show. But Jenna’s popularity as Pam definitely transcended her position as a receptionist given that she lasted from start to finish and was one of the more likable characters on the show since despite not being entirely innocent she was one of the more moral individuals at Dunder Mifflin and was easy for a lot of people to relate to given the fact that an office setting tends to have a lot of different types of people.
Moving to a new city with a firm goal in mind is tough without question since unless one has the right contacts to get in touch with the right people that can help them achieve their dream, it’s extremely disconcerting to realize that their dream is bound to get further and further away with each day that passes. Acting is especially rough since much like other aspects of the entertainment industry there are thousands of people out there that believe they can do the job and only hundreds that are bound to have an actual shot at being a star. But hey, some folks stick with it and others get lucky.Dunder MifflinPam on The Office
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