Jenna Fischer's Laughing Matter

On NBC’s hit show, The Office, Jenna Fischer has made a name for herself as half of one of America’s most rooted-for romances. But starting this weekend, she’ll star opposite Owen Wilson as a much saucier spouse, who grants her husband a week free from fidelity, in the Farrelly brothers comedy, Hall Pass.

We caught up with Fischer on her day off to talk Dunder Mifflin’s impending reorg, flying bugs and why she’s not a cat lady.

On Steve Carell leaving The Office

We got a bunch of new writers this season and their energy has been so great. [Michael Scott’s departure] really shakes up the place. But, it’s forced us to get creative in ways that are really good and I think are good for the show.

On Hall Pass costar, Christina Applegate

Christina and I are homebodies. All the boys would go play paintball and we would be watching Dancing With The Stars and texting each other about how we thought it was going. But we still had so much fun on set — she is so funny.

Must-haves for her trailer on set

A heater, blanket, pillow and bottled water. I’m always cold, so I like to crank up the heat in my trailer to make it like a little hot box. I go in there and warm up between scenes and if I can, I like to sneak in a nap. And you can’t use the water in your trailer, so I need the bottle of water to brush my teeth.

On not being a “cat lady”
I was quoted once as saying, ‘In my three years of doing rescue work, I rescued, rehabilitated and found homes for a dozen cats.’ That got turned into, ‘Fischer rescued a dozen cats’ which got turned into, ‘Jenna lives with a dozen cats.’ And it haunts me still to this day. I have people who stop me and ask about my 12 cats. I don’t have 12 cats, I don’t! I just have one.

Fear of flying — bugs
When I see a large flying bug, I will react as if a man with a knife came into the room and is chasing me. But at the same time, I know it’s not going to hurt me. So when I scream, I scream out, ‘It’s OK. It’s going to be OK!’ It’s really weird and when I do it on set, everybody makes fun of it.

Dream role
I’ve always wanted to play Hedda Gabler. And when I’m older, I would love to play Mama Rose from Gypsie.

If she weren’t acting
I’d like to be a vet technician. Not a vet — because I don’t want to do surgeries — a vet technician. They are the ones that do a lot of the hands-on post-op care, which really interests me.