SALON

Monday, Apr 30, 2012 4:15 PM UTC

Fischer blends family and business with new movie

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Fischer blends family and business with new movieIn this April 24, 2012 photo, actress Jenna Fischer poses for a portrait in New York. In her latest project, a romantic comedy called “The Giant Mechanical Man,” Fischer's character Janice is a down on her luck, single woman who can't seem to get her life together. She ends up falling for a street performer played by Chris Messina. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)(Credit: AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Jenna Fischer’s girl-next-door accessibility has charmed viewers of “The Office” for eight seasons. And she takes that approachability into real life, posting honest descriptions on social media of what it’s like to do a photo shoot or break into acting.

Perhaps that’s why in her latest project, a romantic comedy called “The Giant Mechanical Man,” you want to see her win. Fischer’s character Janice is a down-on-her-luck single woman who can’t seem to get her life together and falls for a street performer played by Chris Messina.

The film premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. It also stars Topher Grace and Malin Akerman and is written and directed by Fischer’s real life husband, Lee Kirk.

“In the time it took for him to write the script, develop the movie and get financing we did end up falling in love and getting married and we just had a baby,” she says. “So, I guess the on screen love story was paralleled by our real life love story.”

AP: What was it like being directed by your husband?

Fischer: It was a little unusual for the love scenes, for example. Chris (Messina) and my husband became such good friends in the making of the movie that I could tell Chris was very shy about kissing me so he kept holding back. The most awkward thing was to go to my husband the director and say, “I think you need to tell this man to kiss me more because he’s holding back. You need to go give him permission.” The kissing scene was the one scene we ended up reshooting. Then Chris really did kiss me and I said, “I knew it!” because you could tell.

AP: You were a producer on the film, too. What was that like?

Fischer: I love producing because I love making Excel spreadsheets and schedules and proofreading. I’ve always said if I wasn’t an actor I would aspire to be the executive secretary of the President of the United States. I love anticipating people’s needs and filling them. I absolutely loved it.

AP: Would you ever direct?

Fischer: I will never do it. And I don’t write. They’re too hard. I can’t do it. My brain doesn’t see things that way. I can’t visualize how a scene is supposed to look but I can feel it emotionally from the inside.

AP: You have a real dialogue going with your fans on MySpace and on Twitter. Why?

Fischer: Growing up in St. Louis (Mo.), Hollywood or New York City felt very far away. I so wished that I had some portal into that world. When I’m tweeting or writing blogs I’m hoping that I can give a glimpse of what it’s like to some other girl or boy who wants to be an actor. I imagine how excited my 14-year-old self would be if I could get advice about that world from someone.

—

Online:

http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/giant_mechanical_man-film39407.html

http://www.nbc.com/the-office/

___

Alicia Rancilio covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her online at http://www.twitter.com/aliciar

More Alicia Rancilio.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments are not enabled for this story.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations