The Office: Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey reveal they almost died twice while filming chaotic scenes
Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey have opened up about how they “nearly died”, while filming scenes for the “Work Place” episode in the ninth season of The Office.
The two actors play Pam Beesley (Fischer) and Angela Martin (Kinsey) in the 2005 hit US adaptation of the British workplace mockumentary series.
In their new book, The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There, released today (17 May), the duo reveal insider accounts from dangerous scenes that almost took their lives.
During the episode, directed by Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) converts a bus into an office space after Jim (John Krasinski) convinces him the building is too dangerous to work in.
“It was a very hot day and whenever we started filming, the air-conditioning on the bus had to be turned off because it was too noisy,” Kinsey wrote in excerpts cited by Mashable.
“The stunt driver swerved hard,” she continued, which caused “the entire cast and contents of the bus” to go flying as “none of our office furniture, props, or set decorations were securely tied down”.
“We were all smushed up against the side of the bus. Ellie [Kemper]’s chair crashed into Jake [Lacy]’s. Jake’s crashed into mine, and I was shoved against the glass window,” Kinsey described.
“Papers were everywhere. I caught our desk lamp as it slid into my lap. A few people fell on the bus floor, and we could barely see them because so many things had fallen on top of them.”
Later on, a portable air conditioning unit was installed behind the bus, with the hose threaded through the bus’ sunroof.
Fischer explained: “The portable air-conditioning unit’s intake hose was right next to the exhaust pipe on the bus.
“So that hose was sucking in exhaust and blowing it straight into the sunroof of the bus. We were all being slowly poisoned. Or not so slowly, actually,” she concluded.
As a result of the dangerous and chaotic scenes, the two now refer to the episode as “Death Bus”.