Too bad she didn't die. I stopped watching the show because of the Pam/Jim shit.
End yourself.
Jenna Fischer, who plays lovable receptionist Pam on NBC's The Office, is in pain. A lot of pain. But she wants her fans to know that she is on the mend after breaking four bones in her back in a nasty fall May 14 at an NBC party.
"I had a rough night last night," Fischer says from the Central Park-area hotel where she has been recuperating. "I'm mostly off the meds, but I did take some last night because sleeping is probably the most uncomfortable thing right now. I just can't get comfortable."
Two weeks ago, Fischer, 33, came to New York to speak with advertisers about NBC's fall lineup. She was looking forward to letting loose with her co-stars. "It's one of my favorite parts of the year. My (summer) vacation starts then. I was ready for a lovely break — no pun intended."
At around 11 p.m., one of The Office's writers encouraged her to hit the dance floor at the trendy Buddakan club. "I was going to do one dance and then get out of there," Fischer says. "The dance floor was down a long set of marble stairs. I linked arms with my friend and just missed a step. All I know is I was suddenly not on the ground anymore. My legs flipped out from underneath me, and while I was in the air, I had the thought, 'This isn't going to end well.' "
It didn't. Fischer landed hard on the stairs. The pain, she says, "was consuming and immediate. I've never felt anything like it. I was horribly nauseous and dizzy."
After being taken to a private area in the club, she lifted the back of her shirt. "It was bleeding and very swollen, so I said, 'I want an ambulance and I want to go to the hospital.' "
At her side almost immediately was co-star Angela Kinsey, who plays Angela on the show. "She was with me for over 24 hours taking care of me," Fischer says.
X-rays at St. Vincent's Hospital revealed that she had fractured four transverse vertebrae in her back and tore a ligament in her elbow. "The doctor said, 'The good news is, you have no spinal cord damage,' " Fischer recalls.
Fischer was released from the hospital the next day, and her husband, writer/director James Gunn, flew in from Los Angeles to take care of her. "I couldn't get in and out of bed myself," she says. "I couldn't walk very well. I needed constant supervision."
In another week, she should be able to travel home to Los Angeles.
She has received well-wishes from all her Office co-stars. Steve Carell (Michael) sent flowers with a funny note. John Krasinski (Jim) wrote a "lovely e-mail." Rainn Wilson (Dwight) placed a call to her room. But it was an NBC doc who really impressed her. "Zach Braff (Scrubs) was at the party when I fell. And bless his heart, the next day he sent a big tray of cupcakes to my hotel. In those first few days, all my husband and I did for pleasure was watch a Larry Sanders DVD and eat those cupcakes."
To regain her mobility, Fischer has been taking daily half-hour walks in Central Park. "My mobility," she says, "is limited only by my pain. I'm almost at the point where I can bend over. I really have a desire to wash my feet."
The most recent news: "My back doctor said it will be about 12 weeks until I'm fully recovered."
By that time she will be shooting The Office, which concluded the season with her character being asked out on a date (finally!) by Jim. "I'm assuming the writers aren't going to break my heart," Fischer says.
Fischer is grateful that her accident happened just three days after wrapping the film Walk Hard, a raunchy comedy in which she stars with John C. Reilly as warped versions of Johnny and June Carter Cash.
"We meet through our singin', then fall in love but have a very tumultuous road," Fischer says in a Southern twang.
She won't be singing any songs, though.
"I have to wear a lot of skimpy outfits for this movie, so I had to get in great shape. I trained very hard, so I had to give the singing up."
There is one possible silver lining to her unfortunate misstep. Six weeks ago, she started playing the guitar and since her fall has been writing a country song about her pain.
Says Fischer with a giggle: "Now I just have to get someone else to sing it."
I don't know, will "lots of skimpy outfits" be worth sitting through country tunes?
Oh who the hell am I kidding.
