LOS ANGELES — Actress Jenna Fischer said Thursday that her real-life pregnancy will be incorporated into the plot of season eight of “The Office,” New York Magazine’s Vulture blog reported.
Fischer, who plays the role of Pam on the NBC comedy, announced in May she was expecting her first child with real-life husband, screenwriter Lee Kirk.
“Pam will be pregnant when the season starts,” the 37-year-old actress said about her character in the next season of the series that premieres in September.
Actor John Krasinski plays her on-screen husband Jim Halpert. The couple, who finally married in season six after an agonizing workplace romance, already are parents to a baby girl on the show.
“Pam and Jim snuck away last season on Valentine’s Day, and they had sex. The story is that they conceived this baby at that time and were keeping it a secret until we come back from the summer,” she told the entertainment blog.
“When we started shooting that [Valentine’s Day] episode, I thought to myself, ‘If everything goes well, this is going to be a very, very convenient coincidence,'” Fischer said, “And I think I found out I was pregnant when we were shooting that episode.”
Fischer also confirmed that a replacement has been secured for the vacancy left by actor Steve Carell — who played Michael Scott, branch manager of Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton, Pa. office — but the actress would not reveal the name of the new star.
Actor James Spader is joining the cast as CEO of Sabre — parent company of Dunder Mifflin — replacing actress Kathy Bates.