OFFICE STAR
Best known for her role as Pam Beesly on TV’s The Office,
Jenna Fischer, 43, stars next on the big screen as Melanie, wife of Ben Stiller’s character in
Brad’s Status, opening Sept. 15. It’s about Brad’s trip to Boston with his son, who’s applying to colleges, which triggers a crisis about his life choices. Here are five facts about the Indiana-born, Emmy-nominated actress.
She is godmother to her Office co-star Angela Kinsey’s daughter, Isabel.
One of Fischer’s strangest jobs was working as a telephone psychic.
When she first moved to Los Angeles, she auditioned to be a contestant on The Price Is Right.
She once lived in a home that previously belonged to baseball legend Casey Stengel.
An animal advocate, she works on behalf of Kitten Rescue and Rescue Rover.
Does Gwendoline Christie have a hard time getting roles because of her height? —Stephanie N., Tulsa, Okla.
A: Hardly. The Game of Thrones star, who plays warrior Brienne of Tarth, stands 6 foot 3. She uses her height to her advantage to land eccentric and unconventional roles—like detective Miranda Hilmarson in Sundance TV’s Top of the Lake: China Girl, premiering Sept. 10, in which Christie, 38, towers over co-star Elisabeth Moss (far left) by a foot.
Do actors research their own roles? —Janice L., Summerlin, Nev.
A: Most actors do much of the digging themselves. For his portrayal of J.D. Salinger in the movie Rebel in the Rye, opening Sept. 15, Nicholas Hoult, 27, discovered the famously reclusive author was a really good dancer. So the Mad Max: Fury Road star and co-star Zoey Deutch, 22, took dance classes for the biopic of the legendary author, which follows Salinger’s experiences in World War II and his writing process for The Catcher in the Rye.
Has Jennifer Lawrence ever made a horror movie?
—Sam S., Brunswick, Maine A: Yes, Lawrence, 27, starred in the horror thriller flick House at the End of the Street the same year she appeared in the first Hunger Games—and three months before her Oscar-winning turn in Silver Linings Playbook. In the new horror thriller Mother!, in theaters Sept. 15, she’s part of an all-star ensemble cast, including Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Kristen Wiig and Michelle Pfeiffer.