“The water ride doesn’t get you that wet, but for the sake of the commercial they had guys with hoses spraying us with water, and then at the end they brought out a water canon that shoots giant icy cold water balls at us,” Fischer recalls, adding that she was on the ride for 12 hours on that nonunion shoot.Īnother early job Fischer talks about as part of her “origin story” was being a transcriber at the biannual Television Critics Assn.

Her inspiring, helpful guidance feels like a trusted friend who's made the journey, and has now returned to walk beside you, pointing out the pitfalls as you blaze your own path towards the life of a professional actor.She realized she had so much more she wanted to share, including lessons from her earliest days working as an extra in an ad for the “Jurassic Park” water ride at the Universal Studios theme park, which she booked only being in Los Angeles for 48 hours. She provides helpful hints on how to be gutsy and take risks, the tricks to good auditioning and callbacks, and how not to fall for certain scams (auditions in a guy's apartment are probably not legit-or at least not for the kind of part you're looking for!). She tells you how to get the right headshot, what to look for in representation, and the importance of joining forces with other like-minded artists and creating your own work-invaluable advice personally acquired from her many years of struggle. With amusing candor and wit, Fischer spells out the nuts and bolts of getting established in the profession, based on her own memorable and hilarious experiences. Or, better yet, someone to show her the way-an established actor who could educate her about the business, manage her expectations, and reassure her in those moments of despair. If only she'd had a handbook for the aspiring actor. It would be eight long years before she landed her iconic role on The Office, nearly a decade of frustration, struggle, rejection and doubt. The path to being a professional actor was so much more vast and competitive than she'd imagined. With a theater degree in hand, she was determined, she was confident, she was ready to work hard. Jenna Fischer's Hollywood journey began at the age of 22 when she moved to Los Angeles from her hometown of St.

The Actor's Life by Jenna Fischer