The Office: Every Actor Whose Significant Other Made An Appearance On The Show
NBC's cult comedy "The Office" starts out as a workplace mockumentary. The show initially traces the minor trials and quibbles of the employees of the obscure Scranton, PA branch of the paper supplier Dunder Mifflin. As it gains steam, the in-story drama began to branch out beyond the mundane daily humdrum of the average American office.
Some of this growing narrative focuses on the larger story arc of the company itself. Dunder Mifflin evolves as it becomes an unnecessary middle-man enterprise in a tech-powered world obsessed with efficiency. While this evolution is fun to observe, though, it's the personal drama of the branch's employees that really captivates the hearts and minds of viewers over the show's 201-episode run.
Angela (Angela Kinsey) and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) are on and off from early on. Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) build a love story for the ages. Michael Scott (Steve Carell) stumbles through one relationship after another. Ryan (B.J. Novak) and Kelly (Mindy Kaling) can never quite figure out whether they're an item or not.
Throughout the relational chaos, it's easy to miss the fact that, from time to time, some of the actors on the show bring their own real-life partners right into the raucous rom-com action. In fact, over the course of the show, there are no less than three separate occasions (and nearly a fourth one) when the main cast's significant others find their way in front of a camera.
Steve Carell's wife wouldn't marry him on screen
Steve Carell's portrayal of the pointy-haired boss (yes, that's a "Dilbert" reference) equivalent of Michael Scott isn't just a mint performance. It's the definitive personality of the show. For seven straight seasons, everyone's character arcs ping off of his singular central dynamic as the office's bungling, incompetent, and ultimately lovable branch manager.
Throughout that time, Carell and the show's writers shape the character from the utter depths of obnoxiously offensive insecurity into a sensitive, semi-mature child-of-a-man who is worth his weight in gold. Early in that character development process, Scott kicks off his on-screen search for love by hooking up with his realtor, Carol Stills. Carol is a sober, down-to-earth personality that balances Scott's loose-cannon counterweight. She's also played by Nancy Carell, Steve's wife.
Nancy was an industry veteran by the time she joined her husband on the show. However, she had also been out of the game for a while as she focused on having kids and raising her and Steve's family. In an episode of the "Office Ladies" podcast, Angela actor Angela Kinsey paraphrased Nancy's thoughts on acting opposite her husband, saying she was "so intimidated because he's so good. I mean, he was really nice to me, of course. But I've sort of you know, I had retired and having our kids. That's what I was doing. I was being a mom. So I felt a little rusty. But it was so much fun."
Nancy may have been a little nervous, but it didn't show. She delivers a perfect performance opposite her husband's cringy character, replete with turning down his proposal in front of a room of Indian spectators and breaking up with him for photoshopping his face over her ex-husband's visage on a family photo.
Jenna Fischer's husband helped with her on-screen birth
Jenna Fischer's off-screen romantic life is often summarized in the public eye as her brief early marriage to director James Gunn of both Marvel and DC fame. However, after their reportedly amicable breakup, Fischer went on to marry screenwriter Lee Kirk, a behind-the-scenes man who ultimately found his way into the limelight, not through his own career, but via his spouse's.
Kirk makes a brief cameo in the two-part Season 6 episode "The Delivery," where he plays the ironic role of the male lactation consultant that helps Pam breastfeed her newborn baby, Cece. Kirk's character was written to make Pam's on-screen husband, Jim (John Krasinski), uncomfortable due to his hands-on approach to lactation coaching. Fischer wasn't originally comfortable with the idea of someone touching her breasts on television, and her husband was floated as an idea to make the scene easier.
In an interview with Mashable, Fischer explained that Paul Lieberstein (who plays Toby and was also a writer for the show) told her, "We have this really funny idea, but it involves a man kind of like squishing your breasts around. How do you feel about that?" Fischer responded that it would be a little awkward, and Lieberstein shot back, "Well, what if that person was your fiancée, Lee? What if Lee did it?"
Kirk, who had gone through formal actor training in college, auditioned for the role, an experience he described by saying, "if there was ever a layup in the audition world, I mean, this was like a six-foot hoop. It was like, 'Just please drop the ball in the basket and make everyone's life easier.'" He landed the role, acted the scene, and the rest was history.
Paul Lieberstien paraded his future wife through the Scranton office
If there's one character from "The Office" who is the epitome of a romantic enigma, it's Toby Flenderson. The man who dropped out of seminary to have sex with a woman spends his time during the show making passive-aggressive romantic moves, primarily toward his secret crush, Pam.
However, there are a couple of points along the way where Toby branches out and tries his luck with other partners — one of whom he brings to the office in the Season 4 two-part episode "Dunder Mifflin Infinity." After failing to spite Jim and Pam (who have just announced that they're dating) via a PDA reminder, Toby arrives at work with his "girlfriend" Amy (Janine Poreba) in tow. He kisses her passionately in front of everyone ...and then proceeds to marry her after the camera cuts. No, seriously, Pariba and Lieberstein were dating in real life and ended up tying the knot shortly after the episode aired.
As icing on the cake for Lieberstein, he was also indirectly connected to a romance that nearly made the "significant other appearance list." Lieberstein's brother, Warren, makes a cameo in the Season 7 episode "Goodbye, Michael," where he portrays Toby's brother Rory.
Why does this matter? Because Warren was married to Angela actress Angela Kinsey until the two split up in June of 2010, and Warren's guest appearance aired in April of 2011. It was a close call, but technically, by the time Warren shows up on screen, he isn't a significant other anymore. Instead, he is merely a show writer and sibling of Paul, who has his brief moment in the limelight before heading back to work on scripts.