jenna fischer, on acting.

:) love this.

Bill from Bothell, Wash.: "How long does it take you to memorize your lines for any given episode?"
I know the character of Pam so well and she is so well written that the memorization comes very naturally. It isn't so much a matter of memorizing the words, it's more about discovering the truth and emotion of the moments.

Every night before bed, I read the entire script for that week. (It takes us one week to shoot an episode.) I read the script to remind myself of the overall story and of Pam's journey in particular. Then I focus on the scenes we are shooting the next day. I read them several times over again — sometimes I read aloud. If there is an important scene, either emotionally or comedically, I will ask my husband to read it with me and give me pointers. I make notes in the script. At work, I keep the script at my desk and I glace at the scenes once or twice before we start rolling.

I spend more time rehearsing the interview segments because those are harder. Angela and I often run our interview segments for one another. We check to be sure we have the lines correct.