For eight years, Jenna Fischer played Pam Beesly on the beloved sitcom The Office. During that time, her character’s romance with co-worker Jim Halpert, played by John Krasinski, was at the heart of the hilarious show.
However, Fischer has had her own romances in the public eye. The Emmy-nominated actress was married to filmmaker James Gunn from 2000 to 2008. She then got remarried in 2010 to Lee Kirk. Fans of The Office may even recognize Fischer’s second husband from a special cameo appearance he made on the show.
Who Is Lee Kirk?
Much like Fischer, Lee Kirk has been in show business for nearly two decades. According to Broadway World, Kirk is originally from Dallas, Texas. He reportedly graduated from the Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. He’s also reportedly a founding member of Saint Ed, a theater collective.
According to IMDb, Kirk got his start writing and appearing in multiple video shorts before writing his first feature-length film, Pants on Fire, in 2008. Since then, he wrote and directed the films The Giant Mechanical Man (2012) and Ordinary World (2016).
Kirk also wrote the plays Sad Happy Sucker and Champion, which have made the rounds at multiple theaters over the years.
Kirk Rejected Fischer’s Film Idea When They Reconnected In 2008
Fischer and Kirk first officially met at a film festival years before they fell in love. According to Fischer’s interview with Vulture, they picked names out of a hat pairing actors and actresses with screenwriters. She was picked to do Kirk’s movie.
However, at the time, they were both in relationships with other people. According to that same interview, Fischer also appeared in a music video he wrote, although it’s unclear which one she was referring to. Yet, since they were acquaintances, Kirk came to mind in 2008 when Fischer started meeting with writers so she could produce a film.
According to a separate interview with Red Book Magazine, Fischer pitched Kirk an idea that he “very politically” turned down. However, it doesn’t seem like there were any hard feelings.
In turn, Kirk pitched Fischer the idea for a film about a silver-painted street performer. Fischer loved the idea, and they began working on the movie The Giant Mechanical Man.
At the time, Fischer was still in the midst of her divorce from James Gunn, and Kirk had just gotten out of a seven-year-long relationship. According to Fischer’s Vulture interview, they kept things platonic for months prior to beginning a romance. Fischer noted wanting to keep things professional for fear of jeopardizing the project.
However, love always finds a way. Slowly, their meetings to discuss the film slowly started turning into dates, and the rest was history. The Giant Mechanical Man premiered in 2012.
Their First Public Appearance As A Couple Was At The 2008 Emmy Awards
As reported by People, Fischer and Kirk first stepped out as a couple in September 2008 at the Emmy Awards. In June 2009, less than one year after going public, the couple reportedly got engaged while vacationing in Europe. In a delightful parallel, fans of The Office were also celebrating Pam Beesly and Jim Halpert’s engagement on the show at the time.
Fischer and Kirk got married on July 3, 2010. Fischer later revealed on an episode of her podcast Office Ladies that Survivor host Jeff Probst actually officiated their wedding. According to Fischer, she, Kirk, and Probst became great friends after meeting at an Emmys party.
“We ended up really hitting it off, especially Jeff and my then-fiancé, Lee, really hit it off because they had tennis in common. They play tennis together,” Fischer casually revealed on her show.
The couple’s first child, a boy named Weston Lee, was born in September 2011. The couple also welcomed a daughter named Harper Marie in May 2014.
Kirk Had A Perfectly Awkward (And Intimate) Cameo In ‘The Office’
If you’re a fan of The Office and you recognize Kirk from somewhere you just can’t put your finger on, we can clear up the mystery. You most likely recognize Kirk as Pam Beesly’s lactation consultant from the Season 6 episode “The Delivery.” After Fischer’s character gave birth, the show put together the perfect cameo for Kirk.
In the episode, Kirk plays a lactation consultant who helps Pam and Jim after their baby has trouble latching on to breastfeed. In the awkwardly intimate cameo, Kirk’s character makes Jim uncomfortable by getting handsy with Pam’s breasts.
According to Office Ladies, which Fischer co-hosts with her real-life best friend Angela Kinsey, the hilarious moment was actually inspired by Kinsey’s own troubles breastfeeding.
Kirk actually appeared on his wife’s podcast and revealed that the moment was a bit awkward for him as well. Since he and Fischer hadn’t had kids yet, the idea of a lactation expert’s profession was still a bit foreign to him as well.
Nevertheless, it delighted fans. It’s certainly special that Fischer and Kirk have the episode to look back on. In a way, it acts as this hilariously awkward time capsule for the early days of their relationship. It’s clear that, since that cameo, Fischer and Kirk’s relationship has only gotten stronger.