‘The Office’ Cameramen ‘Fell Down on the Floor Laughing’ During this Jim and Dwight Scene
Over the years, The Office has been heralded as one of the best comedic shows of all time. The hit NBC show has a large and enduring fan base who are constantly rewatching the series’ many laugh-out-loud moments. But viewers weren’t the only ones who appreciated the show’s comedic elements. The cast and crew were also occasionally overcome with giggles thanks to the show’s antics. In fact, one scene between Jim and Dwight left multiple cameramen on the floor laughing.
Fans of The Office are likely well-versed with the unique relationship between Jim and Dwight. Viewers enjoy watching the frenemies try to get the best of one another and play pranks on each other. After all, who could forget Jim forcing Dwight to read him and Pam Harry Potter as a bedtime story or Dwight mercilessly pelting Jim with snowballs?
John Krasinski sustained a few small injuries while filming ‘The Office’
While the pranks were extremely fun for fans of The Office to witness, they weren’t always the easiest for the cast to film. In fact, John Krasinski (who played Jim) has openly shared that whenever he and Rainn Wilson (who portrayed Dwight) would have to play fight for the sake of their characters, he would somehow always end up hurt. However, there was one opportunity where Krasinski was able to give Wilson a tasted of his own medicine.
The Office viewers may recall that in the “Traveling Salesmen” episode of Season 3, Jim slaps Dwight. When Dwight refuses to go through the door to their office building because “seven out of 10 attacks are from the rear,” Jim shares that there’s a 30% chance that he can attack Dwight from the front. Dwight quickly states that he can always block the blow and launch a counterattack. But, much to Dwight’s shock, Jim managed to sneak a hard slap midsentence before proceeding through the dor.
Rainn Wilson was shocked by how hard his castmate hit him
According to Krasinski, Dwight’s stunned reaction was completely genuine. Even though Wilson had given Krasinski permission to hit him as hard as he needed to to be believable, he was completley shocked by the force The Quiet Place director used. In a 2016 interview with NPR, The Office star revealed that the slap was the hardest he’d ever hit another human before. “If you go back and watch that scene, you will see Rainn genuinely stunned by how hard I hit him,” Krasinski confessed.
Of course, Wilson’s shock only made the scene that much funnier. In fact, the cameramen were driven to hysterics while filming the scene. “I’ll never forget … the cameramen barely remain standing they were laughing so hard, but the assistant cameramen who stand right next to the camera guys making sure they don’t bump into anything, fell down on the floor laughing,” Krasinski shared. Clearly, The Office was just as fun to film as is to watch. We imagine it was nice for Krasinski to finally get his payback also.
