‘The Office’: Kate Flannery (Meredith) Revealed That She Actually Loved Getting Hit By a Car

The Office was loaded with unforgettable scenes. But perhaps one of the most iconic moments was when Michael Scott accidentally hit Meredith with his car in the parking lot. One thing led to another, and soon enough the entire Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch was doing a run for rabies awareness.

Aside from the hilarious nature of the scenes, Kate Flannery (Meredith) once joked that getting hit by a car was one of the “best things to ever happen” to her.

Michael Scott hitting Meredith with his car is one of the most iconic ‘The Office’ scenes

Though it feels like every scene from The Office is a memorable one, there are some that stick out more than others. And in season 4 episode 1, Michael Scott does something that spirals into one of the show’s most well-known subplots.

While driving through the parking lot, Michael is distracted and accidentally hits Meredith with his car. Meredith is admitted to the hospital, where she learns that not only does she have a broken pelvis, but she also has rabies.

Upon learning that Meredith has rabies, Michael organizes a “fun run” for rabies, during which the entire Dunder Mifflin branch participates in a 5k race.

Kate Flannery revealed she was ‘accident prone’ while filming — and loved getting hit by a car

It’s hard to describe Kate Flannery’s character, Meredith, in only a few words. But when Flannery talked about her own character, she did reveal that she was quite “accident prone” while filming season 4, which made her nervous about having to get hit by a car in the show.

“Last season [season 4], I got very, um, accident prone,” Flannery said in an interview during an “Inside The Office” panel back in 2009. “When I heard I was getting hit by a car, I was actually nervous … I actually asked if I was gonna make it, because I didn’t know.”

Flannery followed that with, “I don’t know, I think getting hit by a car was kind of the best thing that ever happened to me.” Though Flannery didn’t exactly say why, it’s possible that it’s because it put her character in a different light. Rather than being Meredith, who was always topless, she was now Meredith, the woman people were rooting for to make a full recovery.

Flannery also thinks the show helped her become an ‘expert’ in being ‘topless’ 

Flannery’s character wasn’t exactly shy about her own body or sexuality. In the same interview during the panel discussion, Flannery joked that she had become somewhat of an “expert” at being topless on the show.

“I found out that I was gonna flash Michael and be topless basically like, two days before it happened … that was kind of a shock to the system,” she said. “I’ve been now topless three times … Suddenly I’m an expert on how to be topless.” At that admission, Krasinski looked at the camera as though he was on an episode of the show, and the audience let out a laugh. Though Meredith wasn’t necessarily a “star” character, she was certainly unforgettable.