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Jenna Fischer Replaced on Show Because of Bad Chemistry With Matt LeBlanc

Jenna Fischer Replaced on Show Because of Bad Chemistry With Matt LeBlanc 2009
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Jim and Pam, they are not. Jenna Fischer will be replaced as the female lead on upcoming CBS series Man With a Plan this fall, according to The Wrap. The reason? She and leading man Matt LeBlanc just don’t have the right onscreen chemistry.

According to the site, Fischer, 42, shot the pilot, which screened at the upfront event for the series on Wednesday, May 18, with Friends alum LeBlanc, 48. But when the series premieres in October, a new actress will fill her role.

“Look, recasting on pilots happens all the time,” network entertainment president Glenn Geller said in a statement. “She is a phenomenal actress. It just wasn’t the right actress for the right role, ultimately, when we saw the pilot.”

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Man With a Plan will show a more mature side of LeBlanc, as a man who has to adjust to hands-on parenting when his wife returns to work. The actor, who played beloved character Joey Tribbiani for 10 seasons on Friends, also previously starred on the Showtime series Episodes, which will end after its fifth season.

Fischer, meanwhile, has had a few roles in films and TV series since the 2013 end of The Office — as Rhonda on TV series You, Me and the Apocalypse, and as Kelly on The Grinder.

Fischer set a high bar for onscreen romance with her iconic role as Pam Beesly on The Office, opposite John Krasinski as Jim Halpert.

Jenna Fischer Replaced on Show Because of Bad Chemistry With Matt LeBlanc season 1
Matt Leblanc with his on screen children. Youtube

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In January, the actress revealed that there was “real chemistry” between the pair that played out on screen.

“There is a real part of me that’s Pam and a real part of him that’s Jim,” she said on the January 20 episode of Watch What Happens Live. “And those parts of us were genuinely in love with one another. But in real life we weren’t totally Pam and totally Jim. So, in real life, we aren’t the perfect match.”

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Krasinski, 36, responded to Fischer’s widely circulated comments in an interview with The Daily Beast shortly afterward.

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“I think that was wildly misquoted or taken out of context,” he said. “I’m sure she was trying to say something nice about how genuine the acting relationship was, of bringing a relationship that became that popular onscreen — and I thick we both feel it’s such an honor to be a part of that relationship. As far as how she was quoted about saying we were ‘genuinely in love,’ I think that was taken wildly out of context and I feel bad for her.”

The longtime pals, both married with kids — Fischer to husband Lee Kirk and Krasinski to wife Emily Blunt — proved that there were no hard feelings between them in April, however, when Krasinski shared a selfie of the two of them at Krasinski’s play, Dry Powder.

“Sooooooo … This rabid theater fan came to #DryPowder last night,” he captioned the photo.

 

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