Christine Taylor

0:00I'm Jennifer Fisher and I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on the office together and we're best friends. And now we're doing the Ultimate Office Lovers Podcast just for you. Each week we will dive deeper into the world of the office with exclusive interviews behind the scenes details and lots of VFF stories. We're the Office Lady 6.0. Hello everybody! Hi there! We are really excited because today on Office Lady 6.0 we got to speak with actress and podcaster Christine Taylor. What an absolute delight. I love her. We want to be besties. We're going to try not to stalk her. Yeah. Alright so you guys might know Christine from her time on the Nickelodeon 90s teen comedy Hey Dude, our very own Matt Beagle. Very much knows her. Very much knows her from that. You'll hear it. How are you might know her from her role as Marsha Brady in the Brady Bunch movies? She's phenomenal.

1:01She has also starred in a number of other comedies like the Wedding Singer, Dodgeball, Zoo Lander. And now she is the host of a new 90s inspired podcast Hey Dude, the 90s called. We had such a great time talking with her about all of this and also her love of the office you guys. Her and her family have watched the office. That was really fun to hear about. Well listen, let's get to it. Hello Christine. Welcome to office ladies. Hi ladies. This is so fun. This is so fun. First of all, I'm so honored. I was like, I can't believe they're asking me to be on because I'm just such big fans of yours. I mean, obviously fan of the office, but both of you Jenna, I've gotten to meet you a few times and saw you recently. But Angela never met you. And I just feel like I'm such fans of both of you, but I was like, I don't have any ties to the office. I mean, other than I watched it and I love it.

2:03But yeah, so I was like, I'm never going to say no to spending an hour chatting with you girls. Well listen, this is office ladies 6.0 and we get to talk to people. We think our freaking fantastic and you are one of those people. We're so thrilled to have you on today. Yes. But before we dive into our interview, we're so excited you're going to join us for our Chitchat question of the week. Oh, I'm so excited. This comes from Judy W. and San Jose, California, who says, Hi ladies, I met Angela at the fan expo convention in San Francisco last year and she gave me an office lady's lunch box. I absolutely love it. I have it on my shelf in my office. It got me thinking back to my grade school days and how I would get to pick a new lunchbox each year for school. My favorite was the year I got a Wonder Woman lunch box. So I'm curious what lunch box did you have as a kid?

3:04Oh, this makes me so happy. Christine, just for your information, I somehow ended up with a whole bunch of our merch, delivered to my house. My husband's like, Babe, what are we doing with all these lunch boxes? So I brought a bunch of them and handed them out to people as I met everyone. So Judy, I'm so glad you liked it. Yeah, we should say our lunch box is no longer available for purchase and Angela, you got the overflow. I just said, you can deliver it at my house and I want you guys to know a truck showed up. That was like the biggest thing I've ever seen. It had like a crane that was like, babe, babe, like, we can go store them all. Exactly Christine, exactly. We're coming out of our ears, which is why my husband and I care of Aunt San Francisco with the back end of a SUV full of them. But they're so cute. And chances are, if you meet me at a convention, you're going to get one. Oh, that's so great. I mean, our podcast is a 90s podcast.

4:04So it is so nostalgic and it's very retro. So we talk about a lot of these things on our podcast, but I have to say like, I am so cliche. Like I had a Brady Bunch tin lunch release. Like an original from the Brady Bunch because that was like my favorite growing up. And I think I might have also had a Charlie's Angel slunch box. Is that? Oh, that's a classic. Like, definitely clicking for me. So those were two important ones for me. What about you guys? Well, I just remember what Judy is saying about every year as part of back to school shopping, going down the aisle and looking at all the lunch boxes and just pain stakingly. It felt like such a big decision. Like what am I going to represent with my lunch each day? Yes. For this year. And I think my first lunch box, the one that I really remember was strawberry shortcake. Oh, yes.

5:05Yes, I had a strawberry shortcake. Strawberry shortcake with all my heart. She smelled so good. She was so cute and all the different shades of pink. Yes. Yes, so pretty. Yes. But then there was also blueberry muffin who I also thought smelled great. And then there was that one that was like an apricot, right? Wasn't there someone who was an apricot? Yes. I don't know. But the thing that came into my head when I heard this question was my strawberry shortcake lunch box. I had, wait for it, this is going to make me sound like such an old lady. I had Holly Hobby. Oh, Holly Hobby. Do you remember Holly Hobby? Holly Hobby is coming to mind too. Oh gosh. Oh gosh. That was my very first lunch box and I was so tickled by it. And then I think I had one that was the Muppets. Ooh. I had like a Muppets lunch box. Already in the comedy. Already in touch. I already got it. I know. You already got it.

6:05I was the old lady who likes to laugh. But you know what's funny? Speaking of Holly Hobby, I have a paint by number that my dad made me from when I was really little. And it's a Holly Hobby paint by number that we found it somewhere in storage. And I have it just like with a bunch of pictures and things that I have on a little desk, but I have it kind of pushed in the back. So I see Holly Hobby almost every day of my life. I love that you were into Holly Hobby too. Well, since we're talking about old toys, did either of you have my friend Mandy or my friend Jenny? No. Did you have Mandy and Jenny? No. They came in like a case like an old, tiny steamer trunk that you might have to put on the Titanic to make a long voyage. The friend, either Mandy or Jenny, the doll was in one side of the trunk and then her

7:06closet of clothes was like the other side of the trunk. And she came with one change of clothes and little shoes. Did she have like little hangers? Like little hangers for her clothes? Yes. Little hangers. I still have it. What was the scale like how big was she? She was about the size of an American girl doll. Well, it sounded like a precursor to an American girl doll. It kind of was. Yeah, I think it was. But this predates the cabbage patch kid. That was the craze. Yes. The cabbage patch kid. 80s? I feel like it was. And I was like obsessed with my cabbage patch kid. Oh, yeah. Whose name was Christine? Oh, what? Yeah. Christine Marie and Casey Alexander. Were my two cabbage patch children. I loved that. Beautiful girls. Yeah. Well, Judy, thank you so much for that question. I think we had a lot to say about our lunch boxes.

8:09And why don't we take a quick break? And when we come back, Christine, we heard you're a real big fan of the office. So we can't wait to ask you about that. But also, you and I have three things in common that are kind of fun. Ooh. Dun, dun, dun. That's a good cliffhanger. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. We're back. Christine, are you ready to hear what you and I have in common? I cannot wait. This was really fun for me to find out. Well, first of all, we both love tennis. And we were both at Wimbledon this year, not on the same day. OK. We both had tickets to center court. But you, am I correct? You were in the royal box. Is that right? We did get ourselves into the royal box. Yes. Oh my gosh. And I take no responsibility. That's a perk of my husband. Yes. Yes. Oh my gosh.

9:10It's so special. The tennis experience, don't you think? Like, yes. I have been to the three of the four grand slams. Wow. Have not been to the Australian Open. But die hard tennis fan. Like grew up watching. I played a little, I played OK. I was never great. I played in my high school tennis team, mediocre, but the watching it and from a really young age, but we belong to like a tennis swim club growing up, agro in Pennsylvania, and they'd do a trip to the US Open. Nose bleed seats, but like, still so cool. But still so cool. And everyone would just scatter and then meet back at like 10 o'clock at night. And so my memories of those years were the early 80s of like Mac and Ro and Becker. I mean, so many of the big sort of icons were playing still back then. And I just fell in love with it. Steffi Graf and Kim Clisters. Oh my god. I know. All of them. OK, so that's one thing.

10:11OK, that's tennis. And then my second thing, and this is a thing that just completely floored my family. So you're in many movies that are my family's favorites. All my kids are so tickled that I'm meeting you today. But as we were going through your filmography, because each night we're on a little mini vacation, we've been watching a movie that you're in. Oh my god. OK, that's more than crying. But no, no, it was great. It was great. But so as we're looking up your filmography, my husband was like, wait a second. We were in a home art Christmas movie together. And I was like, what? Wait, first of all, my kids and I didn't even know my husband was in a home art Christmas movie. It's called Farewell Mr. Grungle. Because that's the only home art movie I did. OK, are you ready for this? He played your husband who died in the plane crash. Stop. Yes. Who I never met. No, you had no scenes together. Shot on another day, like a flashback.

11:11Right. Yeah, they're all your flashbacks. But yes, no. Isn't that crazy? I have to track down how to watch that. Is that an easy find or no? That's an easy find. And also, we found the scene where you drift off and thought and then you flashbacked it. And I'm talking to you. And my kids are just, maybe this is one of their new favorite things that we've ever discovered. They can't get over it. It's, you know, that by the way, that was one of the most fun jobs. Doing a home art movie, you know, it's like so dialed in. And you shoot like in Santa Clarita or somewhere up there. Oh. I did a home art Christmas movie. Was it two years ago? And it's still one of the most fun experiences I've had. It was so great. Everybody's so nice. Everything was just like they treat you so well. And it was so great. But I don't think I've seen it since it debuted. Well, you're very good in it. Oh, thank you.

12:12Okay, my last thing is you and I both graduated in the class of 1989. Well, hello. Hello. Hello. And I told my kids that. And then I told them, I guess this isn't so much a thing anymore. But like when we were in high school, every graduating class had their own chant. Do you remember? Like ours was, we're so great. We're so fun. We're the class of 89. So, I think my kids are like, what? I wondered if that was a Texas thing. Cause Angela asked me what my school chant was. And I thought, well, I don't remember having one necessarily. I don't either. And I went to Catholic school in Pennsylvania. But the tune you just gave, and I wasn't a cheerleader in high school. But I just remember that same chant is, it's all right. It's okay. We're going to beat them anyway. Yes. Yes. It's just whatever words. Exactly. I know. We thought we were so cool and we would chant that. I'd like to get pepperoles.

13:12Each grade would go and say their grade chant. And then there were like the party girls, like the kind of wild gals. And they extended it to, we're so cool. We're so fine. We drink wine or something like that. We're the class of 89. Yeah. But yeah. I feel like even in the world that I was in, which was very different than the John Hughes Breakfast Club world, that was so relatable because of all the clicks. You know, there were the jocks, but we didn't call them the spordos or the, you didn't call them that. But the people that, when you would bus in to the parking lot in the morning and you see the kids standing on the street corner smoking, like there were kids that smoked in high school. Oh, yeah. I was not one of them. We called them the drugies. Yeah. Just for smoking. They're cigarettes. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, they probably did drugs if they said they probably did. They probably did. They probably smoked a little marijuana too.

14:13I bet they might have like, we had a wine. And it was such a simple time. It was. What is so enjoyable about your podcast, Christine, we have to shout it out. Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, that's something that we all three have in common. We're all ladies who podcasts. Your podcast is called Hey, Dude, the 90s called it. And you discuss the 90s. We do. Now, this is with your co-host David Lashar, who was also on Nickelodeon's Hey, Dude, is that right? Yes. Hey, Dude, for any of your listeners was a show that I was on from 1989. It was my senior year in high school to 91. And it was just sort of one of Nickelodeon's first scripted television shows. And it was the early Nickelodeon. It's not the Nickelodeon now of the I Carly. It wasn't flashy. It wasn't cool. It was like new programming that they were really trying out.

15:14So we did that show for a couple of years. But it ended in 1991. And nobody had cell phones, nobody had email. Like, we all had home phone numbers and home addresses that we had collected from each other. And not all of us stayed in touch. A lot of us had moved to LA and stayed in touch for a bit there. But it really wasn't until we started having reunions. And we did an event for the 23rd reunion that we all reconnected and got on a group chat. And so David Blasher, you know, our little stories that we dated while we were on the show. We shot in Tucson, Arizona. We dated. We broke up before the show ended. So it was a lot of teenage, angsty dating, broke up, broken hearts, drama. And we still had to work together on locations. So we really didn't stay in touch. A lot of us.

16:15And he's the one who came to me with the idea for the podcast. And so I was really honest. I said, I have to be honest with you. Like I know podcasts are all the craze, but I would not even know how to go about it. And he's like, no, we would just talk about our show. We'd talk about us because hey, dude, sort of found this little cult following. So if you were a certain age during those years and you had Nickelodeon, people started recognizing us out in. Yes. Our producer, we should share with you guys. But also our sound engineer, Sam, who's not with us today, made us promise that we tell you that he was a huge fan of Hey, dude as well. Okay. I love you guys. I was born in 84. That was just like my show. And that's so interesting that it was the first one of those because I didn't have any context, but it was that and salute your shorts. And I was just all in. And just kudos to you and the entire crew.

17:17It was so well that I still remember the plot points, the characters. You guys were dating behind the scenes. Yeah. Yeah. Going your mind. Right. So I didn't around just wanted to say love that show. Love the theme song. Jen and Angela, do you know the theme song? I don't know this show. I watched a little bit of it. So I now know the show, but I, what is the theme song? I kind of want to hear it. It's very catchy. Once you sing it, it's kind of in your head. Can I just be in the anticipation of this? Yes. I've been singing it around my house and my kids are like, what are you doing? What is this song? Matt, please sing it. I'm sure it now. Christina, you ready? Yes, sure. Five, six, seven, eight. It's a little while than a little strange when you make your home out of the range. Start your horse and come along. Because you can't get around it again. Hold on. Singing. Yippee-yay.

18:18Yippee-yay. What? Like the cowboy say. Say it again. I don't know why I'm singing this song. I'm going to sing it again. I'm going to sing it again. I'm going to sing it again. I'm going to sing it again. That's why I'm singing this solo. Guys, is this the dude ranch? Is that way it's called the new dude ranch? Yes. That's why it's called the new dude ranch. Yes. It's on the dude ranch. Yes. Oh, getting it from the theme song. Yes. Yeah, getting it. Okay. It tells you the whole story. And this is the most animated I've ever seen Matt Beagle. This was just a life moment unlocked. I mean, I love that show. Love that song. It found its little audience. Let's just put it that way. and you all grew up and started to recognize us and see us. And then people came to us and said, let's do a reunion. And so anyway, long story short, David came to me and said, let's do a podcast. If you'd be into it where we talk about our show, but also just the 90s, which was the sort of the decade that we truly got our career started in. So it's been a blast. The podcast has been so much fun.

19:20We're like the little engine that could. We've got lots of friends who come on that we reconnect with, but then we meet a lot of people that we've never known, but we're having fans up. So it's just been so much fun. And I get it for you to be doing this as besties. And to sort of have that time appointed to sort of carve out and be together and chat and bring people on and talk about your shared experience on the show. I just love it. I feel like it's such a great platform. And so yeah, so I love doing it. And yeah, he dude the 90s called. Yeah. Well, Christine, you mentioned earlier that you and I have cross paths many times. And very recently in New York City, I saw you backstage, death of a salesman, which was amazing. And you're just always so delightful and so wonderful. You remind me of my BFF Angela, who's never met a stranger. You're just one of those people. And I think I've told you this before,

20:22but I did not know you from Hey Dude, but I discovered you when you did the Brady Bunch movie. And you very quickly became one of my comedy inspirations. I remember seeing you in that and just thinking, how is she doing that? How is she nailing that incredible satire and comic timing? And then I stole from you when I did Blades of Glory. And your husband Ben Stiller was a producer on that movie. And I remember meeting him and telling him on set that I was a huge fan of yours and that I was stealing from you. And so I need to know how you approached that role of Marsha Brady. I mean, what a phenomenal character you created. First of all, thank you. That's like the greatest. And by the way, Jenna, I remember when Blades of Glory was happening and Ben came home and told me that story.

21:23And I was like, what? That's amazing. That's so cool. So thank you for that. Listen, when we talked about the lunch boxes, like the reality for me was the Brady Bunch was my after school treat. Like I just remember whatever time that was on in syndication, you know, I don't remember seeing it when it was on in prime time and the original run. But it was on every single day, probably in like the 430 or 5 o'clock hour. And I just remember coming on from school and watching the Brady Bunch. Like every single episode I've seen backwards and forwards inside out. Obviously when I got the part, I dug deeper. But I dug deeper even to audition for the part. But I knew it so well. And growing up, like I did have that long blonde tear. I mean, I didn't have a 70s look, but I would just kind of do impressions of her because we loved the show so much. Like we were obsessed with the episodes of when they'd go to Hawaii and the little Tiki

22:25and then the episodes of the kids scaring each other and the fake ghost in the attic. Like there were episodes that I would remember coming on from school and you turn it on and in the first two minutes know, oh, it's the Grand Canyon episode. It's the three part and I started recording them on our VHS tapes. And I had this collection of VHS tapes of the Brady Bunch. When the part came along, it's not like I come from a comedy family the way Ben comes from a comedy family. Because my family, Alan Town, Pennsylvania, not in show business, knew nothing about show business, but I love theater and I started doing theater from the time I was just, you know, like I would do all the school plays and I loved it. But my family was funny. Like my dad was just a funny guy. He always just had a funny sarcastic joke. We just got it, we got humor and we watched a lot of comedies growing up. So my memory of movies, the classic movies

23:27that we'd go to the video store to rent, like stripes and catty-check and like, you know, just like classic comedies that we just really enjoyed. And hey, dude, was a sitcom. Like a situation comedy set on a dude ranch. It was a multi-camera show, but it was outdoors. So I got to learn a little bit of sort of acting it on camera. But the Brady Bunch audition, I think I did two little movies when I moved to LA and then they were casting a replacement. I don't know if you guys remember. There was a tour that started in Chicago called The Real Life Brady Bunch, which was a bunch of sketch comedy actors. Andy Richter was in the bunch and Jane Lynch and they did this in LA in the early 90s. I saw it in LA. Okay, so I saw it in LA. It was like a live satirical comedic Brady Bunch. Exactly. They would do an episode every week and they'd have like a game show element beforehand

24:30and they made it really groovy in 70s and it just became like a cool thing to go see. And they were replacing the Marsha for like a month because she had gotten a pilot or something. So my roommate at the time read about it and one of those, you know, freak backstage West. Yes, exactly, exactly. And she just said, you know, you should go in on this. Like you should get an audition for this because you're so pretty obsessed. Like if it's no surprise, like everyone in my life knew that I loved the Brady Bunch. So I asked my agents about it and I went in the auditioned and I really feel like it was almost like they hired me on the spot. Wait, you were in the live show before the movie? Yes, but only for like four weeks. But the thing about the real live Brady Bunch was they were all older. I was the youngest one in the group when I came in. They were adults doing right. Right. They played to me. Yes, yeah. So I was the youngest and I remember when I wrapped it up,

25:30the team that, you know, they just said, you know, there is a like Brady movie that we heard isn't development and we have nothing to do with it. But you should just get that on your radar because you'd be the perfect age for it. So I didn't say anything. And then out of the blue one day, I mean, out of the blue on my answering machine in 1990, whatever year this was, 92 or 93, I got a message from sure with shorts. Calling me, just cold calling me, saying, I would love to meet with you because they were producers on the movie, but they did not really want their creative input. But he was like, I'd love to meet with you. I went to sure with shorts its house and got to talk to him about the Brady Bunch, sure with shorts is the creator of the Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island. And anyway, were you just like pinch, pinching yourself? Yes. This is the kid that had the Brady Bunch lunch box. Yes. Oh my gosh. And all I would see was sure with shorts is name at the, you know,

26:31so yes, it was a pinching moment that I cannot believe to this day that I still didn't keep my little tape from the answering machine, but who knew? So I have to ask you, Christine, as you're going through the process of auditioning for the movie, what was your like internal feeling? Were you confident? Were you like, this is mine? Because I'll just share that when I was auditioning for Pam for the office, I was like, I am Pam. I'm Pam. I feel it, everything about me knows that I'm Pam. And I don't feel that way about most auditions. Most auditions I think, well, listen, I could do a great job, but probably so could someone else. Right. But for Pam, I felt like deep in my bones and ownership of this character. I felt like this is why I became an actor. I'll do many other things, I'm sure. But this is why I got in this business in the first place. And so I'm just curious, where were you internally

27:34as your auditioning for this role? Well, you nailed it, but I knew it in my core that there was nobody who could do it better than me. Yeah. And whether or not they saw that, and this was by the way, it wasn't like I immediately was meeting with a director and producer. So I was meeting with Deborah Quilla, the casting director and walking on the paramount law and walking in. And she was so positive. I remember I felt great because I was so confident. I mean, it's what I'd been doing my whole life. I just felt like, you know, you get through the nerves of the audition, but I really felt like if I don't get this job, then I don't know that this is the best. Sure. The end. Yes. Like this was made for me. This doing this was for me. So my audition, Deb brought me back immediately for Betty and the producers. And I'm fairly sure that I met with them

28:34and that was pretty much it. They didn't tell me I got it, but I never had to go back in an audition solo again. And that's rounds were matching me with different jans and different cindies. And so I think it was like sort of all in going in three times and feeling like obviously when you start seeing that I'm the only one being matched, you start to feel more confident too. That's the thing. When you know they love you and I just remember Betty who was not even a Brady bunch, obviously she'd been studying it but wasn't like she knew everything Brady. So I was bringing things that I don't think they even knew were Marcia Isms or Marcia S or Marine McCormick's way of how she, and by the way, and I say it all the time when I talk about it, it was so important for me to do it in a way that was not making fun of it because I loved it so much. I didn't look at the shows. That is what comes through. Yeah, I didn't look at the shows and say,

29:36this is ridiculous, this is so funny. This is how I'm gonna parody this, but it was like I love it so much. I want it to be so pure and so genuine and so marine and so that was really how I approached it. And then I say this all the time because on our podcast, which is so 90s and it was a very different time in the industry, the one thing that I got and I was not a super heavy person, but they asked me to lose 10 pounds. What? Are you serious? You're so petite. Yes, and I say it because I'm not petite like you. I'm not a big person, but they want me to lose 10 pounds. But it didn't matter. I was like, I'll lose 10 pounds. Of course I was embarrassed when that ask came my way because by the way, it would never happen today. And also it just was like I wasn't the only person

30:40ever being asked to lose weight for a roll back then. That was just how things went. But I'll do it. And then the joke is over the course of the movie, which if you watch it very closely, I start to put the 10 pounds back on. And you can see it. I'll come into a scene looking a little rounder and then I exit the scene looking a little thinner just because of how they had to reshoot things. But no, over the course of the movie, I really started to treat myself. Non-fat frozen yogurt was the big craze at the time and that was my treat. I was like, oh, I wrapped. I'm going to meet my roommate. We're going to go to the big chill and get a frozen yogurt with a huge thing of sprinkles on this side. It's so funny you tell that story Christine because I was in a movie called Walk Hard. And they didn't ask me to lose weight, but they got me a trainer and a dietician. And I was on like these box meals. It was never explicitly said.

31:42Yeah. But it was definitely the tiniest I ever was. And in that movie, I had something like 90 wardrobe changes. And one of my pieces of wardrobe was this co-tour riding outfit. I had to ride a horse in like a hand-beated co-tour riding outfit that matched John C. Riley. And the night before, or maybe a couple nights before, I had stayed up late in my hotel room. Chris Parnell was in the movie. And we ordered room service cheeseburgers. I was like, I can't fucking eat this boiled chicken. And for one more day. Like, it wasn't even kale back then. It was like this other sort of like weird boiled green on the side. I was like, I'm going to lose my mind. And so we got cheeseburgers and a shake. And we watched a movie just hanging out.

32:44And then I went in the next morning to put on the riding outfit. I swear it was like the next morning. And it didn't fit the riding outfit. The co-tour hand-beated made for me riding outfit. Panic. Panic and so amazing. What do you mean? No, it wasn't buckle. Like overnight, you have like your body was so. Oh, I love this. Right. My body was so crony. I was like, I'm going to go for this cheeseburger. That it was like, we're keeping this cheeseburger forever. Right. We're keeping it immediately. Yes. And yeah. How do you cheat that? Like, if it doesn't buckle and it's couture and a bar. You know what they, you know, I couldn't get it on. At the last minute, they got like just like a standard black riding outfit that they like did their best to embellish in three hours. It did not match. We did not have matching riding outfits in the movie. But that was a crazy hand.

33:45That's the only time that ever happened to me on a movie. And you know, you hear stories all the time of people changing their appearance for a movie role. Like they get muscles or they gain weight. But for me with this, I left that experience thinking, wow, that was a scrutiny. I did not enjoy and is not something that I wanted to repeat in the future. Right. And luckily, when it was all over, I just kind of went back to eating and living the way I had before. But it could have, you know, it's hard, especially if you're younger, I think. And that's the thing. By the way, I was 23 years old, right, when I did it. So that's the time you're actually really coming into like a woman's body at that time, right? Yes. Right. You know, it's not like that. And I just remember I was so confident in what I was doing. So I never worried that the job was in jeopardy. So I always felt very confident in that role and going back to it, the way I knew it was

34:46mine, yes, like I knew it was mine and the fact that the way the universal line and they saw that, that's always the thing. You just hope that they see it, but they get what you know inside. And it's the greatest gift that keeps on giving. Like I just love it. I never tire of a Brady Bunch conversation. I've never tire. And I recently met Maureen. I met Maureen very briefly at the premiere of the sequel, I think. A lot of them did cameos in the first movie. She didn't do a cameo in it, but she came to the premiere. So I met her briefly, but very recently we got to connect doing a Zoom reading for something and we hung out and had lunch. And like it was just her birthday. Like we text. She sends me recipes like the great one. You get a restaurant together. Like the two of you having lunch where people losing their minds? No. We were in the valley in the waitress that you know our server who was probably like 21,

35:47like no idea. We took selfies. Nobody knew, which was so great. Like we just had this sacred space to just get to know each other and so many similarities. And by the way, the greatest gift to me is that I'm not on Twitter, but I remember Ben over the years would say like Maureen McCormick just wrote something really nice about you on Twitter about you playing the part. And I was like, oh my god, like that's the greatest thing ever. So that I got her stamp of approval. Like that's all I ever wanted was her to know that I was doing it with so much love. Like, you know, she was a California girl. So she had very specific way. I was a Pennsylvania girl. So her sort of California dialect is very specific to her. And so I needed to hear it. I needed to do it. I needed to honor it. And so yeah, it's my greatest joy. That's amazing. And you know, it lives on and on. Obviously, you know that. I mean, my daughter showed me a TikTok reel.

36:48I am not on TikTok, you know, because I don't want to embarrass my kids. But she showed me and it's like, it's you and it's like something like 10 times when Marcia was iconic or something like that. And it's all these clips. They're fantastic. Yeah. And my daughter told me the same thing. She's like the Brady Bunch is like having a moment, right? Yeah. On like with the short Jan meme and some of those Bradyisms. But I think it's great. I love it. I love that it lives on and that I got the stamp of approval. Like mission accomplished. Should we also chat with you about some of the office questions you have? For us, well, I just want to say that my office experience and I know Ben has talked about this before because the joke in our house was that we were huge fans of the original, the British series.

37:49I'm curious. Like we felt like that was like about as perfect a show that you could possibly make. Like it was just we loved it, you know, it was so sacred in our house. And Ben as a production company remembers getting the potential, it was like, oh, they're going to be doing it in American office. And it came to his company and Ben was like, oh, there's no way you can touch that. There's no way you can touch that material successfully. Like there's no version. And I think in his mind too, he was like, there's no version where I can see myself figuring out how to do that. It's that's so unique. It's so specific. So for Ben, it was like, no, that's not for us, which he's still to this day is like clearly I can't see things. No, listen, that show was a hot potato that was just passed around. Like people it landed there, like, would you consider and they tossed it as quick as they

38:51could for all the reasons you're saying. Right. And for whatever reason, Greg Daniels was like, I'll meet with them. Okay. But not at first, you know, that he was really he was really going back and forth about it. See, that's so interesting because I think Ben always says like Greg obviously had this like he knew he knew he saw it. You know, you so I'll be so honest. Like we were late to even watching it because it was like, yeah, when did you discover it? Was it on streaming or was it even when it was on? Yes. It was on streaming. Okay. And also the other thing too for me, I was always like even my TV taste as a consumer, you know, in the early 2000, I was like 24. I'll stop my life to watch 24. I watched 24. I will stop everything. I'm obsessed with Jack Bauer. I would say 24, arrested development. I had a couple shows that were so good in arrested development too.

39:53And then you got to be on arrested development. That was Sally. Sally, that was Sally. Well, that was one of, by the way, that was I think one of those perks where I when I saw that show, I reached out to my agents and I was like, I will do anything on that show. Like anything on that show. And so that was one of those nice things where it was like, oh, they're offering you a little arc is this character. It's so cool. Not knowing it would have a couple of different reboots and that character would live on in weird ways. But so for us with the office, it was, and by the way, I had worked with John and Ken Quapis on License to Wed. Oh my God. Yeah. I'm in that movie. I know. I know. I can't believe I didn't bring that up on there. Three things in common. I thought that was going to be one of them, but then we got sidetracked on because yours were so good. Oh my God. But yeah, there were, you know, a bunch of you guys popped up in it. And so, and I was like, oh my God, they're all so funny.

40:55They're so good. So it was like in my ether of like to Ben, I was like, we got to just watch like we have to start watching the office. And as anybody who has a husband or partner where you always say you're going to watch it and wait for it with the other person to watch it, like it'll, it never happens. It's always like you never started. It takes everybody's lives get busy. So our daughter in her teen years, she, started watching it. Well, started out as her thing with Ben and they would watch it together. And it was just like one more, one more. And then I fed into it and then I had to go back and rewatch season one to start to get caught up. And I just feel like for someone who came to it late, it is such a joy to have a show. And the way the show went for it and the way it worked. And I think it's just like it transcends time. Like I feel like the thing about the office for you guys is it's so timeless.

41:59The show other than jokes that you know would not be shot today from some of the earlier seasons. Like I went back and started in the, I think it's the beginning of season five, but the weight loss episode speaking of weight loss. Speaking of weight loss. Yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh, business would throw a weight loss contest today. Nobody and make all their employees stand on a scale. Dying and white, literally, literally driving Phyllis to a bad neighborhood to make her walk back. Because he feels like Phyllis is the one who's like secretly binging the food. I think I can't wait. So it just is like the gift that keeps on giving in a show that I feel like it gave us the gift of being able to watch it together as a family and just belly laugh. But also, you know, weep at, you know, your stuff, Jenna, with John, like the, you know, pan, like those moments of like him getting on his knee

43:05and proposing to you with the gas station and the pouring rain when you guys have met halfway. So I just kept watching. I was like, I'm just going to keep watching it. This is going to be my summer binge again. Like I'm just going to keep going. Okay. I love that. Do you have a favorite character? Is there like a character you're always like that? That's that for me. Well, what I wanted to ask you, Angela too, is like, and all of you guys. And I know you're all playing characters. But did you feel like the writers and collectively as they got to know you guys in the early stages started to write towards things they knew specifically about you or about things that you liked? Like did they play into that in an exaggerated way? Well, sometimes you would be having a conversation on set and then something you said would end up somehow in an episode, you know, and you'd be like, oh my gosh, the writers are on set with us because so many of them are also characters on the show. But no, my real life personality is nothing like my Angela Martin personality.

44:07So you're so rigid. So that didn't often. In fact, sometimes they had to change words because I'm Southern and I couldn't say them. So like, you know, everyone that we work with here on the podcast knows I have a very hard time with vowels in front of L's. You know, so like I famously took like had this moment where I tell Andy that I want to, I was in the script, it said hand, tealed, field, hand, what? Hand-tilled field. Hand-tilled field. Did I say it? Hand-tilled field. Oh my god. See? Okay, so we did 14 takes and they're like, just forget it. Say hand plow. You're just, you're not getting it. And still do it. So I think they would try to help me find her, you know? Yeah. I think some of our things would end up in scripts that we would sort of be chatting about. Like Jenna and I both worked in corporate America, timping when we started our acting careers. And you know, there was a man in the parking lot one time I worked at 1-800-Dennis

45:11as an operator and this guy got in and he flashed a few people. And I told the story and that ended up in a script that still gets flashed in the parking lot. Right. So and Jenna and I talked about these ridiculous like human resource meetings we'd have to go to. And yeah, some of that made it into some episodes. But Jenna, what about you? Well, I feel like character-wise, there is an aspect of me that they moved into Pam, which is a little bit of sass and a little bit of snark. So when you see her take on Ryan. Yes. I think that is my personality that got written into Pam's personality. Because I think where Pam started, I'm not sure you'd ever see her do that. But my personality, I am like a speak up for yourself kind of gal. And I'm not a suffer in silence gal. And so I think they gave Pam a little bit of me in her way that she sasses at Ryan.

46:18Well, that's so funny that you said that because when you're talking about favorite character, because everyone is so beloved. Like it's so hard to pick, but there's so many great storylines. Like obviously the Jim and Pam is like the iconic, but I just also feel like Antelun Dwight. It's like so wrong at so right. And there's so much, there's so much satisfaction with you two together. Like it's so meant to be. I saw an article one time that said people would describe Jim and Pam they'd say, aw, but if they had to describe Dwight and Angela, they'd say, ew. So I was like, okay, it's so cute. Like it's so oddly like happy making. You know, I don't know why. I don't know why it's so satisfying. But then when you go into like, Ryan is the worst. But also I love him on my and our rewatch doing this podcast.

47:21He became my favorite character because I was like, I love this character so much. And then when Pam sassed him finally in the later seasons, I was like, this is my favorite thing. It's so good. When they do their whole Michael Scott paper company and she has to like sit at that little table with him. Exactly. Exactly. I was just going to say like when he's sort of comes back tail between his legs and he's in like the 10th mode, but he's also still just being such an ass. Like he's just such an ass. He's just still thinks he's got this power and it's just PJ so funny too. I mean, just the way he plays it. But I love that big stand up moment too where Jim is like, I need to show them because no one has respect for Jim in that sort of management position. And I really love the moment when Ryan gets sort of demoted into the little like room, the closet. Yes, the closet is so great. It's so good.

48:22Which funny enough was partly because they really needed him in the writer's room. And when his character moved into the main bullpen, it was like kind of a problem because he was in the background of everything. So they're like, how do we get him out of here again? And their idea was, oh, this would be a great plot point that he has to work in the closet. Clothes it. It's so good. That's just what I love. It's like it's for us in the house when it's on. I don't know what night it was. And obviously they just keep going if you don't hit exit out. Right. And I saw like my family start to like fill in around. And it was and it's just so great because new generations are seeing it for the first time and falling in love with it again. And there's not lots of shows anymore where it's like the whole family can watch. You know, like there's shows where you as parents can sit in on a show, your kid likes. But this is to me, I mean, obviously kids of a certain age. But and my kids are adult, you know, children now.

49:23But it's just been like a joy for us. And I just think you guys are amazing. Like in everything else that you've done too, like you're both such good actors who just need to just keep doing it because comedic geniuses as well. And I'm such a fan. Oh, Christine, this has been so lovely. And I'd like to say, okay, Angela's husband has played your husband in a movie. I have played your husband's wife in a movie. But what is missing is some combo of you, me, and Angela playing. I don't know definitely you and Angela could play sisters in a movie. Maybe I can be your crazy friend or neighbor. I don't know. But somehow I think the three of us need to be in a movie to go. I think so too. Okay. You can be our cousin. I'll be your cousin. You're a cousin. And like we're manifest. Let's put it out loud.

50:25We're saying it out loud. I think we have to find each other in a, like something really fun to work on together. But clearly the universe is bumping us into each other. It is totally getting close. We just have to solidify it now. Yes, we won't do it. And I also need for the three of us to like have ladies lunch in person. I need an in-person hang. I'm putting that out there. I'm in. Great. I love this. Well, that's perfect until our lunch when we meet again. Christine, thank you so much for spending time on office ladies. This was the best. Yay. Lady, I'm going to say it again. We need to be her best friend. Yeah, also just put it out there. Could she be another mom detective? Oh, lady. I know. Do we need to do a movie called Mom Detective with Christine? You know, I was wishing that we could have done this interview all in studio together.

51:28But honestly, I think if she had been here in person, I don't know if we would have ever let her leave. It might have been good she was on Zoom. Well, you know, we're already on a text thread. We have been texting. It's true. Listen, everyone. Thank you so much for listening. Please check out Christine on her podcast. Hey, dude, the 90s called, you know, Melora Harden was her guest. Yeah. And there might be two other gals gusting on that. Two office ladies might pop on by in the near future. All right, you guys. Thank you, Christine, for just giving us so much of your time. You were so gracious. And thank you all for listening. We'll see you next week. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jennifer Fisher in Angela Kinsey. Our senior producer is Matt Beagle and our audio engineer is Sam Kefer. Odyssey's executive producer is Leo Ries Dennis. Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz. Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Breton.