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“People did not like me,” Jones said of her time on the show as Karen, who served as a love interest for John Krasinski’s Jim.
Rashida Jones is reflecting on her exit from The Office.
While appearing on the Good Hang podcast with her Parks and Rec co-star Amy Poehler, Jones dished on her brief appearance on the beloved NBC comedy.
Jones joined the show in season three as Karen Filippelli, a love interest for John Krasinski’s Jim, after he was transferred to Dudner Mifflin’s Stamford, Connecticut branch. While she had a recurring role in that season, she says she wasn’t exactly loved by the fans, especially those shipping Jim and Pam (Jenna Fischer).
“I had done a year on The Office and they let me go, which made sense. It made sense,” she said.
Jim and Karen’s initial flirtation turned into a romance, leading to an awkward love triangle with Pam when the two characters had to transfer back to the main office in Scranton, Pennsylvania following a merger.
“You had such a tough job there, because everybody wanted Jim and Pam, and then guess who shows up? A very likable, cool… and everyone was like, ‘Oh no, wait,'” Poehler noted.
“It did not feel that way,” Jones replied. “People did not like me. Like, fans were not about it.”
Jones would go on to return few more times, however, in seasons four, five and seven — though Jim and Karen’s relationship was short-lived.
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In the show’s season 4 premiere, it’s revealed that Jim broke up with Karen after learning that Pam still had feeling for him in the third season finale, and Jones’ character left the Scranton office.
While the fans were “not about it,” Jones said the show had to “create tension” for Jim and Pam “for a relationship to be earned later.”
“So, I was the third point in the triangle. It’s fine,” she quipped.
See where the rest of The Office cast is now, 20 years after the series premiered, in the gallery below!
