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Inside The Jenna Fischer SELF Cover

January 23rd, 2009

I love Jenna Fischer’s MySpace page. She’s dishy and personal and honest and awesome. I remember back when Angela Kinsey just had her baby, and she and Jenna had this back-and-forth on their MySpace pages where they would torture each other. Jenna would brag about how much sleep she was getting, and in turn, Angela would brag about everything she was eating. It was a nice reminder that some celebrities, like Jenna, are very honest about having to work hard to maintain their weight, whereas others, like Angela, are just naturally very petite. (Also, it was incredibly cute.)

Now she’s posting a little bit of behind-the-scenes info on the SELF magazine cover (the Fug Girls said that the people at SELF “appear to have photoshopped her face to the point where it looks like each of her eyes is from a totally different picture — and, indeed, perhaps a totally DIFFERENT PERSON.” They did not like the cover. Hee.) Jenna says:

I think one of the reasons you see actresses being so crazy about their weight is because, in this business, if you gain or lose weight – even just a couple of pounds – you don’t get to do it privately. Ladies, you know how much you hate trying on jeans or pants at a department store. Imagine doing that in front of a group of people all judging how you look – and watching whether or not you can fit them over your thighs.

Also, designers make dresses in something called a “sample size” – which is essentially a size 4. This is what they send to stylists for photo shoots. The dresses are often hot off the runway and not yet in stores so they only make a few and they make them all in this “sample size”. If you aren’t a “sample size” your choice of dresses goes way down. It’s the same way for award shows. For TV or movies it’s different because they buy most of the clothes in stores so you have more flexibility. Luckily Pam has the kind of wardrobe that can hide a few Christmas cookies, but imagine if you are on a show like Desperate Housewives where you have to wear high fashion outfits each day. So much pressure!

She also talks about the 10-day challenge that the magazine editors had her do, which I first read about on Crazy Days and Nights:

She did this thing for SELF magazine where she let them photoshop her to a point where her own family wouldn’t recognize her, and then made her follow some regimen which had her using a crock pot and how it improved her sex life because she and her boyfriend could come home and eat right away and still have time left over for sex after. I hate these kind of articles and am utterly dismayed and shocked that Jenna let herself be talked into one.

I love Jenna Fischer, which is why I haven’t picked up that issue of SELF. I know it would just piss me off. I mean look at the cover: two of the most promiment headlines are “LOVE YOUR BODY SECRETS (Feel Sexier At Any Size)” and “LOSE INCHES ALL OVER (You’ll Be Slimmer In Just 18 Minutes A Day).” I think I love my body more because I don’t read SELF. And Jenna doesn’t address the issue of being photoshopped at all, even though it seems pretty obvious that they did in fact photoshop the hell out of her.

Still, it’s refreshing to have a celebrity talk openly about her perspective on things like weight and magazine shoots, and I think in general, Jenna seems very down-to-earth and honest. And I’d rather not know if she’s faking it. (That’s what she said.)

Posted by mo pie

Filed under: Gossip, Magazines, Media, Photoshop, The Office, TV

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9 Responses to Inside The Jenna Fischer SELF Cover

  1. kilax, on January 23rd, 2009 at 5:10 pm Said:

    I didn’t even recognize her on the cover! It’s sad that celebrities get photoshopped so much.

  2. Kim, on January 23rd, 2009 at 5:37 pm Said:

    I’m “friends” with her on Myspace and subscribe to her blog for the reasons you described above – it’s fascinating to me to get a celebrity’s point of view on things that isn’t contrived or released through a publicist. The only thing I worry about is whenever I think one of them is actually cool and half-way normal, some crazy shit ends up happening and I’m disappointed in my judge of character. I hope it doesn’t happen with her since her career seems to be only getting bigger and better.

  3. Flora, on January 23rd, 2009 at 5:39 pm Said:

    I had no idea who Jenna Fischer was until I saw her name here and Googled her. But yeah, I saw that SELF cover in the checkout line and it made my head explode.

  4. Rachie, on January 23rd, 2009 at 7:33 pm Said:

    That doesn’t even look like her! She’s much cuter without the airbrushing. Boo!

  5. Mamm, on January 23rd, 2009 at 7:40 pm Said:

    ” I think I love my body more because I don’t read SELF. ”

    It’s funny because it’s true. And damn if they don’t have a variation of that on every issue. Love your body–and here why its not good enough. It’s too bad, because fitness magazines are good ideas in theory–lots of ideas to mix things up.

  6. Jackie, on January 24th, 2009 at 8:22 am Said:

    The Jennifer Fischer and Angela Kinsey fight, made me think, it’d be that much cuter if it were a…

    CHIBI-FIGHT!

    Like in Anime, lol. Those are always sooo cute.

  7. Amy, on January 24th, 2009 at 7:36 pm Said:

    To be fair to Jenna (and Self), the article is written with a good dose of self-deprecating humor…it’s as if she knows that this stuff is kind of absurd, but went along with it anyway. And as far as mainstream women’s magazines go, I honestly find Self to be the least odious. Of course, that’s just my opinion.

    Anyway, I totally agree about it being a weird move for her – she seems more down-to-earth and “real” than these magazines usually allow for – but it could have been much more aggravating.

  8. Deborah, on January 25th, 2009 at 3:54 am Said:

    I love Jenna Fischer so it’s kind of upsetting that she plays into the whole Hollywood drama thing- but she probably doesn’t have much of a choice unfortunately :(

  9. Diana, on January 27th, 2009 at 2:29 pm Said:

    I actually made a blog post myself after receiving this month’s SELF in the mail (and then later referenced this blog post on BFD in an update because it really made me think). I do read SELF regularly and love it, but it’s true you have to take it with a grain of salt because of the mixed messages. At the end of the day, I find it worthwhile because most of their eating and fitness strategies are decently realistic and doable. It may not be true for all its readers, but I usually read it cover to cover and put it down feeling pretty jazzed to treat my body well.

    Thanks for this post, BFD – really interesting as a companion to this month’s SELF!

    Diana
    http://dianadove.blogspot.com

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