Jenna keeps it low profile

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - You could say that Jenna Fischer has a life that's not all that different from Pam Beesly, the Scranton receptionist she plays on TV's "The Office."

Fischer says she goes about her routine in Los Angeles unnoticed by photographers and others who make their living off recognizing celebrities.

"I am some sort of paparazzi repellent," she said, channeling Pam's unblinking stare.

First, there's the annual "Office ladies" holiday lunch at the Ivy. The show's actresses have a tradition of dining together at the celebrity eatery every December, she said, and "every year they're worse to us than the year before."

One year, the restaurant lost the group's reservation. "I had to pull out my e-mail confirmation and force them to give us a table," she said. Another year, "Angela [Kinsey] brought a little cake that said 'Congratulations Season 3' and they wouldn't let us serve it. They wouldn't even let us take a picture with it," she said.

"Now it's our running joke."

Then there was the time Fischer was on her way to a doctor's appointment and some photographers who were chasing another actress hit her parked car.

"They so didn't notice me that they left their vehicle and went after, I believe it was Christina Ricci, came back, then slammed into me," she recalled. "We exchanged licenses and insurance information, yada yada yada . . . and nothing. I went home."

That all might change if Fischer continues to land roles in big-budget comedies like "Blades of Glory" and "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," which opens Friday.

In the Judd Apatow-produced comedy, Fischer gets to let loose as Darlene, the bubbly backup singer who marries rock star Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly). Expect to see lots of un-Pam-like cleavage and flashy outfits.

Fischer, who grew up in Missouri, modeled Darlene on Priscilla Presley. "I think that woman's fantastic," she said. "She runs that [Elvin] empire, and I thought that's the spirit of Darlene. She's the brains behind the operation but she does it all with femininity and she doesn't try to steal the spotlight."

The singing and dancing, Fischer admits, "was a complete rip

off" of Reese Witherspoon as June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line."

"I totally stole all her dance moves and I stole her accent. She was my total unofficial voice coach for this movie."

When Apatow and director Jake Kasdan first asked Fischer to audition for "Walk Hard," she focused on the smaller role of Edith, Dewey Cox's long-suffering first wife, but that role went to "Saturday Night Live" regular Kristin Wiig.

"I just assumed that Edith was the one for me because she was the mousy put-upon girl, so I prepared Edith and they asked me if I would try reading Darlene," Fischer said.

Apatow, who has known Fischer since his TV-show-producing days, said it was a no-brainer to cast her in a starring role opposite John C. Reilly.

"I'm a big fan of 'The Office'," the producer said. "And Jenna was actually on my TV show, 'Undeclared,' for a few episodes and she was really funny, so we've been aware of her for a long time."

For now, Fischer's career is on hold due to the Writers Guild of America strike that has shut down production of most TV shows and films.

"I'm definitely in a holding pattern," she said. "I can't take other jobs, because I'm under contract with the show until April, whether we're making it or not."

When the strike began in November, she said, the episode they were about to shoot centered around a dinner party thrown by Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) for the entire office staff.

"It was, like, two years in the making and it planted a lot of seeds for the rest of the season in terms of story arc," she said. "Hopefully, we'll get back at it, and all those things will pay off, and we'll get to shoot that episode."

Meanwhile, Fischer, who is separated from her husband, "Scooby Doo" writer James Gunn, intends to keep living her life outside the spotlight.

"There's nothing interesting about it," she said. "I need to flash my Britney or something, or do something more than watch 'Project Runway' and eat spaghetti." *