During an appearance on the "Office Ladies" podcast, during which "Office" stars Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey go back through every single episode of the hit show, Melora Hardin revealed she had little time to prepare for her audition since the actress only found out it was happening immediately beforehand. As Mashable reports, Hardin recalled, "It was sort of a last-minute, like 'come in and read for this,' which I did, and I remember that I went in and literally looked at the sides right there before." Naturally, the actress nailed it, and these days it's impossible to imagine anybody else playing her role. However, Jan was originally just a guest star who appeared in the pilot. While filming the episode, though, it quickly became clear how good she and Michael were together.

As Hardin explained, "We sort of were like, well, yeah that's funny. If we get a pick-up and we get an opportunity to do more of the show than just the six [episodes] that we were doing ... our first season, then it'll be fun. We should have them hook up." She added, "We kind of felt like there was a little spark between them, and we kind of conjured it on the pilot." 

Although the "Bold Type" star relished working with Steve Carrell and Tim Meadows, she found it increasingly difficult to keep a straight face on set, admitting, "Every time we would cut I would just burst into laughter."