What Jack Black Movie Are They Watching In The Office?

By the time the fifth season of "The Office" rolled around, the NBC workplace comedy was on top of the world. Steve Carell had become a household name, and the series was one of the most popular shows on network television. That's why the show was given a prime post-Super Bowl timeslot in February 2009. In fact, the show was given an entire hour for a two-part episode titled "Stress Relief," and it's become one of the funniest and most beloved episodes of the entire series run.

However, this created a bit of a challenge for creator Greg Daniels and his writing staff. Because of the high profile timeslot, most shows that come on right after the end of the Super Bowl typically bring in some big name guest stars in order to keep audiences unfamiliar interested after the big game is over. But "The Office" was a series set in a grounded reality where having big stars pop up for guest roles went against the grain of the entire series. Seeing someone like Jack Black or Jessica Alba show up in "The Office" just wouldn't feel right... unless they figured out a unique way to bring them into the show without shattering the authentic universe they'd carved out in Scranton, Pennsylvania. 

The primary plot in "Stress Relief" finds the oddball Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) carrying out an unofficial and dangerous test of the office's fire safety preparation by setting a contained fire that creates a faux emergency. As the entire office panics — Oscar (Oscar Nunez) climbs into the ceiling in an attempted escape, Michael (Carell) throws a projector through a conference room windows to shout for help, and Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) breaks into the vending machines — Stanley (Leslie David Baker) gets so scared that he has a heart attack. But the B-plot allows for the show's Super Bowl guest stars to make an appearance.

Pam (Jenna Fischer) is having a difficult time due to her parents hitting a rough patch in their marriage. It creates some feelings of insecurity in her relationship with Jim (John Krasinski), which causes some miscommunication and confusion with Andy (Ed Helms), as they spend their breaks watching a pirated movie called "Mrs. Albert Hannaday." In it, Jack Black plays a man who is engaged to Jessica Alba's character but falls in love with her grandmother, played by Cloris Leachman. 

But is this a real movie?

The appearance of "Mrs. Albert Hannaday" on "The Office" has led a lot of unfamiliar fans to seek out the movie in question. However, if you try to track this one down, you'll have a hard time finding it. That's because it's a fake movie that was created solely to be featured in "The Office," and there's actually quite an interesting story behind its inception.

First of all, as we said, Greg Daniels was not interested in bringing in big guest stars for the post-Super Bowl episode of "The Office." Despite the fact that the show would eventually have the likes of Will Ferrell, James Spader, Jim Carrey, Will Arnett, and Ray Romano appear as possible replacements after Steve Carell left, not to mention appearances from Kathy Bates, Timothy Olpyhant, and more, at this time in the show's existence, bringing in a big guest star would just shatter the documentary universe of the show. As Jenna Fischer recalled on "The Office Ladies" podcast:

"Greg came up with this idea, this fix that would not infect the reality of the show. And that was where the idea for Pam, Jim and Andy to watch this pirated movie. I guess Teri Weinberg, who was one of our original executive producers, was now working as the executive vice president of NBC Entertainment, and Greg said that she was really instrumental in fighting, like, the kind of top brass at NBC to agree to this fix."

However, as Fischer and co-host Angela Kinsey revealed, "Mrs. Albert Hannaday" was not the original idea for the pirated movie that Jim, Pam, and Andy watch at the office. Instead, the original movie was called "Hang Glider Cop," which would have had Jack Black playing a rogue cop named Tanner who is punished by being assigned to the hang gliding division. 

But even when "The Office" writers settled on "Mrs. Albert Hannaday," the original iteration was intended to have one more big guest star. 

Towards the end of what we see of "Mrs. Albert Hannaday," in scene that was seemingly deleted from the final cut of the episode, Jack Black's character witnesses Cloris Leachman's character' making out with a much younger man as he watches through her living room window. (Note: this was a different scene than the one with Jack Black kissing Cloris Leachman, seen below.) That man was originally supposed to be "The Iron Claw" and "Neighbors" star Zac Efron, as revealed by Nate Fetterman, one of the writer's assistants who worked on "Stress Relief."

Fetterman sent in a voice note to "The Office Ladies" podcast, and he detailed how he ended up being the one who made out with Cloris Leachman instead. He recalled:

"Originally, my part was supposed to be for Zac Efron and there were actual lines, but he turned it down and so did Corbin Blue and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. And the day before it was supposed to shoot, they hadn't cast it and all the lines had been cut. And they really just needed somebody who was young looking to make out with Cloris Leachman. They didn't have to be handsome or famous. So enter me. Paul Lieberstein and Jeff Blitz, who is directing the episode, pulled me aside at work and asked me if I was interested in doing the part."

Worried that he hadn't performed since elementary school, Fetterman was cautious about accepting the responsibility — but $500 and residuals sounded like a good deal to take the risk. Thankfully, the late, legendary Cloris Leachman tried to make Fetterman more comfortable in the hair and makeup trailer when she came up, ran her hands through his fair, and said, "I hear that you and I are going to be doing some kissing later." Fetterman went on to explain how shooting the scene went:

"So eventually it's time for the kissing scene with Cloris. And we're positioned on the couch and she's sitting on my lap and I have my arms around her and we're talking and it's very pleasant and she's very nice and she's telling me about her children. But then right before we do the actual take, she gets real serious. You know, she's getting into character and she looks me in the eye, and I'll never forget this. She goes, 'when they call action, I want you to grab my a** and really get up in the crack.' So when they called action, I grabbed her a** and I really got up in that crack. And we did the scene. We shot it many times. They had to get it from a lot of different angles. So we ended up making out quite a bit. She did say a variety of other pretty raunchy things. She's an expert at dirty talk, but it was an amazing experience. And I'm incredibly grateful that my five seconds of fame were spent with an absolute legend like Cloris Leachman."

Making out with Cloris Leachman, $500, residuals, and a small role in one of the best episodes of "The Office" ever made? Not a bad day at work at all.