As revealed in the book “The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s” by Andy Greene, from the moment plans were in place to introduce Erin Hannon, folks were worried that she would come across too much like Pam Beesly. “The concern off the bat was that she was going to be too much like Pam,” revealed writer Warren Lieberstein (via Cheat Sheet). To counteract this, they tried their hardest to make her as different from Pam as possible. As Lieberstein recalls, she became a people-pleaser who was just behind the curve and thought the world of Michael Scott — very much setting her apart from Pam.
This course ultimately helped Erin not become a forgettable clone of Pam, but all in all, the “Office” writers didn’t always take Erin in the right direction. According to Ellie Kemper herself, one of the weakest elements of her character was her relationship with Ed Helms’ Andy Bernard. “I felt like Andy was a bit too childish. He wasn’t ready to take care of Erin. Erin was ready to take care of Andy, but I felt that it was uneven in that respect,” she told Kevin Malone actor Brian Baumgartner during her appearance on his podcast, “An Oral History of The Office.”
Like pretty much every character on “The Office,” Erin Hannon had her share of ups and downs. Thankfully, she now endures as a fully-fledged character all her own — not one remembered for being identical to Pam Beesly.
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