Jenna Fischer cites grueling schedule as reason for leaving acting

During a recent interview on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner’s On Me podcast, Jenna Fischer revealed that the exhaustive schedule of the sitcom Splitting Up Together convinced her to leave acting altogether. She described weeks of 65 to 70 hours as unsustainable, especially while raising small children. After the show ended in 2019, she shifted her focus to family life with husband Lee Kirk and their kids, Weston and Harper, and to co-hosting the Office Ladies podcast with Angela Kinsey.

Fischer noted that the stability she enjoyed during The Office’s nine-season run was a rare privilege. She now enjoys being present for school drop-offs, pick-ups, and extracurricular activities, a freedom she previously lacked.