'Office' cast reunites virtually to celebrate a wedding
Steve Carell, center, joined fellow "The Office" cast members to surprise a couple online and witness their virtual wedding ceremony on John Krasinski's "Some Good News." Credit: AP / Mark J. Terrill
On his YouTube web series "Some Good News” on Sunday, host John Krasinski officiated the wedding ceremony of a couple whose proposal had mimicked that of his character Jim Halpert to Jenna Fischer's Pam Beesly on the sitcom "The Office." The ceremony also featured a virtual reunion of cast members from the iconic sitcom.
" 'The Office' has been something that connected the two of us for a very long time," John Lush, athletic director of Henry E. Lackey High School in Indian Head, Maryland, said of himself and his fiancee Susan "Suz” Hedrick, as the two appeared on-screen from their home. "SGN” then showed a video of the couple's proposal, which took place at night in front of a gas station, similar to Jim's proposal in the 2008 season 5 opener, "Weight Lost."
Krasinski then calls up, using videoconferencing service Zoom, the bride's parents and the two sets of the groom’s, as well as a groomsman and maid of honor, Tom and Patty Petre. Then actor-director Krasinski volunteers to be best man, and recruits as maid of honor "my dear friend, Jenna Fischer!" He further informs the astonished couple that country star Zac Brown will perform a song for them.
"When I asked him,” Krasinski tells them of Brown, "he said, 'Oh, I have this new song and you're throwing a wedding — that sounds perfect for me.' " As Brown serenades them on an acoustic guitar, Hedrick sheds a tear and grows emotional.
Afterward, Krasinski tells the couple he had become ordained specifically for this, and has the couple say their 'I dos' before him. It was unclear if Hedrick and Lush had obtained a marriage license; the couple's wedding registry at Zola.com lists a ceremony set for May 29, 2021, in Pasadena, Maryland.
Regardless, Krasinski further delights the couple by telling them that "because you so elegantly ripped off our show for your proposal, I feel like it's only fitting that you rip off the wedding, too. So, let's rock. … Ladies and gentlemen, the cast of 'The Office'!"
Twelve additional Zoom windows pop up with a dozen stars: Brian Baumgartner, Creed Bratton, Steve Carell, Kate Flannery, Ed Helms, Mindy Kaling, Ellie Kemper, Angela Kinsey, B.J. Novak, Oscar Nuñez, Phyllis Smith and Rainn Wilson.
A recording of Chris Brown's "Forever" plays, just as in the 2009 episode "Niagara," in which Jim and Pam married, and the real-life stars essentially recreate their old dance moves. This includes Wilson’s writer wife, Holiday Reinhorn, who is isolating with Wilson and takes the place of the performer in the old episode who was on the receiving end of his character's inadvertent dance kick to her face. Going full circle, the original episode's wedding-aisle choreography was an homage to a 2009 YouTube video, "JK Wedding Entrance Dance."
"I will forever be grateful to @somegoodnews @johnkrasinski for giving @CoachJLush and I this incredible opportunity," Hedrick tweeted Monday. "You've brought such joy to our hearts. And a big thank you to my maid of honor @jennafischer. This was an unforgettable experience."
"Thanks for letting me crash your wedding!" replied Fischer. "Wishing you both a lifetime of love and happines[s]."
