who plays jim halpert?
John Krasinski
contradiction
 According to Jenna Fischer , the series used an unusual casting process which did not involve a script . The producers would ask the actors several questions and they would respond as the characters they were auditioning for . NBC programmer Kevin Reilly originally suggested Paul Giamatti to producer Ben Silverman for the role of Michael Scott , but the actor declined . Martin Short , Hank Azaria , and Bob Odenkirk were reported to be interested in the part . In January 2004 , Variety reported that Steve Carell , of the popular Comedy Central program The Daily Show with Jon Stewart , was in talks to play the role . At the time , he was already committed to another NBC mid @-@ season replacement comedy , Come to Papa , but the series was quickly canceled , allowing his full commitment to The Office . Carell later stated that he had only seen about half of the original pilot episode of the British series before he auditioned . He did not continue watching for fear that he would start copying Gervais ' characterizations . Other people who were considered or auditioned for the role included Ben Falcone , Alan Tudyk , Jim Zulevic , and Paul F. Tompkins . Rainn Wilson was cast as power @-@ hungry sycophant Dwight Schrute , and he watched every episode of the series before he auditioned . Wilson had originally auditioned for Michael , a performance that he described as a " terrible Ricky Gervais impersonation " ; however , the casting directors liked his audition as Dwight much more and hired him . Seth Rogen , Matt Besser , Patton Oswalt , and Judah Friedlander also auditioned for the role . 

entailment
 Jim Halpert ( John Krasinski ) returns from jury duty and learns that , in his week @-@ long absence , his co @-@ workers were forced to make up for his vacancy , suffering setbacks and inconveniences in the process . Jim reveals to the camera that , while he was called for duty , he was dismissed at noon and headed home to Pam and their two children ; he saw that Pam was overwhelmed and took the rest of the week off to help take care of their children . To appease his interested co @-@ workers , Jim fabricates numerous details of his jury duty , and Dwight Schrute ( Rainn Wilson ) becomes suspicious when Jim mistakenly refers to a food truck franchise Toby ate at during his jury duty as a " restaurant " . Dwight accuses Jim of lying about jury duty and extracts from Andy a promise to fire Jim if it proves he was indeed lying . Ashamed , Jim privately admits his guilt to Andy , who insists that they keep the matter a secret so that he won 't be held to his promise to fire Jim . However , Dwight increases his attempts to prove Jim 's guilt , and Jim finally decides to defy Andy 's orders and tell his co @-@ workers the truth rather than wait for Dwight to inevitably expose him . While this angers most of the employees , Dwight is thrilled at the confession and demands that Andy keep his promise to fire Jim . Andy refuses , so Dwight tries to contact Gabe . To smooth things over , Jim and Pam bring in their children , Cece and Phillip , to present pictures that they drew for the co @-@ workers . It becomes clear that Jim and Pam drew the pictures themselves , but before the members of the office can berate the couple , Cece and Phillip begin crying loudly , creating a cacophony that Jim and Pam struggle to control , forcing them to take the children back to the car . Realizing the stress that having young children causes , the office workers , ultimately , do not blame Jim for his behavior and even suggest he leave early to help Pam . 

contradiction
 The writers decided to kill off agent Pendrell in this episode . Actor Brendan Beiser portrayed the character in eight other episodes , first appearing in the third season episode " Nisei " . Val Steffof , the assistant director of the filming crew , wanted a part , telling director Kim Manners " you know , I can act " ; this led to Steffof being cast as a bartender . The song " Unmarked Helicopters " by Soul Coughing can be heard playing in Max Fenig 's trailer ; the song also appeared on the 1996 compilation album Songs in the Key of X : Music from and Inspired by the X @-@ Files . 

entailment
 Hamm starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe in the Ovation television dark comedy A Young Doctor 's Notebook , playing an older version of Radcliffe 's character , from December 2012 to December 2013 . He had a number of roles in 2015 , in the comedy shows Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Wet Hot American Summer : First Day of Camp , as well as the animated comedy Minions , as the voice of Herb Overkill . Minions was a major box office success ; despite mixed reviews , it grossed a total of over $ 1 billion worldwide . 

entailment
 Jim Halpert ( John Krasinski ) is on a business call with the investors and members of the business venture he is up for . Many distractions from the background make the call difficult . At the end of the day , Jim apologizes , but then hears the person on the phone saying this is not working out . Meanwhile , Toby Flenderson ( Paul Lieberstein ) convinces several of the men in the office to grow mustaches for " Movember " . He says he is doing this to support the cure for prostate cancer but is actually using it for a chance to socialize more with the office , to no avail . Pete ( Jake Lacy ) later shows Erin his mustache , but she finds it repulsive . He shaves it off shortly after that . 
