Jim Halpert
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| Jim Halpert | |
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| First appearance | Pilot |
| Information | |
| Aliases | "Big Tuna" (nickname given to him by coworker Andy Bernard) |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 28 |
| Occupation | Paper Salesman |
| Title | Assistant Regional Manager, former Sales Representative |
| Relationships | Dating |
| Children | None |
| Portrayed by | John Krasinski |
| Created by | Greg Daniels |
James "Jim" Halpert is a fictional character on the United States version of the television sitcom The Office, played by John Krasinski. The character is based on Tim Canterbury from the original version of The Office. The character is named after Jim Halpert, a childhood friend of executive producer Greg Daniels.
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[edit] Overview
At the beginning of the series, Jim Halpert is a paper salesman at the Scranton branch of fictitious paper-goods distributor Dunder-Mifflin. Competent but unmotivated, Jim spends much of his time conspiring with office receptionist Pam Beesly to engineer pranks on his overbearing deskmate Dwight Schrute. Much of the dramatic content of the show derives from Jim's secret crush on the engaged receptionist. It is often implied through the context of Jim's comments that he dislikes his job, and even regrets his office pranks on Dwight as a waste of time, but stays only because of his hope to be with Pam.
[edit] History
A five-year Dunder-Mifflin veteran, Jim insists the job is just an extended stop on his career path and once stated that he would throw himself in front of a train if he ever got a promotion. It is indicated throughout the series that Jim is an extremely talented salesman—in "Office Olympics" he mentions closing two sales during his lunch break. It's also suggested during the series that Jim would have been the top salesman in the company if it hadn't been for Dwight stealing his biggest client while Jim was forced to attend a meeting. Despite Jim's talent for paper sales, he is somewhat lazy and dislikes his job.
Before moving to Stamford, Jim rented a house with a roommate, Mark. By his own admission during a conversation with Pam, Jim didn't have much of a social life, staying home and watching TV most nights (although a deleted scene from "E-Mail Surveillance" reveals that he enjoys cycling as a hobby). A deleted scene from "Take Your Daughter to Work Day" also reveals that Jim frequently babysat Toby's daughter Sasha. Despite his allegedly anti-social tendencies, Jim shows a remarkable ability to make friends quickly. Dwight notes that he's a close friend of Steve, the delivery man who restocks the vending machines. He seems to know every fireman who comes to investigate the smoke emerging from the building. A Sikh IT guy comes to a barbecue at Jim's house after only meeting him that day, despite being offended by Michael while he's there. He quickly bonds with Kevin's fiance's daughter during "Take Your Daughter to Work Day"; she invites him to dinner at their house that night. He is also well-liked by most everyone at the Dunder-Mifflin office, except of course, his frequent prank-target Dwight.
Jim's nonchalant and cynical attitude toward Dunder-Mifflin are manifested by a PlayStation Portable spotted on his desk, his comic deadpan camera mugging in reaction to surprising office developments, and his inciting comments during employee meetings. Jim also loves to pull pranks, the majority of them on deskmate Dwight Schrute. Occasionally, though, these pranks inadvertently backfire on Jim, such as in "The Alliance" or "The Fight" where Jim's flirtation with Pam gets physically awkward; or "Conflict Resolution" when his prank involving an I.D. badge pushes Dwight over the edge and he demands that Michael either fire Jim or transfer him out of the Scranton office.
Although Jim is very fond of elaborate pranks, he is essentially a kind person. When an uninvited Michael crashes his party and sings karaoke in yet another painfully awkward attention-hog moment, Jim saves him from humiliation by joining in.
His relationship with Pam is occasionally the subject of office speculation, which was particularly uncomfortable when Pam was engaged to Roy Anderson, a Dunder-Mifflin warehouse worker. It was revealed (in a deleted scene) that Jim and Pam went out for lunch together when they first met and had an amazing time, until Jim found out that she was already engaged to Roy. For several months, Jim dated a purse salesgirl named Katy but broke up with her on a company "booze cruise" after watching Roy suddenly announce to the whole ship "It's time to set a date, babe" (for his wedding to Pam). Dejected, Jim privately reveals his feelings for Pam to his boss, Michael Scott, who in an uncharacteristically serious moment encourages Jim to "never give up".
From this point, Jim develops a seemingly unsteady attitude toward Pam's impending nuptuals. On the one hand, he begins dating Brenda, a corporate office employee who came along for the Booze Cruise; he also tells Kelly that if a crush doesn't like her, she should just forget about it and move on, indicating that he has done the same. On the other hand, he gets upset when he sees Pam & Roy eating lunch together, and most tellingly, becomes so depressed hearing Pam discuss the wedding that he calls a travel agency and schedules a trip to Australia, deliberately making himself unable to attend the wedding. (A deleted scene from "E-Mail Surveillance" reveals that the trip may not have been a spontaneous decision; while giving a tour of his bedroom, he points out a thick stack of travel brouchures sitting on his dresser.)
Feeling bored by work, guilty about a stack of complaints that Dwight has made about him, and tortured by his situation with Pam, he investigates a transfer to Dunder-Mifflin's Stamford office. After Jan confirms that he's gotten the transfer, Jim confesses his love for Pam and kisses her on the season two finale "Casino Night". Pam, whose wedding to Roy is all planned out and just weeks away, clearly shows her anguish but gently turns him down.
At the start of season three, Jim has already transferred to the Stamford office and received a promotion in the process. (In the episode "Diwali", the title on his nameplate reads Asst. Regional Manager.) He earns the nickname "Big Tuna" from his coworker Andy Bernard (because Jim brought a tuna sandwich to lunch the first day). Jim has trouble fitting in—a few months into his tenure at Stamford, he admits that he doesn't think the other employees even know his name. His pranks elicit extreme anger from Andy; Karen Filippelli mocks his tendency to mug at the camera when surprised by something; and both regard him as a suck-up to management. He even casually confesses that he misses the atmosphere of the laidback Scranton office in favor of the supposedly more rigid Stamford branch.
Despite the branch's rigid reputation, everyone at the Stamford office spends as much spare time as they can get playing the online game Call of Duty during work hours. However, even their recreation frustrates Jim, as he proves to be spectacularly inept at the game to the point that co-workers yell at him and threaten him for screwing up. While playing, however, Karen tells the camera she thinks he looks cute when he struggles with the game, and by the end of the day, it appears that their friendship is blossoming into something deeper (though it's hinted that her feelings are stronger than his).
When Jim meets up with Michael at a paper distributors' convention, he reveals that he knows that Pam didn't go through with her wedding, though he never makes it clear how he found out. (It's possible that Jim was lying about when exactly he found out. He indicates he has known for a long time, but when he heard Michael telling Pam "Have fun on your date!" during a phone call earlier that day, Jim reacted with obvious surprise.)
During the same convention, he tells Michael that he considers him a "great boss" and admits that he only transferred because of Pam. Michael considers Jim his best friend after this. Jim ends up summarizing his feelings about Michael when learning that his Stamford boss Josh Porter has accepted a job at Staples, therefore dooming the Stamford branch and putting most of his employees out of work; Jim muses to the camera during an interview: "Say what you will about Michael Scott, but he would never do that."
Jim was about to be named to the number two position at Dunder-Mifflin Northeast, a new division that would have been created had Stamford absorbed Scranton. However, with Josh's departure, Scranton absorbs Stamford instead. Jim is still offered the promotion, but he must relocate back to his old office. Jim is at first unwilling to return to Scranton because of Pam, but finally decides to do so. Karen, who is now involved with Jim, goes to Scranton as well, along with a few other Stamford employees.
In Scranton, Jim and Pam's reunion is awkward. Pam is unconsciously overjoyed, but Jim is clearly uncomfortable. He lets Pam know that he is seeing someone, and gradually Karen is introduced as his girlfriend. Although on the surface he truly seems to enjoy being with Karen, Jim vaguely hints during a conversation with Michael that he's not really interested in her and is only in the relationship to avoid dealing with his conflicted feelings for Pam.
As he settles back in at Scranton, Jim isn't surprised at all at once more being subjected to Michael's immature actions. He has been promoted to the number two position (presumed, though never explicitly stated, to be "Assistant Regional Manager"), the job (and title) that Dwight always wanted. But despite how he seems to have "evolved," claiming that pulling pranks again would send him back to his old slacker lifestyle, Jim does return to his old ways by focusing his pranks on Andy Bernard, his ex-Stamford coworker, as well as Dwight. Although the relationship between Jim and Dwight seems to be improving slightly, as the two later embark on a sales trip that results in a success and Dwight compliments Jim on Karen, and Dwight defends Jim from being attacked by Roy, when he sprays him in the face with pepper spray.
His feelings toward Pam still seem to be affecting his relationship with Karen. He resists the idea of her moving out the hotel in Scranton where she has been living since the merger and moving into a house two blocks away from his own because "it would be like we were living together." Jim only relents when Pam herself tells him he's being unreasonable. Karen accidentally learns of Jim's feelings for Pam during a sales call with Phyllis and confronts him about it over coffee. Jim, acting on his first instinct, lies to her, but relents and admits what happened but says that he's happy with his new relationship.
When Dwight is forced to resign (for a retail job at the inevitable Staples), and Andy begins to suck up to Jim and Michael to an obnoxious degree, Jim decides to rattle him by pulling a prank on him. Karen & Ryan decline to participate, and so Pam becomes his (very willing) accomplice. Not only does the prank lead Andy to lose control and punch a hole into the office wall, but it also leads Karen to confront Jim about Pam. Jim admits to still having feelings for Pam, although he later dismisses this after a week of late-night talks with Karen. Pam has meanwhile been through ups and downs and an unsuccessful blind date, and when she suddenly asks Ryan to set her up with one of his business school classmates in front of Jim, the camera catches his discomfort. In Phyllis' Wedding, Jim hints that he would be interested if, hypothetically, Pam were interested in him. Unfortunately, Jim then sees Pam leave Phyllis's reception hand in hand with Roy, and declares "Here's a non-hypothetical. I'm really happy I'm with Karen." Jim seems committed to the statement, to the point of mocking the documentary crew on one occasion while answering a question about office relationships.
In "Cocktails", Roy reacts violently when he learns that Pam kissed Jim during "Casino Night" and attempts to attack him at the beginning of "The Negotiation".
[edit] Jim's pranks
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This is a list of the many pranks Jim has played on Dwight, Andy, or any other unsuspecting coworker:
- Encased Dwight's stapler in Jell-O. ("Pilot")
- Encased Michael's 'World's Best Boss' coffee mug in Jell-O. ("Pilot")
- Changed Dwight's assigned "race" from "ASIAN" to "DWIGHT" in a game created by Michael where employees wore a card on their head with differing races, and each had to try to guess their own race by the way their co-workers treated them. ("Diversity Day", deleted scene)
- Locked Dwight inside his own "work space". ("Health Care")
- Assisted Pam in preparing a list of absurdly fake ailments during Dwight's dictatorial reign over the office's health care plan. ("Health Care")
- Agreed to participate in an "alliance" with Dwight, which resulted with Dwight being voluntarily packaged in a box in the warehouse and dying his hair blond in order to spy on the Stamford branch. ("The Alliance") This prank backfired when Roy caught Jim with Pam.
- Convinced Dwight to purchase a purse from a vendor ("Hot Girl"), and then made fun of him for having it (deleted scene).
- Found Dwight's wallet in the parking lot, and decided, on Pam's suggestion, to give the wallet back to Dwight intact and unchanged. Dwight suspiciously cancelled all his credit cards. ("Office Olympics", deleted scene)
- Posted Dwight's résumé online and impersonated Michael Scott when a prospective employer called for a reference. ("Halloween")
- Relocated Dwight's desk to the men's restroom. ("The Fight")
- Popped Dwight's fitness orb. ("Performance Review")
- Convinced Dwight a Thursday was a Friday, leading to Dwight's tardiness on the following day. ("Performance Review")
- Placed Dwight's wallet and desk items in the company vending machine, which Dwight had to buy back with a bag of nickels. ("Booze Cruise")
- Convinced Dwight to give a "Salesman of the Year" award speech patterned after a speech by Benito Mussolini ("Dwight's Speech") The prank backfired; the speech was a success.
- Paid coworkers five dollars to call Dwight "Dwayne" for an entire day. (Mentioned in "Conflict Resolution")
- Convinced Dwight an abandoned infant was in the women's restroom, causing him to walk in on Meredith "on the can." (Mentioned in "Conflict Resolution")
- Created a macro causing Dwight's name to read "diapers" when input on Dwight's own PC. (Mentioned in "Conflict Resolution")
- Replaced Dwight's writing instruments with crayons. (Mentioned in "Conflict Resolution")
- Incrementally increased the weight of Dwight's telephone handset using nickels, then abruptly decreased the weight, causing Dwight to smack himself in the face with the phone. (Mentioned in "Conflict Resolution")
- Placed a bloody glove in Dwight's desk and attempted to convince him that he had committed murder. (Mentioned in "Conflict Resolution")
- Labeled Dwight a security threat on an oversized identification badge and typed "Fart" as his middle name. ("Conflict Resolution")
- Moved Dwight's desk two feet closer to the copier by moving it about an inch every time Dwight went to the bathroom. (Mentioned in "Conflict Resolution")
- Encircled Dwight's desk in police tape, then arranged for Dwight's phone to ring, leaving Dwight unable to answer the phone because it would require him to cross the police tape. ("Conflict Resolution", deleted scene).
- With the help of Pam, convinced Dwight that he (Jim) had telekinetic powers. ("Casino Night")
- Held Dwight's bobblehead doll for $5 ransom. (Third Season Primetime Preview)
- Encased Andy's calculator in Jell-O. ("Gay Witch Hunt") This prank backfired when Andy reacted violently.
- Convinced Dwight (and Michael) that gaydar was a genuine device and ultimately sent a hand-held metal detector decorated with "gaydar" branding, causing Dwight to panic when the "gaydar" went off as he inadvertently scanned himself. ("Gay Witch Hunt")
- Gained access to Dwight's hotel room at a paper convention in Philadelphia. Jim abandoned his prank when he caught a glimpse of what he thought was a hooker in Dwight's room. ("The Convention")
- Made high-pitched noises with Pam hoping Dwight would schedule an appointment with an ear doctor. Pam called it "Pretendinitis." (Mentioned in "The Coup")
- Sent faxes signed "Future Dwight" on Dwight's own stationery, such as one warning that the coffee is poisoned, causing Dwight to run and "save" Stanley from drinking the coffee. ("Branch Closing")
- Stared at Dwight's forehead, causing Dwight to think something was on his forehead. ("The Merger")
- Gave Andy wildly incorrect "tips" on winning Pam's affections. ("The Convict")
- Ordered fifteen large sausage pizzas to the office under the name 'Dwight'. When they arrived Dwight was forced to pay for all of them("The Convict" Deleted Scene)
- Told Dwight the CIA wanted him to go on a secret mission, getting him to wait on the roof for a helicopter, Jim then sends Dwight a text message informing him that the mission has been compromised and to destroy his cell phone. Dwight then threw his phone off the top of the building. ("A Benihana Christmas")
- Told Dwight that their waitress suffered from narcolepsy and couldn't remember how to butcher a goose. Dwight then graphically explained the procedure, to her shock. ("A Benihana Christmas")
- While Dwight tape recorded a meeting for Michael, Jim said out loud that Dwight was completely nude, save for a baby bonnet and an Animal (from the Muppet Babies) tattoo on his stomach, holding a plastic knife to Stanley's neck. ("Back from Vacation")
- Glued Dwight's office drawers together. (Mentioned in "Back from Vacation", deleted scene)
- Changed Dwight's voicemail to make him sound like a chipmunk. (Mentioned in "Back from Vacation", deleted scene)
- Told Dwight there was a 4am meeting. (Mentioned in "Back from Vacation", deleted scene)
- Shipped Dwight's desk by mail to Roswell, New Mexico, where Dwight was vacationing. (Mentioned in "Back from Vacation", deleted scene)
- Hid Andy's cell phone in the ceiling above his desk, and then, along with Pam, called it repeatedly. ("The Return") This resulted in Andy punching a hole in the office wall.
- Instead of hiring a male stripper at Michael's request, hired a Benjamin Franklin impersonator. ("Ben Franklin")
- Attempted to convince Dwight that the Ben Franklin impersonator was the real Franklin. Dwight claimed he was 99% sure Jim was lying, but extensively quizzed the impersonator on Franklin and contemporary trivia. ("Ben Franklin")
- Conditioned Dwight to expect an Altoid mint each time he heard a computer chime by offering Dwight a mint, imitating the Pavlov's Dogs Experiment. ("Phyllis' Wedding")
- Manipulated Dwight into patrolling for wedding crashers. ("Phyllis' Wedding")
- Convinces Dwight that he (Jim) is turning into a vampire after being bitten by a bat, causing Dwight to make a wooden stake, just in case. ("Business School")
- When Michael tried to release himself from a straightjacket, Michael drops the key, and Jim quickly hides the key with his foot, causing Michael to be in a straightjacket for the rest of the day. ("Cocktails")
[edit] Trivia
- Jim lists a relative named "Larissa" (presumably his mother) as his emergency contact.
- Jim played basketball in high school.
- In earlier episodes, Jim drives an early 00's maroon Toyota Corolla. In the third season, he drives a Saab 9-2X.
- His favorite food is soft-shell crab ("Halloween"). According to Ryan in "Dwight's Speech", Jim eats a ham-and-cheese sandwich every day for lunch. Jim even orders the meal when being treated to lunch at Hooters. However, Jim brought a tuna sandwich to work in a deleted scene from "The Alliance". In a deleted scene from "Diwali", Jim favored eel sushi over tuna, much to the surprise of Andy, who calls him "Big Tuna." Jim reports in a talking head that he believes it is because Andy cannot remember Jim's name.
- Likes Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and the band Travis (the latter's song "Side" was playing at his barbecue party, and he sways with Pam to "Sing")
- Jim is a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Jim Halpert Quotes - at QuotesFromTheOffice.com
- I Heart Jim T-Shirt - at NBCUniversalStore.com
| Characters of The Office (US version) |
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Main characters |
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Michael Scott | Jim Halpert | Pam Beesly | Dwight Schrute | Ryan Howard |
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Minor characters |
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Accounting: Angela Martin | Oscar Martinez | Kevin Malone |
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Miscellaneous characters |
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Katy | Devon | Carol Stills | Bob Vance | Josh Porter | Billy Merchant | Tony Gardner | Martin Nash | Hannah Smoterich-Barr | Stacy | Brenda Matlow | Hank Tate | Ed Truck | Mose Schrute |
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Episodes: Season One • Season Two • Season Three • Webisodes |
