Jenna Fischer reveals the “Office” cast used to IM each other — and fans — during scenes

And it was all thanks to John Krasinski, because of course it was.

The Office set functioned much like a real office — in more ways than one. Turns out, the cast would even instant message each other — and fans — on their characters' computers while filming.

In the July 17 episode of their Office Ladies podcast, hosts Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer — who played Angela Martin and Pam Beesly on the beloved workplace comedy — recounted how it all went down while answering a fan's question about how the characters got their AOL IM screen names on the show.

"John Krasinski," Fischer replied of her costar. "John went around to our computers and set up instant message. When we got the Internet, he did this so we could joke around in the background of scenes."

"I got to work one day, and he was like, 'Check it out,'" Fischer continued. "And he showed me my little instant message screen and that my name was 'receptionitis15,' I was like, 'What is this name?'"

"I remember that he talked us through, the rest of us, how to do it," Kinsey explained, adding that her screen name was "MSaccountant." "We really kept on theme for our characters. We were so tickled that we could now IM each other during scenes."

Related: Here's how the new Office series connects to the original U.S. series

The cast — which also included the likes of Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Phyllis Smith, B.J. Novak, and more — weren't the only ones who got to enjoy the fun, though.

"We weren't just IMing each other either, I would IM with fans during scenes," Fischer revealed, adding that Novak was the one who gave her that idea initially. "Remember when we had MySpace? Somehow I would get the IMs of fans through MySpace, and I would write things, and I would say, 'When you watch the episode 'Healthcare,' there's going to be a scene where Dwight is talking about hot dog fingers, and I'm IMing you during this scene.'"

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For her part, Kinsey apparently didn't get in on the latter antics with fans. "I kinda remember now you guys doing that," she said. "And we'd be like, 'What? You're talking to people right now?!'"

Related: The Office's 15 best episodes, ranked

Office Ladies will return on Aug. 14.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.