'The Office' cast breaks down what it was like to film Meredith's hair on fire

'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the office, not a creature was stirring, except for Meredith Palmer, because her hair was on fire.

Yes, that's right, Office fans. In the latest episode of the Office Ladies podcast, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey chatted all about the Season 5 episode, "Moroccan Christmas," aka the episode when Meredith's hair catches on fire in the conference room. Ah, what memories.

Kim M. Ferry, a hairstylist who worked as a member of The Office's hair and makeup crew for eight seasons, told Mashable in 2020, the show had some pretty wild hair moments. But if you've always wondered what went into this particular fiery stunt, you're in luck.

Fischer and Kinsey, along with producer Randy Corday and actor Kate Flannery (Meredith), broke down what it was like to film this scorching hot scene. Spoiler alert: It included a stunt double, a smelly wig, and the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Sending Meredith up in flames

To kick off the deep dive, Fischer recalled the scene for listeners: "Meredith is dancing up a storm in the conference room and she sets her hair on fire. Dwight has to rush in and put it out with a fire extinguisher."

"We have a lot to share with you because this is one of the biggest stunts I think we ever did in the bullpen," Kinsey said.

"For sure. A person was on fire," Fischer confirmed.

As we learned from the Office Ladies episode where the cast chatted about Meredith getting hit by a car, Flannery often did her own stunts on the show. But for this particular stunt Flannery used a stunt double.

"First of all, we did use a stunt double for Kate. Her name was Marie Fink. Our stunt coordinator that day was Scott Leva. And he had to do a bunch of prep for this. He had to send a whole plan in to NBC Universal Safety Department explaining how exactly we would do this safely. We had safety officers on set. We had a special effects crew on set, and we had the [Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD)] on set," Fischer said.

"Kate said there were so many people from the fire department there that they like took up a whole wall," Kinsey replied.

"Now, Paul Feig [director and producer] specifically staged this scene so that Meredith was dancing alone in the conference room and this was done to make it safer," Fischer revealed. "And they dressed the stunt double, Marie, in this full fireproof body suit. It's called like a Nomex. And she wore like a head stocking that was flameproof and then she put on Kate's wardrobe. I guess these Nomex suits are what race car drivers wear when they're racing, you know, in case their car burst into flames."

Then, Ferry, the hairstylist we mentioned earlier, created a bunch of different wigs for the stunt. Unfortunately for Flannery, she had to wear a burnt one to film the rest of the episode.

"Kate shared about these wigs, you guys. Kate said, 'Ange, they were natural hair. And then they actually burned the wigs with fire.' And she said, 'I had to wear the stinkiest wig the whole rest of the week because, you know, when you burn hair, you know the smell,'" Kinsey said.

Via Giphy

In addition to the fireproof head stocking and and full body suit, Fischer explained that they put a flammable gel all over the stunt double's body and hair. Then, she used a real candle in the conference room to set her hair on fire.

"I guess they did have a stunt double dressed as Dwight. His name was Shawn Crowder. But in the end, it was actually Rainn. Rainn ran in and put out the stunt double with an actual fire extinguisher," Fischer said. 

"I know. No pressure, Rainn," Kinsey joked. "But Kate said he did it. And then Kate said for continuity they had to take Marie out. And Kate stepped back in with the burnt wig, right?"

"The smelly burnt wig kind of assumed the same position Marie was in, and then Rainn had to spray Kate with the real fire extinguisher. So Kate got hosed as well," she continued.

The scene was reportedly shot in a single take, which was ideal for everyone involved. And while Flannery and her stunt double didn't share the screen, they did collaborate on something very important: Meredith's smoking hot dance moves.

"Randy told me that Kate and Marie got together and planned out the dance moves," Fischer said. "— So that Marie could look exactly like Kate in her movements. Yes," Kinsey chimed in.

"[It's] amazing to me because it looks like completely spontaneous dancing, but they really planned it so that it would coordinate. So they were doing the same thing," Fischer said.

A truly masterful execution, Merediths.

Be sure to listen to the full podcast and read about more behind-the-scenes stories from filming "Moroccan Christmas."

You can stream episodes of The Office on Peacock and follow along with the podcast every week on Earwolf, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.