Perhaps one of the most dysfunctional, and yet endearing romances on television, the relationship between Jan and Michael on The Office remains an enigma to many fans, including us here at MeeVee. I talked with Melora Hardin who plays Jan at the TCA Press Tour this month, where she reveals the who, what, where, and why Jan continues to 
submit herself to Michael’s constant boorish behavior.
What do you think Jan sees in Michael?
Here’s a man who adores her, loves her, wants her, is like a bull in a china shop who comes barreling through all her defenses, and I think that’s irresistible to her. And I also think it’s appealing to her that there’s somebody so wrong for her - I think that just makes for a chemical attraction. I think she is a really isolated woman.
What do you think made her that way?
I think, in general, she’s been a woman fighting in a corporate world. She’s become very good at becoming a man in a man’s world. I think she’s lost a part of herself because of that. [But] she’s a very sexual woman, and she’s a very soft woman. That’s how I like to describe her.
What does Michael see in her?
Many men are intimidated by her. Michael is not. [Jan's] a hard woman on the outside, but she’s got a soft, gooey center. That’s what he wants and that’s what he goes for.
What's next for them?
Well, they’re officially dating. I think it’s going to be a rocky road. It’s going to be a little more of them being out of step with each other, and how they deal with that now that they’re in an intimate relationship, and actually making that public, saying, "We’re an item."
I thought Corporate was against interoffice romance...
Yeah, I think they are, unless you disclose it. So now it’s been disclosed. Well, it’s going to be [addressed] anyway, any minute. You guys don’t know that, but it will be.
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