Jan Levinson
| Jan | |
|---|---|
| The Office character | |
 |
|
| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Last appearance |
|
| Created by | Greg Daniels |
| Portrayed by | Melora Hardin |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Hillary Rodham Clinton, Godzillary, Ice Queen, Janet |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Former Vice President of Sales, Dunder Mifflin |
| Family | Unnamed sister |
| Spouse(s) | Art Gould (ex-husband) |
| Significant other(s) | Michael Scott (ex-boyfriend) |
| Children | Astrid (daughter) |
| Nationality | American |
| Based on | Jennifer Taylor-Clarke |
Janet "Jan" Levinson (formerly Levinson-Gould) is a recurring fictional character from the US television series The Office. Her counterpart in the UK version is Jennifer Taylor-Clarke. She is portrayed by Melora Hardin. She is the Vice President of Northeast Sales at the paper distribution company Dunder Mifflin, directly supervising central character and Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch, Michael Scott. Her character is notable for the dysfunctional relationship she enters with Michael following the second season episode, "The Client", until the fourth season episode "Dinner Party". Michael and Jan's personas contrast to much humor in the series, particularly in their professional attitudes and social interactions, although Jan's erratic and sexually-domineering mental state of mind leads to her firing.
Jan Levinson-Gould as Vice President has a no-nonsense management style that is at odds with Michael's more casual approach. Since her office is in New York, Jan's contact with the Scranton branch is largely by telephone, although she will make the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Scranton if necessary. She usually asks if she's on camera when talking to Michael on the speaker phone, and Michael often lies and tells her she is not, before admitting that they are—at which point she hangs up on him. While initially based on Jennifer Taylor-Clarke from the UK version, her character develops in a different direction.
In a deleted scene from "Dinner Party," it is implied that Jan grew up in West Virginia. The "Serenity by Jan" website indicates that she had an unhappy childhood and ran away from home, and she once said that her family refused to speak to her anymore "on advice of counsel".
She initially drives a Volvo S80 and Volvo S60, and trades it in with Michael's Sebring for a shared Porsche Boxster. However, she is seen in season five with a Toyota Highlander. She smokes in stressful situations and indulges in self-destructive tendencies with poor judgment in spite of her inherent competence and professional attitude. She demonstrates a strong and often fetishist sexuality which sometimes intimidates Michael, such as when he revealed in "Women's Appreciation" that Jan did not always abide by their safety word "foliage". It is implied that she may have taken the virginity of her assistant, Hunter, of whom Michael is jealous.
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