Jenna Fischer admits to the first celebrity she called after being diagnosed with cancer

Jenna Fischer says a famous friend provided some much-needed levity during her illness.

The “Office” actress recently opened up about her private year-long experience with breast cancer and is opening up about her battle in an effort to continue raising awareness for life-saving mammograms – and named the first celebrity she called after her diagnosis.

“I called (Christina Applegate) and she answered the phone and said, 'Which one is it?'” Fischer told Hoda Kotb in an exclusive “TODAY” show interview published Monday. “And I said, 'It's breast cancer.' And she said, 'I fucking knew it.'”

“She's salty,” the actress continued about her former co-star. “Salty language. I love her for that.”

Not only did Applegate star alongside Fischer in Hall Pass in 2011, but she was also diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, which allowed her to develop a relationship with Fischer and connect her with other survivors. Fischer said Monday that they took their trip “together.”

However, Fischer recently publicly announced her diagnosis in an Instagram post for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The actress said Monday that there were “a few breakouts” after undergoing a routine mammogram last October, which she had been putting off.

Fischer said the “dense tissue” in her breasts produced inconclusive results, leading to a recommended ultrasound and a later biopsy that found a “10 percent chance that it was cancer.” She recalled a hike when an email confirmed her stage 1 ductal carcinoma.

“I think the news that really hit me was when we found out I was triple positive and my oncologist said chemotherapy,” the mother of two told Kotb, adding that given the diagnosis, ” “incredulous.” “I really lost it then.”

Fischer, 50, ultimately underwent radiation and a lumpectomy in addition to chemotherapy, which led to rampant hair loss and a difficult conversation with her children, Weston Lee, 13, and 10-year-old Harper Marie.

“You’ll see,” she told Kotb. “And the most important thing I wanted to tell them was that the way I appeared sick during this process were side effects of treatments. It wasn't cancer that made me sick. I think that distinction really calmed her down.”

Fischer continued: “And then we just did it together. And they were great.”

The Primetime Emmy nominee fortunately caught the disease early despite her delayed mammogram last year, but said that although she is now cancer-free, she is continuing her treatment with Tamoxifen and Herceptin, two common breast cancer medications, for the next year.

Applegate, 52, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021. The central nervous system disease, which affects both the brain and spinal cord and can cause symptoms such as speech problems, cognitive problems, mood swings and numbness in the limbs, according to the Mayo Clinic.