Phyllis Smith is the definition of someone whose hard work made her a well-known name in Hollywood. After years of being a "normal" woman working in an office and later as a casting assistant, Phyllis's knowledge of the acting world paid off big time in her first shot at fame in NBC's The Office.
As a St. Louis, Missouri native, Phyllis moved to Hollywood to work behind-the-scenes in the acting world, which led her to the successful career she has today — something she never imagined for herself. And while we've all fallen in love with her portrayal as Phyllis Vance on The Office, let's take a look at 10 things we didn't know about this actress.
She Used To Be A Casting Assistant
According to The Office, she worked in the casting department for 19 years. It was during that time that Smith was reading lines with potential actors for The Office when writers realized how much potential Smith could add to the cast.
By reading lines with so many actors and actresses for almost 20 years, Smith said, "Evidently, I was honing a craft I didn’t know I would ever use or need." She continued saying, "But when you think about it, when you’re reading with actors on a daily basis, you can see what works and what doesn’t, are they telling the truth, do you believe them?"
And A Professional Dancer!
Before Phyllis was a known name in film and TV, her first ion was dancing. As a teen, she was a cheerleader in high school, which led her to become a professional cheerleader for the NFL in the '70s! When her cheering days were over, she focused on dancing where she danced for two companies in St. Louis and in San Diego.
By the time Smith was in her 30's, Smith was tap dancing and doing jazz that was part of a burlesque show! Sadly for Smith, a few injuries ended her professional dancing career but she still loves to dance when there's music playing.
She's A Target Fanatic
Seeing as Phyllis was a "normal" gal before making it big by accident, she's even more relatable with this next confession: Phyllis is a Target fanatic!
She told fan approached her from another aisle after hearing her distinct voice from afar.
She Was Supposed To Play Steve Carell's Mom
This one's a real doozy. After the premiere of Steve Carell's 40-Year-Old Virgin in 2005, Steve became an overnight success (as did the movie). And while his celebrity only helped The Office's fandom grow more, it turns out that Phyllis was actually supposed to be in the movie as well.
As she told Slate, she was cast as Carell's mother but her scenes never made the final cut for the movie. She only filmed two scenes where she was trying to tell a young Andy to stop playing with himself. Thinking about the Smith working with Carell on more than one project is enough to make Office fans go wild.
A Memoir May Be In Her Future
What makes Phyllis Smith so relatable and beloved by fans is that her celebrity hasn't gone to her head. With so many celebrities writing memoirs about their lives and releasing never-heard-before stories, it makes sense that fans of Smith's would be interested in a book.
But when someone approached her about the possibility of her writing a book, she was shocked that people would be interested. As she said, "I’m very blessed and grateful. It’s like I’m a normal person with an extraordinary journey" and she wouldn't rule out the option of a memoir.
She's Actually Really Good At Basketball
According to The Office Ladies podcast, when Angela Kinsey (Angela) and Jenna Fischer (Pam) talked about the episode "Basketball," they both noted how athletic Phyllis was and how good she was at basketball.
Whenever there was any kind of game or physical activity, Phyllis was incredibly athletic and shocked her co-stars by her surprise talents.
She Used To Do Real Work At Her Desk On The Office
Phyllis Vance was a big part of Dunder Mifflin Scranton who had been there from the start. She may not have had a ton of lines in comparison to other salesmen like Dwight or Jim but her role was important.
In many of the scenes of The Office, we see everyone working in the background at their desks. And just in case you ever wondered what Phyllis was working on, it wasn't sales for Dunder Mifflin paper — it was her own work. In one interview, she said she was doing her own taxes and she created her own Christmas cards while on set, too.
The Role For Bad Teacher Fell In Her Lap (And She Loved Working With Cameron Diaz)
In 2011, Phyllis was cast as Lynn in Bad Teacher. The movie starred a ball-busting Cameron Diaz and Phyllis played her sweet sidekick. It all came about when Phyllis was in hair and makeup for The Office when a writer asked her to audition for the part.
Cameron ended up loving Phyllis's portrayal of Lynn and said “I saw the tape, and you are this person.” Phyllis got the gig and said that working with Cameron was "lovely" and couldn't stop talking about how professional she was.
Her Favorite Scene From The Office May Surprise You
With Phyllis being apart of the original crew of The Office from the beginning, she sure does have a long list of favorite episodes and scenes to pick from. According to Den of Geek, she said her favorite Phyllis Vance moments were in "Secret Santa" (when her character finally got a chance to play Santa Claus) and of course "Phyllis' Wedding." But there's one scene that stands out to her as her ultimate favorite.
When Dunder Mifflin was thinking about closing the Scranton branch, Dwight and Michael went to David Wallace's house to confront him. And although they never had a chance to talk to David, Dunder Mifflin decided to keep Scranton open and close Standford instead. Michael and Dwight begin cheering and hugging that they "did it" even though they had no idea what they actually did.
Phyllis Had No Idea Sadness Would Be Such A Success
Thanks to the success of Bad Teacher, a writer for Pixar's Inside Out saw Phyllis' character and knew she had the voice to be Sadness in the animated film about emotions. She was excited to be apart of Pixar's team (they are a giant in the industry, after all) but had no idea how many people would connect to her character.
During one of her many Target shopping trips, Phyllis said a little girl asked her to sign her Sadness doll and how much she loved "Sadness," funny enough.