Phyllis Smith Recalls Being On The Set Of The Office 'All The Time' During Season 1
"The Office" is one of the most recognizable comedy series talked about today despite it ending 10 years ago. Based on the British original, the U.S. adaptation starred Steve Carell as Michael Scott, John Krasinski as Jim Halpert, Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor, and many other talented and hilarious actors who helped bring the documentary-style sitcom to life.
One such talented actor was Phyllis Smith, who portrayed a character of the same first name on "The Office." Also known for voicing Sadness in "Inside Out" and playing Lynn Davies in "Bad Teacher," Smith's Phyllis Vance (originally Phyllis Lapin before she married Bob Vance) appeared in all nine seasons of the series and starred in nearly 200 episodes. As one of the older cast members, Phyllis is often portrayed as a motherly figure. She is notably also very petty and often dishes out harsh insults that shouldn't be said in mixed company.
Phyllis is a sales representative at Dunder Mifflin Scranton and she is, without a doubt, a hilarious addition to "The Office" family. Although Smith and her co-stars made the series feel effortless and easygoing, she recounted spending countless hours on set, especially early on. A lot of work and time went into making the hilarious sitcom feel so easily fluid.
Smith says that the 9 years of filming felt quick
Phyllis Smith sat down with Den of Geek to talk about her time on "The Office," as well as several other projects she's worked on over the years. When asked what it was like working on "The Office," she said, "It was a good nine years. A quick nine years."
Smith explained what working on the first season of "The Office" was like in a bit more detail. Apparently, there was a lot of trial and error in the earlier renditions of the show. She said, "The first season we started out, they kept us all on set, all the periphery characters, all the time because they weren't sure what element of the office was going to be shot. So they had to have the backs of our heads or this or that. So for the whole first season, we were there all the time pretty much – even if we weren't on camera, we'd be on set."
The cast spent countless hours on set even if they weren't working during the filming of Season 1. According to Smith, they needed to be around in case the episode decided to go in a direction that needed one of them. Apparently, they'd spend up to 12 hours on set not doing anything if they weren't needed.
"Then as the years progressed, they said, 'We're not going to see them. Don't bring them in!' They knew how to splice it down so that we wouldn't be sitting there for 12 hours and not be on camera," Smith added, which was probably a huge relief for all the stars of "The Office." Being on set for such long hours without actually working must have been exhausting, tedious, and above all else, boring.