Meet the Cast of the NBC Comedy The Office

They can explain terms like paper tonnage. They work hard and are rewarded with ice cream sandwiches. They are subjected to the annoyingly pompous leadership of a know-it-all aspiring screenwriter named Michael Scott. They are the inhabitants of The Office, the hit NBC "mockumentary" about the white-collar workers of paper company Dunder-Mifflin in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The show is based on a British sitcom, but has developed a unique identity of its own. In fact, the show has become such a hit, NBC moved it from Tuesday nights to Thursdays after another comedy hit, My Name Is Earl, in hopes of creating a following like other hit television shows like The Cosby Show, Cheers, and Friends.

Chances are you've never heard of the actors in The Office with the exception of Steve Carell. NBC and the Office producers purposely filled the cast with unknowns who appear to be real people, not actors. Not only did the casting work perfectly, it made overnight stars out of everyone. In fact, each of the stars are now appearing on psuedo-public service announcements for NBC.

Steve Carell had established himself with his work with Dana Carvey, The Daily Show, and Saturday Night Live before being cast in The Office. He had small parts in a number of television shows and movies like Anchorman prior to taking the role of Michael Scott, the manager of the office, a role made famous by British actor Ricky Gervais. The Office opened up a number of new roles for him, including Bewitched and Over the Hedge, but he gained his most notoriety as the lead in the 2005 comedy hit The 40 Year Old Virgin. He will next tackle the remake of Get Smart as Maxwell Smart. A graduate of Denison University in Granville, Ohio, he joined the famed Second City comedy group and met his wife, Nancy Wells. They have two children.

Carell won a Golden Globe for his work on the show in 2006, and says he intends to stay with the show even though he has found success with films. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he stated he enjoys working everyday, after struggling for so long as an actor trying to find steady work.

John Krasinski, who plays everyman Jim Halpert, grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of a doctor and nurse. He attended Newton South High School with Office co-star B.J. Novak. In fact, Krasinski's first stage work was a high school play written by Novak. Krasinski later graduated from Brown University and became a script intern for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He had small roles in movies like Kinsey and Jarhead and NBC television shows Law and Order and Ed. His role in The Office has led to a number of new projects, including films Dreamgirls and License to Wed, and he was named to People's list of "Sexiest Men Alive."

Jenna Fischer, who plays receptionist Pam Beesley (the object of Jim Halpert's unspoken feelings), grew up in St. Louis as Regina Marie Fisher, and, after earning a degree in theater from Truman State University, moved to Los Angeles to break into acting. She had a number of small roles in television shows like Spin City, That 70's Show, and Six Feet Under before grabbing the role of Pam. The thirty-two year old actress is married to James Gunn, writer of Scooby Doo and Dawn of the Dead. Fischer recently wrote and directed her own "mockumentary," Lollilove, in 2006. Fischer recently admitted that all the computers on the NBC set are connected to the internet, and she spends her down time on the set maintaining her MySpace webpage, and often chats with fans.

Rainn Wilson, who stars as office kiss-up and "assistant to the regional manager" Dwight Schrute, is an established character actor and acting teacher who appeared in television shows like CSI, Monk, and Six Feet Under, and movies including GalaxyQuest, Almost Famous, and Sahara. The Seattle native is married to author Holiday Reinhorn and has a son, Walter, born in 2004. He is a practicing member of the Baha'i faith. Wilson, an accomplished stage actor who studied at NYU's acting graduate program, writes a blog (in character as Dwight) on the NBC Office website. The character of Dwight has become a fan favorite, and even spawned a Dwight Schrute bobblehead, which was seen in the series.

B.J. Novak, who plays Ryan Howard, a.k.a. "The Temp," is actually one of the writers for The Office who nabbed one of the acting roles (not an uncommon thing on this set). Novak (the B.J. stands for Benjamin Joseph) hails from Newton, Massachusetts and attended school with John (Jim Halpert) Krasinski. He later graduated from Harvard and moved out to Los Angeles where he became a popular stand up comic. He appeared on Punk'd and Late Night with Conan O'Brien on NBC before landing his gig with The Office. He counts comedian Bob Saget among his best friends and maintains a webpage at MySpace as well as BJNovack.com.

Mindy Kaling plays Kelly Kapoor, the talky office worker of Indian heritage. Mindy (a nickname taken from Mork and Mindy) was originally hired as a writer, but joined the cast for the "Diversity Day" episode, in which she slaps Michael Scott for making inappropriate racial comments. According to The Office producers, they needed a minority to slap the Michael Scott character, and she fit the bill. The Dartmouth College graduate caught the attention of executive producer Greg Daniels in her role as Ben Affleck in her short play "Matt and Ben," which was part of the New York International Fringe Festival. Since then, she has appeared in Steve Carell's 40 Year Old Virgin and was a guest writer for Saturday Night Live on NBC.

Toby, the human resources staffer who seems to always annoy Michael Scott, is played by Paul Lieberstein. It is his first acting role; until now, he was a writer and/or producer for a number of television shows, including The Naked Truth, the Drew Carey Show, The Bernie Mac Show, and Greg Daniels' King of the Hill, which led to Daniels hiring him as a writer and producer for The Office. He graduated from Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut, and Hamilton College in New York.

Angela Kinsey plays the uptight, bossy Angela Martin, who is secretly involved with Dwight Schrute. Angela is a native of Lafayette, Louisiana, and attended Baylor University. She interned for Conan O'Brien at NBC and after taking acting classes in L.A. was cast in a few small television roles. Her small voiceover part in King of the Hill opened up the door to audition for the Pam role in The Office. She didn't get the role, but did get cast as the office prude and is also one of the show's writers. As a child, Angela said she wanted to be Carol Burnett and admits to once going as Rosanna Rosanna Danna for Halloween.

Kevin Malone, the big guy with the dry, sarcastic sense of humor, is played by Brian Baumgartner. Brian has appeared in a number of television shows, including The Lyon's Den, CSI, Arrested Development, and Everwood. The 6'3" actor reportedly likes to spend his lunch time on the set playing video games with the other male stars. Before hitting it big with The Office, he was active in the Minneapolis/St. Paul theater community. Like many of the others in the cast, he has a page for his character on MySpace.

Leslie David Baker plays Stanley Hudson, the lone African American in the office who gets more than his fair share of politically incorrect observations from Michael Scott. Baker has worked in television for six years, including roles on That 70's Show and Scrubs. He can also be seen currently in a commercial for Comcast high speed internet.

Oscar Martinez is played by Oscar Nunez, a stage actor who founded The Shock of the Funny Theater Company in New York City. After a move to L.A., he continued to act on stage, and appeared in television shows Curb Your Enthusiasm, Reno 911! and 24. He also had small roles in The Italian Job and Glory Road before The Office came calling. He is a graduate of the Warner Brothers Television Writers Workshop and the ABC Latino Writers Project.

Phyllis Smith plays Mother Goose lookalike Phyllis Lapin. She originally had no intention of being an actress. She was an NBC casting associate for The Office who sat in on auditions and fed actors lines. Director Ken Kwapis liked her so much he added her to the cast. She has since appeared on Arrested Development and in a small uncredited role in The 40 Year Old Virgin.

Meredith, the alcoholic single mother who has a knack for losing her blouse, is played by Kate Flannery. A graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, she joined Chicago's Second City Company. She has numerous stage credits in New York and L.A., and appeared on television shows including Boomtown and Jimmy Kimmel Live before joining The Office. She is the musical director for the L.A. Drama Club and teaches Shakespeare to young children. She maintains a MySpace page, as Meredith, and probably learned to play an alcoholic so well because her family owns a bar in Philadelphia.

The character of Creed, the Quality Assurance Manager with nine toes, is named for his actor, Creed Bratton. The Los Angeles native was a born musician, and was a member of the 60's group The Grassroots ("Let's Live For Today"). He eventually left the group to become an actor and had small roles in movies such as Mask. He continues to play guitar and has released three cds. He has his own website, CreedBatton.com.

The cast shoots in unusual circumstances. Filming takes place in a real office, located just above a real NBC soundstage in L.A., which doubles as the Dunder-Mifflin warehouse. The cast is often encouraged to improvise, which matches perfectly to the documentary style The Office takes. Because they work in such quarters for long hours, the cast admits that they are unusually close, and consider each other good friends. It is obvious they have fun, and America is able to get "in" on the joke every week.