10 Great Movies Starring The Office Cast
3. Inside Out
Pixar’s star doesn’t shine quite as bright as it once did after a few less than stellar productions, but 2015’s Inside Out can stand up with the very best of their work. The inventive, heartbreaking, endlessly winning journey into the head of a young girl is buoyed by its unsurprisingly great story and visuals, but more surprisingly by dynamite voice work from Phyllis Smith.
Smith started out in the casting department for The Office, but was escalated to background character and eventually feature player. She utilised her sorrowful delivery and twinkling undercurrent of malevolence to make Phyllis (the character) into a simultaneously recognisable but wild part of Dunder Mifflin.
She mines those mournful tones for more value still in Inside Out. She plays Sadness, one of five key emotions residing in young Riley’s head. Appropriately, she’s a real downer, and Smith mines big laughs from her Eeyore-like persona. She’s matched with Amy Poehler’s Joy for much of the film, and the two NBC stalwarts’ opposing energy levels gel beautifully.
Smith’s whole career seems to comprise a lot of happy accidents, but she’s one of the best parts of this modern classic.