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Mom, Dad, I humbly suggest you save some money and shop Amazon for back to school. It's for my growth, meaning my body's growing at an alarming rate. And clothes you buy me this year will be very small very soon. Plus, the clothes I love today will be out of style tomorrow. But at least your wallet doesn't have to be my fashion victim.
if you shop low prices for school at Amazon. Hopefully this is helpful. Amazon. Spend less, smile more. Be warned that once you pick up a refreshingly cold drink from McDonald's and
and people see just how refreshingly cold that drink from McDonald's is, you may create drink envy. Because there are drinks. Then there are drinks from McDonald's. For a morning brew that really creates a stir, get any size iced coffee, including caramel and French vanilla, for just 99 cents before 11 a.m. Price and participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer or combo meal. Ba-da-da-ba-ba.
I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on The Office together. And we're best friends. And now we're doing the Ultimate Office Rewatch Podcast just for you. Each week, we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind-the-scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you. We're The Office Ladies.
Hello. Hey there, everybody. We have such a fun show for you today. We do. We got to interview Phyllis Smith all about her time on The Office. You know, a while back when we rewatched Phyllis's wedding, well, Phyllis sent in some great audio clips about that episode, but we were so excited to finally have her on the podcast as a guest to do a full interview. Mm-hmm.
She told us how she got her role in the office. It's such a fantastic story. I think it's maybe the best story of how someone got their job on the office. Yeah, the best origin story, yeah. We also asked her all of our usual questions, you know, and Angela made sure to ask her our call sheet questions, which are now one of my favorite things of our interviews. You just find out such interesting things about people. And you know,
And, you know, one of the reasons I think I like it is because we know these people, and I feel like we've known them for so long. Right. And then I learned something new. Right. And we also get to talk to Phyllis about her new movie, Inside Out 2. It's in theaters now. My family loved the first Inside Out. We watched it so many times. I can't wait to see this one. Oh, same. My daughter has already clocked it. We have plans. We're going to see it with her cousins. Oh, so cute. It's going to be a family event movie for us.
Everybody knows the Inside Out movies, right? It's an animated movie. It's from Pixar. So in the first movie, there's a little girl. Her name is Riley, and she has to move to a new city. And in this process, we get to meet all the little emotions that
that are living in her head, and they are voiced by different actors. Like there's Joy, that's kind of the leading emotion in her head. Joy is played by Amy Poehler. But there's also all these other emotions. There's fear, anger, disgust, there's sadness, and they kind of all come together to help Riley with this new transition. And Phyllis plays the voice of sadness. She's so amazing in this role, and she's back playing sadness for Inside Out 2.
I guess Riley is now a teenager and she's going through puberty, which brings up a lot of new emotions. Yes. Phyllis talks to us about what is so meaningful to her about these movies. And it's just a really lovely interview. It really is. I thought that it went to some just really sweet places. And I think it's such a great representation of who Phyllis is as a person. I'm really proud of it, actually. I thought her recall of office stuff was so good. Yeah.
She remembers so much stuff. I know. I just loved reminiscing with her. Me too. Well, you guys, why don't we take a break? And when we come back, it's our interview with Phyllis.
Mom, Dad, I humbly suggest you save some money and shop Amazon for back to school. It's for my growth, meaning my body's growing at an alarming rate. And clothes you buy me this year will be very small very soon. Plus, the clothes I love today will be out of style tomorrow. But at least your wallet doesn't have to be my fashion victim anymore.
if you shop low prices for school at Amazon. Hopefully this is helpful. Amazon. Spend less, smile more. Be warned that once you pick up a refreshingly cold drink from McDonald's and
and people see just how refreshingly cold that drink from McDonald's is, you may create drink envy. Because there are drinks. Then there are drinks from McDonald's. For a morning brew that really creates a stir, get any size iced coffee, including caramel and French vanilla, for just 99 cents before 11 a.m. Price and participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer or combo meal. Ba-da-da-ba-ba.
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Woohoo! We made it! Woohoo! I was going to start out being really sad for you. Oh, you were going to be sadness. Yes, I was just going to say hi guys. How are you? I'm really happy to be here to talk to you all. It's a good day. Oh my gosh, I love it. Phyllis? Phyllis?
Inside Out was such a huge hit in our family, the first one. I'm so excited there's going to be a second one. And it just tickles me so much that your voice is in this movie. Oh, I'll tell you. I'm excited to see Inside Out 2 as well. Yes.
Phyllis, we watched it so many times. It's one of the movies my kids have watched over and over. Same. It's just so fantastic. Are your kids drawn to certain emotions more than others or just in general? In general. In general. I think
they like that there's this distinction between, I mean, that's what I like about it as a parent, is that we get to see all the different emotions and then we get to see them work together. Right. Yeah. You know how I got this part? One of the producers on the show couldn't sleep one night and he threw in Bad Teacher, which was Gene and Lee's movie.
Yeah. That you did with Cameron Diaz. Yes. Yeah. And he couldn't sleep and he threw that DVD in. And he immediately, when he heard my voice, he called Pete Docter and said, I found our sadness. Wow. And so, yeah, it's interesting how things just kind of go from one project to another. Yeah.
Had I not done Bad Teacher, I wouldn't have been Sadness, you know. Yeah. I had an acting teacher when I first was in Los Angeles who used to say, work begets work. Take the job. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Because you never know how it's going to connect to the next part of your life, you know. So I was really...
When I actually got the call for that movie for Inside Out 1, I was sitting here on our sofa and the phone rang and I didn't recognize the number and I answered it. It was the casting director, the Pixar casting director. And they said, they'd like for you to come to Pixar to meet them. I went, okay. And so that was like in 2013, maybe. Yeah.
With Inside Out 1, I did about 10 different sessions in studios. All of them were in. Most of them were at Disney on their studio and some up at Pixar. But unlike with Inside Out 2, because I'm not traveling, I did all of them here in St. Louis. They were kind enough to allow me to tape here in St. Louis. That's so fantastic. You got to make your big star demand. Yeah.
Right? You're like, you can have me back as sadness, but only if you come to my town this time. That's right. That's probably how you said it, right? There you go. I forgot about those big star demands. Darn it. It's all too late now. Had you ever done voiceover work like that before, Phyllis? No. When I, my first session was,
was at a Disney studio and I kept looking, this is so silly. There was the music stand and there was a pencil there. And I kept thinking, what do they want me to do with the pencil? Because I'd never done voiceover before. And the fact that they change it mid sentence and you write it down. I didn't know any of that. And so I was so bothered by the pencil lying there going, what am I supposed to do with it? I know I'm supposed to do something with it.
And then I found out later on in the session. But I was fortunate enough then when Amy was hired, Amy and I did about maybe six sessions together. And it was kind of an on-site learning experience for me because I could watch her and learn to do it just on-site. I did it. And so now it feels pretty comfortable and I like it. Yeah.
Nice. I could do more. Yeah. Well, Phyllis, thank you so much for coming on Office Ladies today. You have no idea how excited we are to get to interview you. Yeah, I was excited and also nervous for whatever reason. Oh, gosh, Phyllis, you stop it.
I was. It's just us gals. I know these gals. Yeah. I mean, you're the reason we have our jobs. That's right. That's true. You know, speaking of work begets work and how you never know how one thing might come from another, will you tell our listeners how you got your job on The Office? Oh, sure. Yeah. I was the casting associate on the show. I'd been in casting about 19 years.
I was working with Alison Jones, the casting director, and we were at the point in the casting process where we were pairing up the actors to see what their chemistry would be together and putting them on tape.
for the producers and also for the network. Eventually it was going to go to the network. And we were in this very odd building where the actors sat at one end and the auditions were at the other end. And I remember Kim Kwapis, the director, he was getting his coffee together and he turned around to me and he said, Phyllis, I want you to read the character of Pam today. I went, what?
And he said, I want you to read the character Pam. I went, okay. Because at this point, the associate wasn't really reading with the actors. Like I said, they were pairing the Pam and the Jims and the Dwights and everybody together. And I was a little taken back because I didn't want to step on like Alison Jones' toes. She was the boss character.
I didn't know if they had cleared it with her or not, but I went ahead and did it. And I was so nervous again because I wanted to do a good job, not for me, but for the actors. I wanted to make sure that I was right there when they needed me timing wise and such. And one of the first pair up, I was Pam and it was with Krasinski and another person who was going to audition for Dwight.
And then eventually I played Dwight with two other people. And so no one ever, Greg Daniels or no one ever said to me, Phyllis, do you want to be in the show? And I remember a fax came through to our office with an updated script and it had Phyllis in it. And Allison goes, is this Phyllis? And I never heard anything. You know, she goes, is this Phyllis, my Phyllis?
But I never heard the answer. And then what happened was wardrobe called. I had one line in the pilot. Wardrobe called and said, I understand you're playing the character of Phyllis. And I said, yes.
Yes, I am. Because I knew from the union rules that if wardrobe called you or if you were sent a script, that constitutes a work call. And so when wardrobe called, I knew it was to be. And I said, yes. That illicit.
That is so crazy. And you know what? We know from being on a set, half the time I found out things from my character from the costume department. And it's just so wild to me that the moment you realized you had a part was because wardrobe called you. Because wardrobe called. Yeah, exactly. And the other part of it was I was paid up on my dues.
19 years earlier, I had done one SAG job here in St. Louis, got my SAG card, and I paid my dues every year. Not because I thought I was ever... I had thought this ship had sailed. And it was my way of contributing to the actors. So for 19 years, I paid my dues, and I was all paid up when I got the office job then. You were ready. I was ready, yeah. Oh my gosh. So now you do the piloting.
the pilot and it was so crazy for us Phyllis because we had been reading with you like you said all along and then now we walk on set and you are part of the cast I'll tell you
It was the strangest hiring in my estimation of having hired people for 19 years, but I didn't say no. I've told the story before, Phyllis, that you are responsible for me getting my very first speaking job on television because you put my tape for Spin City at the top.
And you told Allison, I think she should get it. And then I got it. And you got it. I remember meeting you too. You came in. It was also the one where Freaks and Geeks. Oh, yeah. I remember that. When I came in to audition for Freaks and Geeks. I didn't get it, but I remember. Yeah. You came in for that. And I met you there. She goes, Phyllis, this is Jenna Fisher from St. Louis. Yeah.
And then Angela, I remember when you were hired, we had a different casting session because we were creating the role. Oh. And I read with you that day as well. Not only that day, but Phyllis, the very first time I went in for all the producers, just a room full of people. They had a camera on a tripod. You were reading the role of Michael.
When Michael fake fires Pam to impress Ryan the temp. And I think it is my belief, Phyllis, and I've never really shared this, that the moment Pam calls Michael a jerk, right? Uh-huh.
I hit that word jerk so hard, probably because I'm a little Southern sometimes and feisty. And the room like went quiet and your reaction was kind of wounded for a split second. And I think that was the birth of Angela and Phyllis. I really do. Because then everyone erupted into laughter. And I remember thinking in my head, oh, wait, I don't think they're supposed to laugh right here. I think this is supposed to be a sad moment. Yeah.
It's interesting, isn't it? How your head goes through all of these exercises in a split second when you're auditioning too, you know? Yeah. It's crazy. But I was so happy to see you when they brought me back in for the accountant, you know, this role of, they didn't even have a name for her yet. And I was like, oh, oh, that's who I read with last time. That's Phyllis. Boy, we have a history, don't we, ladies? We do. We really do. I,
I was just going to tell you, Phyllis, you know, Jenna and I are rewatching the show and seeing some of these episodes for the very first time since they aired, you know, and we keep talking about characters we're falling back in love with. And Phyllis is hands down one of those characters. Everything you do on this show is brilliant. Every single line you say, every look you give, it should be like an actor study class to watch you on this show. Well, thank you. I just went and tried to do what...
the best. I don't know. I couldn't, you know, I always had my sides there hidden underneath my... In your desk drawer, you would sometimes have them in that top drawer. Yeah, everybody would, you'd come and know my sides were there and use them too, you know. I would. I was always losing mine, but I knew where yours were. And you were welcome to use them too. Yeah.
Phyllis, I have to ask you about your iconic Phyllis look. As we've been rewatching the show, we have really noticed how characters have a certain wardrobe look. And Phyllis, the character, was in a lot of purple tones. Yes. And with the big necklaces that were almost a character in and of themselves. Right. They were purple.
I'm curious, did you have much input into this look when you met with Carrie Bennett for that first time? How did this look come about? No, because I was so fresh on the scene as an actor, I didn't know you could have input. So I just went, stood there, let him put the clothes on me, made silly faces as they took the pictures. I didn't want my arms to be flopping around.
I knew that. So I wanted my arms covered. I didn't want them to look like I was landing planes in the office. But that was about the only real parameter that I gave was that I didn't want my arms to show. And the jewel tones just kind of came about, I guess, with my coloring and my eye color and stuff. They just started developing the different necklaces. They actually made a lot of them to make them gold.
go with the outfits. Did they really? I didn't know that. Yeah, there's some of them, a lot were bought, but some were had were made or adjusted or two or three put together, you know. And so for me, it was always interesting. We go in for a wardrobe fitting to see what we were actually going to be to wear, you know, what would be in our trailers.
to put on because some of the outfits that we started in the beginning were there, but a lot of them had changed just kind of miraculously. You would have a surprise? Yes, uh-huh.
Well, it's funny you say that because, you know, on a lot of shows, most projects I've done, you do pick a full look and then that look ends up in your trailer. But with The Office, I felt like we were creating a closet of mix and match clothes. And so it's true. I didn't know exactly which shirt and which blouse and which cardigan were going to be put together each week. Right.
Because they made a whole closet for our character. And it was very mix and match. Exactly. I loved going into the costume trailer for our fittings. And if you walked in the back, every character had a whole row. Like a whole row of clothes. So you could walk down the Dwight row of costumes. And it was mostly mustard color shirts. But it was really interesting to see everyone's row of clothes. Yeah. And you could actually...
Like you said, the character stood out by just the look. Yeah, they wouldn't even have to. Yeah, they would not have to have a label. You would know. Right. You'd know where Pam was and Angela. Yeah. All of us. Yeah. And Meredith. Poor Meredith. Kate. Kate did. She had some real special outfits. Some crazy corduroy jumpers and sweater vests. I know.
Well, you know what, Phyllis, we want to ask you a question that I always love to hear everyone's answers is that did you have a favorite episode or scene from your time on the show or maybe a Phyllis storyline? All the above. As far as favorite episodes, there's so many that it's hard to like just pick.
choose one. I agree. But then a lot of bits and pieces from various episodes. Like I love the scene when Jim in Casino Night tells Pam that he's in love with her out on the parking lot. That scene always still to this day, it makes me get a lump in my throat.
And then when he comes in and sweeps her off her feet, that's even more miraculous, you know. And I love that scene. And then there's this silly scene between Dwight and Michael where they're standing out in front of Andy Buckley's character's house. And they thought that they were the ones that kept the office from closing. Yes. Yes. And they high five and then...
The one says to the other, I don't know. How did we do it? I don't know. I don't know what we did, but we did it, you know. And it's such a stupid little scene. And for some reason, it always stuck out in my mind, too, you know. And then there's close your mouth, sweetie. You look like a trout. Yeah. And then, Angela, we had our whole. Oh, my gosh. Where we just went.
When you put that hairnet on, and I mean, you put your hairnet on. Yeah. That whole episode was pretty special. Phyllis, my kids lost their minds when they watched the scene between you and I where I come up to you and I'm like, Phyllis, these are forks. That scene, they couldn't get over it. Yeah.
Yes, when you're explaining everything. They'll say to me in the kitchen sometimes, Mom, this is a fork. I'm like, okay, haha. Yeah, we had some really great scenes, didn't we? We did. One of my favorite storylines, Phyllis, is when we find out that you do not like
the office administrator over at Vance Refrigeration. Yes. Oh, yeah. You do not care for her. Because she looks pretty much like me, you know, first off. Younger, though. Yes. And Pam sees this woman as kind of a mentor. And that is a storyline I wanted to see more of. I really, really, I could have watched that for multiple episodes. Yeah.
I guess maybe I put a wise word into Bob or something because she didn't come back. She did not. That's right. I tell you, the one scene I had a really hard time not laughing through was when Steve and I at my wedding. Oh, gosh. When he came into the bride's room to give me advice.
And we could not get through the word pungent because I had let it toot. And every time he would say pungent, he would break out in his cackle voice.
He couldn't get through it, and I couldn't get through it. And then we hear the sound people sitting outside the door laughing. So they had to move them down the stairway, down into the bottom, because every time we said pungent, we lost it. Finally, the only way I got through was to hold my breath. When he said pungent, I just held my breath until the end of the scene. So if I look a little blue in that scene, that's the reason. Yeah.
I also noticed you look down like at your feet. Like you were like, I cannot make eye contact with this man right now. Mom, dad, you should shop Amazon for back to school and save some money. See, I'm currently obsessed with superheroes and need all the superhero stuff. Superhero lunchbox, superhero bathhouse.
But next year, it'll be something else. Maybe dinosaurs? I don't know. I'm not a fortune teller. But I can tell you not to spend a fortune and shop low prices for school on Amazon. Okay, good chat. Amazon, spend less, smile more. Pulling up to Mickey D's just for drinks? Oh yeah, that's me. Nothing extra, just perfection and a straw. Coming in hot for the coldest cups on the block.
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Phyllis, is there a moment from our time on The Office? It could be anything, you know, onset or offset. If you could go back and relive a moment, if you could go sit in that moment again, what would you like to do?
I would like to redo when we won the Emmy, when we all ran up on stage. We were told we shouldn't go. We had to stay in the audience. We weren't allowed to go up. It was a long shot that we were going to win. And when we did win, we all just, you know, ran to the stage. And I love the joy that everybody had, you know, because that was our Emmy, you know, that we won. So, yeah.
I love that moment for that reason. And then Angela, were you in the boat with me when we went back? Yes, Phyllis. But only people only remember that it was you on the boat. Like Jenna's memory was like, remember when Phyllis got lost at sea? And I was like, hello, I was on the boat too with rain and Brian. You said Brian, you, me, the wardrobe lady.
And rain. And rain. And that was a very memorable night. We were stranded out there in the middle of the ocean. Pitch darkness, just drifting out to sea. And then they wanted us to transfer boats. Oh, Phyllis. To stand up and actually go to the other boat was frightening because they were holding it with their foot. Yes. Yes.
This is the thing. I tried to explain this in our book that Jen and I wrote, and I really don't think I did it justice because these two rubber dinghies were being held together by just one man, like, straddling them, you know? Yeah. We're trying to climb over. Yeah.
And we're going, what? Yeah. And it's bobbing up and down. And I'm like, how are we doing this? Once we got back to shore, it seemed okay. But in the middle of it, it was pretty frightening. Yeah. We also love to ask everyone what they took from set when we wrapped because Jenna and I took a lot of things.
Let's see. I took the bird that Stanley carved for me when he was down in Florida. I have that. I wanted my bushiest beaver award, but it seemed to have gotten lost somewhere along the side. Phyllis, you need the bushiest beaver award in your home.
On the wall. Yeah, I need that. And I would have liked to have had the oven mitt, but I don't remember getting that either that I made for Michael. Oh, yeah. That scene was hilarious. Talk about brilliant performance by you when Michael hates the oven mitt so much. Oh, Phyllis.
Yeah, we had some great times, didn't we, ladies? We did. We really did. It's been such a joy to go back and rewatch because it just opens the floodgates of memories. We did a lot of weird, funny, good, odd things in our nine years.
We did. You know, Phyllis, one of the things Jen and I love is that we get the call sheets from Steve Burgess. And on the back of them are these cast and crew questions where they would pick a member of the cast and crew and ask them five questions. And so we would love to ask you the call sheet questions. I just have delighted in them. Are you ready? Okay. Okay.
All right. Here's a good one. Number one, what was your first entertainment job? Oh, my first entertainment job was dancing. I got paid a dollar at the Carpenters Hall here in St. Louis on Hampton Avenue. And I did a toe dance to a doll coming out of a doll box. I got paid a dollar. How old were you?
I was a point, so I was about eight years old. Wow. That was my first job. And I still have the dollar. Do you really? I do. I folded it up and put it in the picture of that particular dance. Yeah.
I would love to see that. You were dancing on point at eight years old, Phyllis? Yeah, I started dancing at seven and she put me on point. I was just about eight, probably going into nine, you know, like closer to nine. But I was about eight years old when she put me on point. Yeah. I mean, this is something that I think our listeners know about you, but we should remind you that you are a phenomenal dancer, that you danced for a long time.
I did. I danced until I was in my, I would say, 32 or so, professionally.
And then it got to the point it was, you know, hard to compete with the 18-year-olds. But, yeah, I danced. I did it all. I did ballet. I was in two ballet companies. I was in a jazz company in San Diego, the jazz company. I toured when Dinner Theater was around. I was in a vaudeville burlesque show for—we toured about six, seven years.
And then I was in another show in Long Beach, California, where we performed three shows Saturday, three shows Sunday. Wow. What?
We got paid enough for the whole week, so it was pretty lucrative. It was okay. So yeah, my career started out as a dancer. Then when I got too old and injured, then I ended up going into casting. Can I tell you that story? Yes, please. I was working at an aerospace defense company as the receptionist. A friend of mine called and said, Phyllis, they want a mousy woman.
It was for a court show and they wanted a mousy woman. So I had a half an hour to get over the hill in L.A., you know, to go from the valley to Hollywood and back.
And I was in the bathroom and we wore nylons at those times, lady, pantyhose. Oh, I know all about pantyhose, Phyllis. I wore them for nine years on The Office. You guys both wore pantyhose on The Office. I did not. Yes. And when I went in there before to go to this audition, I not only tore a run in my whole hand,
Went through right below the knee. So there was this huge hole, but my dress was long enough that it covered it. So when I went into the audition, I said to the lady, excuse me, were you looking for a mousy woman or a tacky woman? And I lifted up my skirt and shoulder my knee.
And she laughed. And then in the course of that audition, I said, you know, I think I might be good in casting. About two weeks later, she called me and that's how I got into casting.
And was in it for 19 years, working different levels, you know, working your way up. But it all stemmed from a weird audition for a mousy woman. From a run in your pantyhose, really bonded y'all. And they said I wasn't mousy enough. So I said, okay. Phyllis, do you think you'll perform at the Muny again?
How many shows have you done there? Three? No, I've just done two. I did Nonsense and you know what I did, Jenna. I can't remember. I remembered Nonsense, but I can't remember the other show. Oh, oh, oh, it's on the tip of my tongue. Yeah. Yes, yes, I know. Why can't we think of it? John Travolta, there's there. Grease? Yes, yes. Yes, that's right. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Do you guys want to share with everyone what the Muny is for our listeners who might not know? It's a 12,000 seat outdoor theater here in St. Louis.
They do their own shows here in St. Louis, and they also bring in shows from New York and various... Like traveling shows? Yeah. You know, the Muny is where I was really introduced to live musical theater. My mom would take me, and like you said, it's 12,000 seats, and we could only afford seats kind of way in the back. Right. You would rent binoculars, and so you would watch these performances through binoculars...
But the sound in this outdoor amphitheater, it was just, and it would be like a warm summer night in St. Louis. You wait for the sun to go down, right? Exactly. You wait for it to get dark, and then the show starts again.
And my gosh, just some just joyous moments from my childhood going to the Muni to see shows. Yeah. So it's really meaningful for like a St. Louis person to then get to star in a show there, I'm sure. Absolutely. I was taken back when I first walked on that stage from the stage side of it and looking out.
to those 12,000 seats it was really you know gave me another lump in your throat because it's pretty spectacular remember Jenna they would turn the the big fans on during the intermission yeah because like in August it could get pretty hot there you know yeah well now they've improved the fans they can leave them on the whole time oh and they're not too loud they're not loud at all
That's a big plus. It sure is. It sure is. It's the little things that count. I love these St. Louis gals. Question number two, do you play a musical instrument? I played a musical instrument. I played a clarinet. I was in the marching band and also the orchestra in high school. Wow. And I was second chair.
It wasn't the first chair, but I played second chair. That's pretty dang good, Phyllis, second chair. Well, I don't know how good I was, but I started out with the flute and I couldn't get a sound out of it. So I said, please take me off the flute. I cannot do this. And somebody gave me a clarinet and I went, okay, I'll try. So you guys play instruments? Yes.
Well, when I moved to Archer City, Texas, the school, you know, they really needed everyone to participate in the band or we wouldn't have had one because my school was so small. We were class size 2A.
So I graduated with like 34 people. So they needed everyone in the band. So football players on the football team, cheerleaders, they marched in the marching band in their uniforms. Like they, you know, everyone participated. So they pretty much told me you're going to be in band. And I was like, guys, I don't play an instrument like at all. And they were like, you know what? We really need some trombone players. I was like, what?
four feet eight. And they gave me a trombone and I played it with my friend Shannon. It was me and Shannon and this kid named Bill. There was three of us and I was second chair, but...
But only because there were three of us. I want to see that. Oh, my gosh. Phyllis, I couldn't even reach seventh position on the trombone. I just had to let it slide out because I couldn't reach it. It's funny. And what about you, Jenna? Growing up, my mom had us play piano.
But this was really because I think my mom really regretted in her life that she didn't play a musical instrument and she wanted to play piano. So we got a piano and she hired a teacher and she took lessons. I took lessons and my sister took lessons. And I mean, I don't play the piano. It didn't stick. I mean...
because I wasn't really interested in playing the piano. But then as an adult, I did a movie, Walk Hard, and I was gifted at the beginning of the movie a really nice acoustic guitar. And I got very interested in playing and I was really picking it up. I got really into it.
You know, so much so that Angela has a funny story. When we traveled to New York together, I took the guitar with me. I carried it on the plane. Like a backpack. We went through the airport with this thing. It was so cumbersome. Like when we went to the bathroom, I'd have to hold her backpack and
My guitar. Your guitar backpack thing. Yeah. You were very committed to it. I really believed that I was going to become a later in life guitar player. But then Phyllis, I don't know if you remember when I fell down the stairs at the up fronts. Well, not only did I fracture my back in four places, but I hurt my elbow. It landed on the stairs and I bruised my elbow bone. And
And as a result, I couldn't practice the guitar anymore. It was really painful. And by the time I healed, I had kind of... You'd let it go. I had to let it go. It was like one of those things where it was like, well, I mean, I guess I didn't love the guitar so much that I wanted to, you know, play through the pain. But I, yeah, those are my stories. I...
I fiddled with piano and I fiddled with guitar, but ultimately I never really played an instrument. Well, guess what? I'm not playing the trombone anymore. And I'm not playing the trombone. Okay, next question. What's a place that you've been to that you absolutely loved? Oh, yeah.
Well, I haven't been to that many places, but I did go to Cannes. Oh, in France? Mm-hmm. And it was quite spectacular. It was for Inside Out 1 for the film festival there. And it was just incredibly beautiful. We did an interview out on a dock there.
It's hard to be interviewed when you're so mesmerized by the beautiful ships and the yachts were unbelievable of the billionaires. Oh, wow. It was incredible. People would say, I'd say, you sure that's not a cruise ship? They go, no, that's just a little yacht that belongs to somebody. Are they just so big? I don't think I've, I've never seen a yacht up close.
They're incredibly big, huge. I mean, they're like, I don't know how many stories. Wow. It's not anything that we see here in the United States. Truly, it isn't, you know. Yeah.
Yeah. But that made a big impression on me. The can did. Can France. Yeah. Also, their butter and their fruit in France was amazing. The butter. Their strawberries actually taste like strawberries. It's the little things in life, you know? Yeah. I love butter with the chunky salt in it. I had that in France and I thought this has changed my life.
No, it's true. You think of the French with their baguettes and their bread, but I think their secret is the butter. It actually tastes so creamy. It has so much cream in it. I'm getting hungry. Don't get me started on butter. Okay, next question. What do you like to do on the weekends? Oh, well, it depends on where I am, you know, where I'm located and what I'm doing. Like when I was working, I liked to stay home.
You know, when we were working every, you know, Monday through Friday, I would like to stay at my house and enjoy the backyard and everything. Oh, I love spending time in the backyard. Last question. What is your favorite midnight snack? Oh, gosh. I like nachos and a Pepsi. I like to put cheddar cheese on nachos and a Pepsi. I love that. Yeah.
I love it.
Well, Phyllis, before you go, can we just ask you a little bit again about Inside Out 2 and what can we expect from the story this time? Well, as we know, our girl is going through puberty. She's starting puberty. So her emotions have expanded, let's say. Oh, yeah. I think her original emotions are all taken back by autism.
all the other ones that surface. And I'm really looking forward to it because, as I said, I did a lot of my recordings singularly here. I'm anxious to see how we all fit together in her mind because there are, golly, I think about four or five new emotions, joy,
joining the crowd. Oh, I can't wait. So we have anxiety and embarrassment, who I have a kinship to. You know, sadness and embarrassment seem to play along the same lines, you know. And envy, anxiety, and another odd little character. So we shall see how they all play together. I know all sadness wants to do is to keep Riley safe, right?
in all of this turmoil. And so she goes on a mission far away from the other emotions to try and help this situation. I don't want to give too much away. Right. Yeah, sure. Yeah. I think it's going to be really interesting and it's going to help people. I don't know, like you were saying, your children enjoy watching the movie multiple times. Yeah.
I know through the years, people have come up to me and said, you know, I really enjoyed the movie. It helped my daughter get through this period of her life. She was going through a great deal of sadness and she found out that it's okay to be sad. Yeah. A lot of teachers tell me that they have programs in schools now where they actually use
the five emotions. So now they're going to have to get new programs and add some other emotions to it. So it comes out June the 14th, I believe. So I can't wait. I think it's going to be another good one. So as a mother of three teenagers, I can't wait because it just makes it all so relatable. I was going to say, you're going to feel at home with it probably. Yeah.
Well, the first movie was also just so fun and funny, but also so layered with this, just the naming of the emotions and the,
Seeing them work together and that like you don't have to get rid of any emotion that they can all exist and that they're all there to serve you. I just think that's what's so beautiful about the movie. Right. And I know that part two will have those similar things. So I'm excited. Yeah.
Jenna and I will be watching it. We will. Definitely many times with our kids. These movies are a true gift. And I think they open up such dialogue about emotions like Jenna was saying. And we're so happy to see you, Phyllis, and to have you here. Yes. I hope I did okay for you guys. I hope. Yes. You crushed it, Phyllis. You crushed it. Is there anything that you would want to share that we didn't get to cover? No.
No, I think we covered a lot. I mean, there were other, when we got talking about The Office, I was thinking, not because they were your episodes, but I loved, I truly loved both your weddings. Oh, yeah.
They all had their own just hilarious and heartfelt moments in each of them, you know? Well, I loved your wedding. We loved your wedding, and we loved the storyline that Phyllis was ripping off Pam's wedding plans to Roy. All her color, her food, everything. Yeah.
And then Phyllis, you know, I've looked back, you know, at the photos of all of us in our wedding dresses and Angela Martin really just wears basically the same dress as Phyllis. Almost. It's true. What? Yeah. Yeah. Very similar. We'll do. I think it would be great to do a side by side of each of our characters' weddings.
Wedding dresses. They were the three big weddings on the show. That's true. Because we actually didn't see Michael and Holly's wedding at all. Yeah, we didn't. Mm hmm.
But like when Jim cuts his tie off because there's some things like that. Do you remember when Michael was dragging the wheelchair down the aisle? That was, you had to hear that clanging and banging coming down the aisle. I also love the scene where he tried to get in the wedding photos. Oh.
Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. There's more of it in deleted scenes on the DVDs. But like, I cannot believe that Michael was trying to get in your wedding photo, like in Phyllis's wedding photos. Wow.
You know, one of the things that Steve said, you know, back where we would get our hair and makeup done on stage there, were you around the day he said, you know, guys, I think this is going to be the best show we ever do. He said something to that effect. It was like around the first season, you know, and I think he was right. Yeah, I do too. Yeah, pretty darn great. Yeah. Yeah.
Oh, Phyllis, we love you. It's so fun to see you. Yeah. I love you both so much. And I thank you for talking to me. Oh, my gosh. Thank you. Well, I'm sorry, but if that interview didn't warm your heart...
I don't know what to say. I just love her so much. I think that would even make the Grinch's heart grow three sizes, just listening to that interview with Phyllis. Phyllis, you're the best. Thank you so much for being on Office Ladies. And thank you all for listening. And don't forget to catch Phyllis in Inside Out 2 in theaters now. And we will be back next week with Moving On Part 1. See you then. See you then.
Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fisher, and Angela Kinsey. Our senior producer is Cassie Jerkins. Our audio engineer is Jordan Duffy. And our associate producer is Ainsley Bubbico. Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.
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