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.