She spoke to Slate about how she went from strutting on the sidelines in St. Louis to acting professionally in Los Angeles, her role in the new Cameron Diaz comedy Bad Teacher,and her poor broken ankle.
Slate: You took a circuitous route to acting. I read you were an NFL cheerleader, a burlesque dancer, and a casting director. Can you tell me more about your path?
Phyllis Smith: It certainly is not the norm, that’s for sure. I was in casting for about 19 years prior to my current new profession, and … hold on, I gotta get situated, I fractured my ankle.
Slate: Oh no! How’d that happen?
Smith: Do you want the truth? I slipped on water in the basement, OK? I’m trying to make up a more colorful story like the pole came loose from the ceiling, I fell off my motorcycle … but I just slipped on water.
OK, back to the question. In my heart, my first desire was to be a dancer. I always wanted to dance and I danced from the time I was 7 till I was well into my 30s. I did ballet, tap, jazz, modern, I taught dance here in my hometown of St. Louis. I danced in two different companies in St. Louis and in San Diego, and I was on the road for several years in a vaudeville/burlesque show —we did line dancing, tap dancing. Not line dancing like country, but a guy and a girl.
Michael Ausiello was at the NBC press tours and had the awesome privilege of chatting with Office mates Ellie Kemper, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Creed Bratton, Phyllis Smith, and Kate Flannery.
Happy Birthday to the wonderful Phyllis Smith!! She walked into a surprise ending on the season 4 finale! Now that she has blackmail on Angela I wonder how she’s going to use it? Hmmmm I can’t wait to find out! Here’s a fanvid featuring the ladies of The Office made by dulcecrawl.
Hello everybody. The summer is here and you know what that means: it’s bikini season. I want to try in get in better shape so I can impress Bob Vance when we go down to his beach house in July. I weighed (no pun intended) all my exercise options and decided I’m going to start walking around the building for twenty minutes before work every day. If it’s too hot, I’ll just use the hallways inside. If you’re interested in joining me, just let me know. I’ll be buying new sweatbands this weekend and I’d be happy to pick some up for anyone else, too. God knows I need them, because I really sweat a lot when I exercise. So anyway, please join me in my new athletic endeavor. Thank you. To read the rest of the newsletter click here.
Happy Birthday to the wonderful Phyllis Smith!! She walked into a surprise ending on the season 4 finale! Now that she has blackmail on Angela I wonder how she’s going to use it? Hmmmm I can’t wait to find out! Here’s a fanvid featuring the ladies of The Office made by 
