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" It was only after I'd had some injuries that I basically retired from the performing side of show business and then began working in casting. I did that for 19 years or so before a friend of mine decided to cast me as Phyllis Lapin-Vance on 'The Office.' "

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" I once prayed when struggling financially and worried how I was going to be able to assist my parents in their latter years living thousands of miles away, to help me win the lottery or something. And I did win the lottery, just in a different and better way. "

Phyllis Smith

Help

Living

Win

" When I was in casting, we would bring somebody in, have them read their lines, maybe give them a few pointers, and hire them, and then once they go to the set and you have a director who's directing them, that performance may not be anywhere near what you had in the audition, either good or bad. "

" I didn't want Sadness to be just one note. "

" I just wanted Sadness to be true, to come from a real place. I tried to work from the inside out, going from my gut all the time. I didn't over-analyze it. I just did it. "

" I know how difficult it is to get one job, much less an entirely new career. I'm very blessed and grateful. It's like I'm a normal person with an extraordinary journey. "

" I had one young man tell me he wished I was his mom. Another young woman told me that every time she watched 'The Office,' I reminded her of her mother, who had just passed away a year ago, and that every time she saw me she felt as if she had a piece of her mom still with her. "

Phyllis Smith

Mother

Mom

" When we were doing 'The Office,' there was an area backstage where they worked on hair and makeup, and I was sitting there waiting to get ready to go on, and one of the writers went, 'I want you to audition for 'Bad Teacher.'' I went, 'Okay!' "

" One day, I was taken into a room with 25 animators, all working on Sadness. They asked me a lot of questions, and they got something of the way I move into the character. "

" Everybody involved in Pixar, I've not met one person who's not incredibly creative and nice and lovely and know what they're doing. "

" Everybody wants to shine a little bit, even a wallflower. "

" I have always been more of a joyous person than a sad person. But I was fortunate to have a mom and dad where my mom could look at my face and know what was going on and was able to get me to talk and draw it out. As a result, I didn't have to hide an emotion. I didn't have to worry about her telling me, 'That's silly.' "

" My family in St. Louis brings me to my roots. "

" I'm not accomplished enough to over-analyze something, because I don't have the background as far as people who write and know how to break down a character or story and stuff. I mostly go by gut instincts. "

" Even before 'The OA,' I was a very spiritual person. "

" I've just tried to be a responsible person and pay my bills. But whatever it is I do, I want to do the best I can. "

" If I wasn't going to be able to dance professionally, I wasn't going to dance. That's my all-or nothing personality coming out. "

" I do like comedy and drama. "

Phyllis Smith

Comedy

Drama

" As a dancer, one of my many teachers along the way made the comment that who I was onstage and who I was off were two totally different people. "

" I used to watch, on television on Sunday nights, they had the Disney hour then and the castle coming up and 'When you wish upon a star... ' That was my very first Disney memory. "

" Sadness is a necessary emotion. It's maybe not the most pleasant one to have, but it's cathartic. "

" When I hurt my knee, I knew it was time to retire from dancing, and I needed a job just to pay the bills, and I ended up as a receptionist for about three-four years. "

" I know how difficult it is for actors to get work, because I did casting for all those years. "

" I don't really think about being pigeonholed so much. "

" I'm just a normal person, believe me. "

" The discipline as a dancer carried over into my life. "

" God truly had a better plan for me than I had imagined. You never know what life has in store. "

Phyllis Smith

God

Know

" I find myself dancing in the grocery store. "

" Generally, I'm not sad. I mean, everyone has sad moments. "

" I grew up when Disney was doing movies like Cinderella, and all the girls were princesses. "

Phyllis Smith

Movies

Cinderella

" When I'm home, I go back to the same routine that I've had since I was a kid. "

Phyllis Smith

Home

Kid