‘The Office’s Craig Robinson Shares How He Got Cast as Darryl Philbin

Pippity poppity give us the zoppity. And by that, we mean give us Craig Robinson on the Office Ladies podcast.
On the September 21 episode of Office Ladies, Stitcher’s The Office rewatch podcast, hosts Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey caught up with Robinson about his time on the show and what it was like playing Dunder Mifflin’s musically talented warehouse-turned-office employee Darryl Philbin.
“Being on The Office, it’s like you’re everybody’s friend. Everywhere I go somebody is ready to buy you a drink or share a story,” Robinson said. “And now people have seen [the show], you know, nine, ten, 14 times through…It’s just such a blessing to be a part of that.”
The three chatted about everything from how Robinson got his job on The Office to Season 7’s “The Sting,” which finds Darryl, Andy (Ed Helms), and Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) starting a band after Andy learns his old pal Broccoli Rob stumbled on some success in his musical career. Classic.
Here are the best tidbits from Robinson’s Office Ladies interview with his former co-stars and forever friends.

How Craig Robinson Got Cast on The Office

Fischer and Kinsey love to kick off interviews by asking guests how they got started on The Office. In Robinson’s case, he owes his spot on the show to a good old fashioned audition. (And a catchy NSFW song.)

“I auditioned. It was Greg Daniels, and then it must have been 12 other people in the room. And I read one of the confessionals. I read one of the talking heads,” Robinson explained. “The beauty of my audition — the beauty and also terror — was when I walked in, at the time, I had a video out with Jerry Minor. It was a song called, ‘Somebody’s F***ing My Lady.’ It was making the rounds and stuff. And obviously people look at your work before you come in to see what they’re dealing with. But at the time I didn’t realize people were like, looking at your work, I just thought you just went in. And Greg Daniels was like, ‘I saw the song. It doesn’t get any funnier than that.’ And so you could take that two ways: You’re here. Just go have a good time. Or wow, you’re going to really mess this up now. But thankfully they laughed and I came out as Darryl.”

Darryl, Holly, and Michael Carpooling

One of Darryl’s most memorable scenes on The Office is when he drives Michael and Holly to Nashua in the sixth episode of Season 5, “Employee Transfer.” Kinsey told Robinson she “lost her mind” while recently rewatching the episode and she couldn’t stop laughing at those awkward car scenes.
“I was laughing so hard, I was crying. It’s hands down one of my favorite episodes,” Kinsey said. “And Amy Ryan was on [Office Ladies] and she said doing those scenes with you and Steve was ‘One of the highlights of her time on The Office.'”
“We’re super friends. Shout out to Amy,” Robinson said. “Yeah, that was hysterical writing down there. I don’t know if you noticed, my voice at that time was a little — uh, I needed surgery on my voice. I had a polyp. It was crazy, riding with those two. Any time you’re in a scene with Michael, it was like, ‘Oh, here we go.’ So they had a three of us running down there, and it was just ridic…”

Craig Robinson’s Favorite Episodes of The Office

When asked if there were any standout episodes that Robinson considered favorites, he said he loves Season 3’s “The Negotiation.” He also said he loves the Season 3 episode “The Coup,” particularly one Dwight and Michael scene. “A scene stands out a lot that I really love was when Dwight lied and said he went to the dentist. And Michael’s like, ‘What’s the name of the dentist?’ He was like, ‘Crentist.’ With the way it was shot and it felt like a Western, and you really felt the tension. That’s one of the standouts for me.” Same.

Darryl’s Musical Moments

The three Office alum chatted about how Robinson’s musical talents run in his family. His mom was a music teacher who plays organ and cello, and though Robinson has mastered the piano, he can also “dabble” with the bass, drums, guitar, saxophone, and trumpet. OK, sir!!!
“So in this week’s episode, ‘The Sting,’ Darryl, Andy, and Kevin all join together to play Andy’s original song, ‘Please, Mr. President.; And this sets off a really fun arc for you guys playing together,” Kinsey said. “We did some research, Craig, and you guys play in ‘Pam’s Replacement’ and ‘The Last Day in Florida.’ You also play in ‘Local Ad.’ You sing everyone’s favorite, ‘People’s Person’s Paper People,’ and then your band, The Nasty Delicious, with your brother Chris Rob, played in ‘Goodbye Toby, Part Two.’ I mean, you got to do so many cool performances within the show. Was there one of the songs you guys performed together that was your favorite or a standout memory?”

“The ‘Goodbye Toby’ episode was was wonderful. First, you know, I got to put my band in there — my brother and I. And then…if you watch that episode I’m about give away something,” Robinson said. “Nobody else would notice. But there is one part with the editing where the guitar player’s just jamming, but you don’t hear any guitar. He’s just like jamming out…But ‘Goodbye Toby’ was pretty special. I had to learn the song on the spot.”
According to Robinson, learning songs on the spot (or with little notice) wasn’t uncommon on The Office. “But the the Dunder Mifflin song, you know, B.J.’s brother wrote the original. And then they gave it to me to kind of flip it for the story. And I got I think the night before, so that was cool. Had a little time for that,” he said.

Craig Robinson’s Favorite Office Improv Moment and His Most-Quoted Fan Line

Like Steve Carell and his wife Nancy Walls Carell, Robinson studied improv at Second City in Chicago. When asked what his favorite improv moments in The Office were, he said, “I have several. In ‘The Negotiation’ I was telling Mike, ‘Yeah, come on, go get that raise and make it happen, Cap’n.’ And I said that, ‘Make it happen, Cap’n.’ Right? And then Steve turned around, and I didn’t realize this until I watched it. He said, ‘I will make it happen…sergeant.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, wow, I didn’t even see that happen on set.'”

“Is there a Darryl quote that fans say to you when they see you out?” Fischer asked. “Dinkin flicka all day long. Pippity Poppity gimme the zoppity all day long,” he said.
Be sure to listen to the full episode of Office Ladies to hear more behind-the-scenes stories about “The Sting.”