Born on June 25, 1971 in Lafayette, Louisiana, Angela Kinsey grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she attended the prestigious Jakarta International School. Moving back to the United States, her family settled in Archer City, Texas. She then studied at Baylor University, where she took a lot of theater classes.
In talking about studying in Baylor, the actress said, "It was the perfect place for me to grow into who I am and take the belief system that I had and incorporate it into my life. It was a great place to go to school."
Upon graduation, she had an internship in Late Night with Conan O'Brien, where she worked for Max Weinberg. She later moved to Los Angeles and took improv classes with The Groundlings and Improv Olympic. She also briefly did voice work for Angela on King of the Hill .
In 2005, Kinsey was cast for the role of Angela Martin on NBC's The Office. She also appeared in the film License to Wed, directed by Ken Kwapis, who often worked with The Office.
Kinsey remarks on her first The Office audition, "the first time I auditioned, I auditioned for Pam. I know that's hard to believe because my character is so stern and frumpy and just the Puritan to end all Puritans. But I actually went in with my hair normal and I had a little pink top on and a little skirt and I got to audition for the producers as Pam. I remember them laughing."
The Emmy Award-winning actress has also gotten roles in Monk, portraying the character Arlene on two episodes. Her other credits include roles in Tripping Forward, Career Suicide and the series All of Us and Run of the House. She shared the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Broadband Program – Comedy for her work in The Office: Accountants, a series of webisodes.