Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Lapin
Phyllis Lapin of NBC's
The Office is played by Phyllis Smith. A sales representative at Dunder-Mifflin, Phyllis is a friendly, motherly woman who likes engaging in girl talk and gossip. She is often in conflict with office manager, Michael Scott, who thinks that she is older than he is, despite them having gone to high school together. She is also the wife of Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration. In the office, Phyllis is closest to Pam Beesly, and is often in conflict with Angela Martin, whom Phyllis had admitted to in her face that she does not like.
Although suffering scoliosis as a child, Phyllis went on to play high school basketball, and eventually volunteered to be on the basketball team of Dunder-Mifflin. Her boss, Michael disagreed, so she opted to becoming a cheerleader instead. Michael then recruited her as an alternate player.
At the 8th Annual Dundie Awards, Phyllis emerged as the recipient of the erroneous statue which read, "Bushiest Beaver" instead of "Busiest Beaver." Contrary to being the biggest supporter of the Pam and Jim couple, she admits that if she could sleep with one person in the office, it would be Jim.
In season 4, Angela and Phyllis were still in conflict with each other, as Phyllis was found searching the Internet for ways on how to handle difficult people, in particular, Angela. When Angela criticized Phyllis for a spelling mistake in the sign "Lunch Party" and for having bought the wrong utensils, Phyllis calmly reasoned out. However, Angela insulted her further, thus infuriating Phyllis. Phyllis later confronted Angela with post-its on her fingertips, telling her that she could only fulfill one, not all of her requests. Angela insulted her in response, forcing Phyllis to crumple all the notes and throw it to Angela's face.
(Photo courtesy of NBC)