Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
Here Are All the Major Characters in The Office Cast, from Seasons 1 Through 9
Here are The Office Characters and the actors who play them
Like at almost any job, The Office cast and the characters they played were a diverse mix of personalities from diligent to deranged, and their interactions and antics are what kept fans laughing throughout the nine seasons that the sitcom ran on NBC.
From the core characters like Michael, Dwight, Jim and Pam to those who had more secondary roles like Kevin, Phyllis and Angela, each staffer at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company brought something unique to the table.
RELATED: Check Out Stanley Hudson's Best Moments on The Office
Whether you've decided to finally dive into The Office (now streaming on Peacock) for the first time and see what you've been missing, or you just need a refresher on your favorites, here's a rundown of all the major characters on the mockumentary series.
Here are The Office Characters and the cast who play them
Michael Scott (Steve Carell)
Michael Scott, the regional manager of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch, was the central character on the show since its very first episode, until Steve Carell left The Office cast toward the end of Season 7 (though he made a surprise return in the series finale). Based on Ricky Gervais' David Brent character from the British version of The Office, Michael has an overinflated view of himself and how respected he is by his employees. He's often unintentionally offensive, and doesn't always get it when he's being mocked. Throughout the course of the show, he's had romantic relationships with Jan, as well as Holly, who he ultimately married and had kids with.
Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson)
Dwight Schrute — who's odd, intense and nerdy, yet hardworking — was a mainstay for all nine seasons of The Office and managed to rise through the ranks at Dunder Mifflin from salesman to assistant to the regional manager, and eventually, regional manager by the end of the final season. Along the way, there were plenty of weird and wacky moments, from running a beet farm, to disguising himself as a French burn victim wrapped in bandages to apply for the branch manager job. Dwight, portrayed brilliantly by Rainn Wilson, ultimately got what he wanted by scoring the top gig at his branch, and in the two-part series finale, he married Angela in a wedding that saw the return of several characters who had left the show in early seasons or episodes.
RELATED: Look Back at Everything that Happened to Erin Hannon on The Office
Jim Halpert (John Krasinski)
The Office cast needed a straight man to react to all his kooky co-workers, and the show had that in Jim — who was also easy on the eye. From the very first episode and all the way through the end of the series, Jim, played by John Krasinski, remained steady throughout the insanity around him, whether it involved his boss Michael or colleague Dwight, whom he loved to play pranks on. Jim started out as a sales rep before being promoted to assistant regional manager and then co-manager. He found love in colleague Pam, who he started dating in Season 4 before later marrying her and having two kids together. In the series finale, Jim (and Pam) quits his job at Dunder Mifflin to follow his dream of running his sports marketing company.
Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer)
Like Jim, Pam was also very composed compared to the rest of her colleagues at Dunder Mifflin. Starting out as the receptionist in Season 1 before becoming a saleswoman and then office administrator in later seasons, she took Michael's abuse and helped keep him under control. She had a close friendship with Michael, as well as Jim, which later developed into a romance and then marriage. Pam went on to have a pair of children with Jim, and in the series finale, she secretly put their house up for sale because she knew Jim really wanted to move to Austin to run his sports marketing company. When it sells, she and Jim quit their paper company jobs in anticipation of the move.
Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak)
Ryan started out as a temp in the very first episode of the show, taking on low-level tasks for Michael and growing to resent his job. At the end of the third season, he gets promoted to a corporate job in New York, and then eventually returns to Scranton to take over Pam's receptionist. He screwed up several times during his career at Dunder Mifflin, getting arrested for fraud and getting addicted to drugs. Ryan has a rocky on-and-off relationship with Kelly, which was inspired by Novak's real-life relationship with Mindy Kaling, who starred as Kelly and was a writer on the show, along with Novak. Ryan exited the show at the beginning of the final season, but returned for the finale, when he showed up at Dwight and Angela's wedding with a baby. Reconnecting with Kelly at the festivities, he intentionally gives his own baby an allergic reaction to distract her doctor fiancé and run off with his former love.
Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling)
Kelly, the overdramatic pop culture-obsessed customer service rep at the Scranton branch, like Ryan, also regularly appeared on the show from the very beginning, give or take a few Season 1 episodes, before leaving after the first episode of Season 9, then later returning for the finale. She and Ryan were briefly married, before splitting about a week later, then continuing to date. When Kelly later gets engaged to Ravi, she quits her job at Dunder Mifflin and follows him to Ohio where he landed a job. After being absent from the show for much of Season 9, she and Ravi appear in the finale for Dwight and Angela's nuptials. After Ryan gives his baby a strawberry, which he knows the kid is allergic to, and passes the baby off to Ravi, Kelly is moved that her ex would make his own kid sick to get alone time with her. So she runs off with Ryan, leaving everyone else back at the wedding.
RELATED: What to Know About Holly Flax from The Office
Andy Bernard (Ed Helms)
We got our first look at Andy in the Season 3 premiere, when he introduces himself as the Regional Director in Charge of Sales at the Stamford branch, where Jim had transferred to following the end of Season 2. Later in that season, the Stamford and Scranton branches merge, with Andy and others moving over to the Scranton location, and where Andy immediately begins kissing up to Michael. Like Dwight, Andy hopes to be the next regional manager at the branch when Michael leaves. Andy gets his shot at regional manager in Season 8. But then he gets fired. He later decides to pursue his dream of entertainment stardom and tries his luck on a singing competition show, only to be told the judges couldn't see his performance. He makes his way into the audition room anyway, crying and throwing a tantrum, resulting in a viral video. By the series finale, he's got a gig at Cornell University.
Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker)
A main character from the very beginning, grumpy sales rep Stanley wants nothing more than to retire. He does crossword puzzles during meetings and openly tells his boss Michael, whom he can't stand, to "leave me alone." He once said his dream was to "own a decommissioned lighthouse, and I want to live at the top — and nobody knows I live there, and there's a button that I can press and launch that lighthouse into space." At least his dream of retirement comes to fruition in the series finale, in which he says, "I've been looking forward to this day since I was 18 years old." Stanley always had a bond with fellow sales rep Phyllis, whom he gifts a bird he carved out of wood in the finale.
Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner)
A member of the Scranton branch's accounting department, Kevin doesn't have lofty ambitions. "I just want to lie on the beach and eat hot dogs — that's all I've ever wanted," he said in one episode. He also once whispered while eating hors d'oeuvres in bed: "I wanted to eat a pig in a blanket — in a blanket." Kevin's in a band called Scrantonicity, which he leaves to create Scrantonicity II. In the finale, Dwight announces that he's firing Kevin at a meeting by giving him a cake reading "Get out." This nearly destroys their relationship, but the two hash things out after Jim brings Dwight to a bar Kevin has opened. Whether it was stuffing his face full of M&M's or making his patented chili recipe, Kevin was a fan favorite for all of the series' nine seasons.
Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey)
The most uptight personality at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch, Angela is the senior accountant and another consistent presence on the show from the pilot to the finale. She begins dating Dwight in Season 2 and was engaged to Andy in Season 4 — but cheats on him with Dwight. She was married to Pennsylvania State Senator Robert Lipton in Seasons 8 and 9, but they divorced after he revealed he was gay. Angela has Dwight's baby in Season 8, but doesn't tell him it's his until Season 9, after he proposes to her. In the finale, Angela and Dwight get married, and nearly everyone from the office shows up — past and present.
RELATED: The Office’s Mindy Kaling On Motherhood and Playing Dress-Up With Her Daughter
Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez)
As Jim told the camera once, "Around here, Oscar is known as 'Actually,' because he will insert him into just about any conversation to add facts or correct grammar." Oscar, a mainstay throughout the entire series run, is one of the smartest employees in the office, and also happens to be gay, which, while hinted at earlier, wasn't made public until his boss Michael outed him in Season 3. He has an affair with Angela's state senator husband Robert, which she eventually finds out about. In the series finale, viewers learn that Oscar runs for state senator of Pennsylvania and wins.
Phyllis Vance (Phyllis Smith)
A sales rep from Season 1 through Season 9, Phyllis went to high school with her boss Michael, and often clashes with Angela, who she's on the office party planning committee with. She became pregnant in high school and gave the baby up for adoption. Phyllis enjoys a close friendship with Stanley. After learning that Angela is cheating on her fiancé Andy with Dwight, she blackmails Angela to get what she wants around the office. During a Christmas party, when Phyllis asks Angela to put a Christmas tree back up and she refuses, Phyllis finally reveals the affair to nearly everyone in the office.
Meredith Palmer (Kate Flannery)
Meredith works in the supplier relations department, and is known for her fun, forward personality, appearing in all nince seasons of the show. She was once told in the office by HR rep Toby that her outfit was "riding up a little high" and she might consider pulling it down — so, she does, which then reveals other parts of her body not suitable for an office. Meredith explains her outfit choice as, "It's casual day." She has a bit of a drinking problem and once announced in the office that she has an addiction to porn. She once shaved her head in the office kitchen because she had lice. Meredith has two children and is divorced.
RELATED: Rainn Wilson, AKA Dwight Schrute, Took The Office Job to Afford a House
Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein)
Toby is the human resources representative at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch, and is one of the more level-headed employees in the bunch. Michael is not a fan, since his antics are not very HR-friendly and he sees Toby as a buzzkill. "Toby is in HR, which technically means he works for corporate, so he's really not a part of our family," Michael tells the cameras at one point. "Also, he's divorced so, he's really not a part of his family." Toby has a crush on Pam, who of course ends up with Jim. In the series finale, new branch manager Dwight fires Toby at a staff meeting by handing him a cake and saying, "Bye-bye, Toby." Played by Paul Lieberstein, one of The Office's writers-turned-executive producers, Toby was a consistent presence on the show, save for his ill-fated departure for Costa Rica at the end of Season 4. He returned midway through Season 5, prompting this iconic reaction from Michael.
Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper)
Erin joined the series in Season 5 and stuck around through the final batch of episodes. She came into Dunder Mifflin as the new secretary, replacing Pam when she briefly left to become a salesperson at the Michael Scott Paper Company. She brought a certain naiveté and silliness to the proceedings, but was a true friend and surrogate daughter to Michael before he left. Along the way, she dated both Andy (Ed Helms) and Gabe (Zach Woods), but finally found true love in Season 9 with new-hire Pete (aka Plop), played by Jake Lacy.
Roy Anderson (David Denman)
Fans who shipped Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) early on are certainly well aware of Roy’s role in the series’ first three seasons. Roy is, of course, Pam’s first fiancee — the pair are already in the midst of a longterm engagement when the series begins. Roy works in the warehouse with Darryl (Craig Robinson), but eventually left Dunder Mifflin after being fired in Season 3 for trying to punch Jim after learning he and Pam had kissed (thankfully, Dwight was there with some pepper spray to save the day). Though it was a sad exit for Roy, he did pop up for guest appearances in Season 5, Season 7 and Season 9 — with his final appearance coming as Pam and Jim are invited to Roy’s wedding, only to learn he’s found the woman of his dreams and is now running a wildly successful gravel company.
Jan Levinson (Melora Hardin)
Jan was there from the very beginning in Season 1, serving as the corporate thorn in Michael’s side through much of the series. She was Michael’s supervisor at corporate for the first few seasons, but was eventually fired for being too erratic and irresponsible (most of that downward slide began after a brief, regrettable hook-up with Michael). She and Michael dated off-and-on through much of the show’s early run, with Jan famously living with Michael for a while at his condo and hosting one of the most fantastically uncomfortable dinner parties ever conceived. Luckily for Jan, she eventually lands back on her feet in a different corporate gig, and is a customer of Dunder Mifflin for a brief time (thanks to Clark’s seductive prowess). Jan appeared in almost every season of the show, aside from Seasons 6 and 8.
Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton)
Creed’s job is a bit nebulous, but after joining the show in its inaugural season, he became a fan favorite in Season 2 after hilariously convincing Michael to fire Devon (Devon Abner) instead of him when corporate insists a position has to be cut at the Scranton branch. Creed was apparently in charge of quality control at some level, though the only time we really see him work is when he’s covering his own laziness by framing someone to take the fall (we’re still pouring one out for poor Debbie at the paper plant). In the show’s final season, Creed actually goes on the run, but shows back up hiding out at Dunder Mifflin for one final goodbye with the crew.
Karen Filippelli (Rashida Jones)
After Jim crashed and burned shooting his shot with Pam after Casino Night, he took the transfer to the Stamford branch, which is where he met fellow salesperson Karen Filippelli. When the Stanford branch folded, Karen took the transfer to Scranton, where she and Jim continued their burgeoning romance. Their relationship hit the skids when Karen realized Jim had hidden his feelings for Pam, and despite trying to work through it, they never recovered. Karen was always more ambitious than Jim, and after being passed over for a corporate role that eventually went to Ryan, she ended up managing her own branch of Dunder Mifflin a few years later. Rashida Jones was only a series regular for Season 3 before leaving to join the cast of Parks and Recreation, though she returned for several guest appearances on The Office; her final on-screen appearance as Karen came in Season 7.
Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson)
Darryl started out in a recurring role as the warehouse manager the first three seasons, but was elevated to a starring gig for the show’s final six seasons. When Sabre bought Dunder Mifflin, Darryl was promoted to an upstairs office, which made it easier to keep him involved in the day to day hijinks around the office. He made a play for the manager’s position when Michael left, but was passed over. Eventually, Darryl left Dunder Mifflin to work at the sports marketing firm Jim founded, finally landing his dream job.
Gabe Lewis (Zach Woods)
Zach Woods is memorable in pretty much every role, including his stint on Silicon Valley, but his gig as the hapless Sabre corporate liaison in The Office is easily among his best roles. Gabe joined the series in Season 6, and frequently spent his time bouncing between Scranton and Sabre’s corporate office in Florida. He dated Erin for a while, but when David Wallace eventually bought back Dunder Mifflin, his role faded away with that corporate structure. He left after Season 8, but Andy did briefly rehire Gabe in the final season to annoy Erin, so we at least got one last laugh from the skeleton man.
Holly Flax (Amy Ryan)
Holly was a good character in her own right, but is arguably best remembered for leaving the show — mostly because who she took with her in the process. Holly is, of course, Michael’s eventual wife. She was introduced in Season 4, and popped up a couple of times after that to keep Michael’s unrequited love burning. But it all came to a head in Season 7, her final arc in the series, and she and Michael fell in love and the pair decided to move away to Colorado so Holly can help care for her aging parents. She and Michael had the same sense of humor, which made her pretty much the only HR rep he could ever stand to be around.
Nellie Bertram (Catherine Tate)
Nellie was apparently a friend of former Sabre CEO Jo Bennet (Kathy Bates), and was in charge of the failed Sabre store project that ended with Todd Packer (David Koechner) taking the fall for the failure. After her Season 7 debut, she ended up in a starring role with the ensemble for the final two seasons, briefly serving as branch manager after literally taking the job away from Andy, and then she stuck around as special projects manager. Basically doing as much work as Creed around the office. She was funny, though, and had quite possibly one of the most uncomfortably hilarious dynamics with Robert California.
Robert California (James Spader)
The former Stargate and future Blacklist star had a memorable starring role in The Office’s penultimate season, serving as Sabre’s mysterious and aloof new CEO Robert California (if that really is his real name). It was Robert who decided to promote Andy to manager, and it was Robert who sat back and enjoyed the chaos as Nellie briefly took the position away from him. Robert was an enigma wrapped in a riddle, and we’re pretty sure a total conman. But he was brilliant in his own ways, and absolutely hilarious most of the time. Plus, with just a one-and-done role in Season 8 following a brief appearance at the end of Season 7, he stuck around just long enough to be funny, then vanished off into his likely made-up charity to help underprivileged gymnasts.
Clark Green (Clark Duke)
With The Office barreling into its final season, the cast list expanded a bit to add some younger, fresh faces to the mix. Clark, who they sometimes nicknamed Dwight Jr., had ambitions to be a salesman, which is how he ended up spending a few weeks circling the globe with Jan as a boy-toy to land the Scranton White Pages deal. He also helps cover some of Jim’s work while he’s away in Philly for his sports gig.
Pete Miller (Jake Lacy)
Introduced alongside Clark in Season 9, Pete was almost a new straight-man to the weirdness of The Office, and it made for a neat perspective to add back into the mix after so many years of zaniness. He handled customer complaints, or something like that, but mostly served as a nice guy to catch Erin’s attention so the pair could find a happy ending together.
You can catch all nine seasons of The Office streaming now on Peacock, plus several seasons of the extended SuperFan episodes.
Originally published Aug 3, 2023.
