10 Best Supporting Stars Of ‘The Office’, Ranked

Across nine seasons and 201 episodes, the American adaptation of ‘The Office’ followed the staff of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch in a mockumentary format. Developed by Greg Daniels, the series debuted on NBC and used a documentary crew conceit that informed everything from talking heads to long running arcs about sales, mergers, and corporate shakeups in Scranton.

Beyond the core leads, the ensemble featured performers who anchored key departments, moved between warehouse and office roles, and even contributed behind the scenes as writers and producers. Many of these actors entered partway through the run or shifted jobs as storylines evolved, and several returned for important milestones that wrapped up personal and workplace threads by the finale.

10. Melora Hardin as Jan Levinson

Melora Hardin portrays Jan Levinson, a Dunder Mifflin corporate executive who oversees the Scranton branch and manages Michael Scott for multiple seasons. Jan appears in performance reviews, corporate summits, and meetings where branch sales targets and strategy are set, and her decisions affect staffing, mergers, and budget choices in Scranton and Stamford.

Jan later leaves the company and starts a candle business called Serenity by Jan while continuing to appear in storylines that connect corporate life to the branch. She becomes a parent to Astrid through a sperm donor and remains a recurring presence in legal and personal plots that involve former colleagues from ‘The Office’.

9. Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson

Leslie David Baker plays Stanley Hudson, a veteran sales representative in Scranton who works long standing client accounts alongside the rest of the sales team. He participates in annual sales drives, branch wide incentives, and cross branch meetings that track quotas and client retention, and he is involved in multiple company wide events filmed by the documentary crew.

Late in the series, Stanley retires after the documentary airs and relocates to Florida, closing out a career that included branch fire drills, safety trainings, and interoffice committees. He appears at the reunion events tied to the release of the documentary and remains connected to coworkers who move into new roles after the series’ workplace changes.

8. Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone

Brian Baumgartner appears as Kevin Malone, an accountant who works in the back office with the Scranton accounting team. He handles day to day ledger tasks, petty cash issues, and branch audits, and he fronts the band Scrantonicity that performs at office functions including a coworker wedding.

Near the end of the series, Kevin is dismissed by Dwight Schrute during a round of staffing changes and later operates a bar that becomes a gathering spot for former colleagues. He returns for the documentary related events and interacts with past coworkers during the final Scranton celebrations on ‘The Office’.

7. Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Vance

Phyllis Smith plays Phyllis Vance, a Scranton sales representative who works accounts across the region and sits on the Party Planning Committee. She marries Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration, connects sales efforts with warehouse logistics through shared contacts in the business park, and appears in many sales competitions and company ceremonies.

Before being cast, Smith worked as a casting associate, and her office readings during early development led to an on screen role that lasted the full run. She appears in the series finale events and reunions and continues to be featured in storylines that tie the sales floor to building neighbors and to the party planning duties that recur across ‘The Office’.

6. Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor

Mindy Kaling portrays Kelly Kapoor, a customer service representative who fields client calls, complaint resolutions, and returns that follow Scranton’s sales activity. Kelly’s employment history includes training new hires in customer service processes and participating in task forces that coordinate with corporate on policy and compliance.

Kaling also wrote and produced episodes of ‘The Office’ while appearing in front of the camera, contributing scripts that shaped arcs for multiple departments. Her character eventually leaves Scranton for a move tied to a new relationship, and she makes key appearances at documentary related gatherings that connect past and present employees.

5. B. J. Novak as Ryan Howard

B. J. Novak plays Ryan Howard, who begins as a temp assigned to the Scranton branch and later accepts a corporate promotion to a leadership role. Ryan’s rise includes new product rollouts and corporate projects that link New York headquarters to branch operations, followed by a return to Scranton after his time in corporate.

Novak served as a writer and producer on ‘The Office’ while acting, contributing to story development across the series. On screen, Ryan launches a tech venture called WUPHF dot com during his return to Scranton, works in the annex near customer service, and remains involved in corporate and branch plots through the final years.

4. Paul Lieberstein as Toby Flenderson

Paul Lieberstein appears as Toby Flenderson, the human resources representative who manages policies, incident reports, and corporate compliance for the Scranton branch. Toby conducts training sessions, oversees workplace investigations, and handles documentation that connects Scranton to corporate legal requirements.

Lieberstein also worked behind the scenes as a writer and producer and served as showrunner for multiple seasons of ‘The Office’. On screen, Toby briefly relocates to Costa Rica before returning to HR in Scranton, and he is present for the documentary release events that close out the series.

3. Angela Kinsey as Angela Martin

Angela Kinsey plays Angela Martin, head of the Scranton accounting department and long time chair of the Party Planning Committee. Angela coordinates budgets, monitors expense approvals, and works with corporate auditors when branch finances are reviewed, and she assigns accounting tasks that support sales tracking and inventory reconciliation.

Her storylines include an engagement to Andy Bernard, a relationship with Dwight Schrute, and a later marriage to Dwight in the series finale. Angela also navigates a public relationship with State Senator Robert Lipton that ties into office politics and affects multiple departments on ‘The Office’.

2. Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez

Oscar Nunez portrays Oscar Martinez, a member of the Scranton accounting team who specializes in budgets, analysis, and corporate reporting. He becomes central to HR and management plots after Michael Scott publicly discusses his personal life, and he participates in corporate sensitivity training and policy updates that follow.

Oscar later becomes involved in storylines with State Senator Robert Lipton that intersect with Angela Martin’s family and political events. He remains active through the later seasons, appears at documentary screenings and panel discussions, and continues to connect accounting operations to companywide initiatives on ‘The Office’.

1. Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin

Craig Robinson plays Darryl Philbin, the warehouse foreman who manages shipping, receiving, and safety procedures at the Scranton business park. Over time he negotiates directly with branch management on raises and staffing, moves from the warehouse to an upstairs office role, and joins management level meetings that align warehouse and sales objectives.

Darryl later accepts a job offer with Jim Halpert’s sports marketing startup Athlead and relocates to Austin, linking the Scranton narrative to a post documentary career path. He returns for the concluding events tied to the documentary release and reunions, and his arc tracks a full transition from warehouse leadership to corporate facing work that spans much of ‘The Office’.

Share your picks in the comments and tell us which supporting star of ‘The Office’ you would add to the list.