Phyllis Smith

“Hopefully, 'Inside Out' will have the longevity that those older movies have, and many years down the line, people will be able to watch it and find some kinship with it.”

“In today's world, everyone's so clued into their iPhones, and communication is going by the wayside as far as one-on-one is concerned. It's very seldom that I walk into a room and parents make their children say hello and have a social grace with one another.”

“I've had an experience that... I don't know the right label to put to it, if it was an angel or Jesus or what. Nobody knows anything for sure about that, but I know that I had an encounter, and I know that things exist beyond this realm, most definitely. I'm grounded in that.”

“Just go for it. Don't be afraid of trying new things. You have absolutely no idea what's going to present itself to you. Don't be frightened. Just buckle down and do whatever your heart desires.”

“Everybody wants to shine a little bit, even a wallflower.”

“I do like comedy and drama.”

“As a dancer, one of my many teachers along the way made the comment that who I was onstage and who I was off were two totally different people.”

“I know how difficult it is to get one job, much less an entirely new career. I'm very blessed and grateful. It's like I'm a normal person with an extraordinary journey.”

“I once prayed when struggling financially and worried how I was going to be able to assist my parents in their latter years living thousands of miles away, to help me win the lottery or something. And I did win the lottery, just in a different and better way.”

“Everybody involved in Pixar, I've not met one person who's not incredibly creative and nice and lovely and know what they're doing.”

“It was only after I'd had some injuries that I basically retired from the performing side of show business and then began working in casting. I did that for 19 years or so before a friend of mine decided to cast me as Phyllis Lapin-Vance on 'The Office.'”

“I didn't want Sadness to be just one note.”

“One day, I was taken into a room with 25 animators, all working on Sadness. They asked me a lot of questions, and they got something of the way I move into the character.”

“I wish I had paid more attention in my psych class in college. I would've had a broader vocabulary to draw from.”

“I have said in many interviews that God had a better plan for me than I ever anticipated. I still firmly believe that, and I am grateful for a prayer answered.”

“I had one young man tell me he wished I was his mom. Another young woman told me that every time she watched 'The Office,' I reminded her of her mother, who had just passed away a year ago, and that every time she saw me she felt as if she had a piece of her mom still with her.”

“I did ballet, tap, jazz, modern, I taught dance here in my hometown of St. Louis.”

“One of the first places I was ever recognized after 'The Office' came out was at Target in Los Angeles. Someone came up to me, and she said, 'Are you Phyllis from 'The Office?'' We were in different aisles, but she had recognized my voice.”

“When I was little, my mom would dress me up and take me downtown on the Carondelet bus, which in itself was exciting. We would go to see Santa Claus at Famous-Barr. The decorations were so pretty. The line was long, but that just gave me more time to enjoy Santa's Toyland. I loved every minute of it.”