22 things you probably didn’t know about ‘The Office’

Phyllis Smith was an NFL cheerleader and a burlesque dancer before the filming “The Office.”

Before working as a casting director, Smith spent a year as an NFL cheerleader as well as some time as a burlesque dancer.

“It was just the perfect job for me at the time,” she told Yahoo! Entertainment in 2012, speaking about working with the St. Louis Cardinal cheerleaders. “I really enjoyed it because I loved football, so I was able to watch the game, dance, and be there and look at the cute guys across the field. So it was the triple threat there.” 

Smith said that she later joined a traveling vaudeville and burlesque group, which she worked at for seven years.

“There was no stripping,” Smith told Yahoo! Entertainment. “We had strategically placed feathers and G-strings with feathers covering our rumps. It was quite sexy, but no stripping or nudity.”