20 celebrities who guest starred on 'The Office'

Before Amy Adams was a six-time Academy Award nominee, and before Jim and Pam ever got together, Adams played Jim’s girlfriend, Katy. She starred in three episodes over the first two seasons, initially introduced as a handbag salesperson at Dunder Mifflin. While Adams looks like she could be the sister of Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam, Jim ultimately ends up with the latter redhead, and Adams went on to become one of the most acclaimed actresses working today.

Worlds collided when Ricky Gervais appeared as David Brent, his character in the original U.K. version of The Office, in a cold open of the U.S. series. David runs into Michael Scott outside an elevator, and the two instantly hit it off, given that Michael is David’s American counterpart and the pair share the same questionable sense of humor. In a later episode, David sends in a video application for Michael’s position after he leaves Dunder Mifflin but doesn’t make the cut. 

After Michael Scott resigns as regional manager at Dunder Mifflin, the role is filled by a number of characters, and it feels like there is a new boss in almost every episode. One of those is Deangelo Vickers, played by Will Ferrell. Sticking around as regional manager for a grand total of four episodes, Ferrell’s Deangelo is an even worse boss than Michael ever was. After a basketball injury, Deangelo is presumed braindead, and so his time at Dunder Mifflin ends.

Comedy legend Jim Carrey makes a cameo appearance as a regional manager applicant after Michael’s departure. Many famous faces appear in the search for Michael’s replacement, but this one might be the most impressive, albeit brief. Carrey’s character is only referred to as the "Finger Lakes Guy" and states to the camera crew that he lied to and abandoned his family on vacation to attend the job interview. It’s a bizarre and surreal cameo but ultimately very funny.

Most audiences know him as shady lawyer Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, but Bob Odenkirk also appears in an episode of the final season of The Office. With Pam searching for a new job, she attends an interview with office manager Mark, played by Odenkirk. To Pam’s surprise, Mark is essentially another version of Michael Scott, which is ironic as Odenkirk originally auditioned to play Michael before the role went to Steve Carrell.

Evan Peters is known for playing twisted and disturbing roles in American Horror Story and Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, but before his turn to drama, he guest starred on The Office as Michael’s nephew, Luke. Michael hires Luke as an assistant to bring his family closer but quickly realizes that Luke is lazy and incompetent. He’s a huge nuisance to the Dunder Mifflin employees and receives a dramatic yet deserved spanking from Michael in front of everybody. 

Alongside Jessica Alba and Cloris Leachman, Jack Black appears as an actor in a movie that Andy pirates and watches with Jim and Pam on his laptop. In the fictional movie created for the show called “Mrs. Albert Hannaday," Sam (Black) is engaged to Sophie (Alba) but falls in love with her grandmother (Leachman) in a tale of forbidden romance. It would have been great to see Black interact with the Dunder Mifflin crew, but this remains a fun cameo full of star power.

In season six of The Office, Dunder Mifflin is bought by the printer company Sabre, with its CEO Jo Bennett played by the legendary Kathy Bates. With her deep Southern nature, forthrightness, business success, and two massive Great Danes, Jo is intimidating yet endearing and one heck of a go-getter. Bates appears in the role over several episodes in seasons six and seven until Sabre is liquidated and Dunder Mifflin moves to new management. 

He’s now the star of some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, but before hitting the big-time, Idris Elba played Dunder Mifflin Vice President Charles Miner in season five of the show. Charles is a serious and no-nonsense guy, making things very difficult for Michael. Many of the former bosses put up with Michael’s antics, but not Charles. Elba perfectly portrays Charles’s intimidating, challenging, and professional persona.

Before becoming a comedic icon in his own right and starring in movies like The Hangover and shows like Community, Ken Jeong briefly appeared in an episode of The Office in the show’s second season. Jeong plays Bill, a participant in an improv class Michael attends. Michael can’t stop using an imaginary gun in each scene, and when he and Bill act out a scene together, he whispers to Bill to put his hands up because… yes, he has a gun. 

When Sabre takes over Dunder Mifflin in season six, the employees watch a strange orientation video. The spokesperson in the video? None other than Christian Slater playing himself. Slater gives a tour of Sabre’s headquarters in the staged video, which cheesily attempts to inspire new employees. It features bizarre quotes such as “Have you ever tasted a rainbow? At Sabre, you will." Ultimately, it doesn’t do much to inspire the Dunder Mifflin crew.

Comedian Ray Romano was one of the many famous faces who interviewed for Michael's position after his departure, playing Merv Bronte. Merv’s interview is sabotaged by Robert California, who manipulates him to perform poorly and unprofessionally. Merv is easily influenced and pulls out a sandwich during the interview. He may have had nine long and successful seasons of comedy TV with Everybody Loves Raymond, but Romano didn’t last long at Dunder Mifflin. 

He may be a multi-platinum certified singer and songwriter, but Josh Groban also dabbles in acting and plays Andy’s younger brother Walter Bernard Jr. in two episodes of The Office. Walter is the favorite child, upstaging Andy with his glorious pipes and innocent charm at Andy’s garden party, which Andy has thrown to impress his parents. Walter later falls from grace and becomes an alcoholic, which brings him closer to his brother.

Before gaining worldwide fame for her role in the Fifty Shades of Grey movies, Dakota Johnson appeared in the final ever episode of The Office. She plays a character appropriately named Dakota, who is supposed to be Kevin’s replacement after Dwight fires him and only appears in two scenes. She discovers many of Kevin’s previous accounting errors and is even seen flirting with employee Duke at the end of the episode.

Joan Cusack is another Hollywood heavyweight who appeared on the show’s finale. In a Q&A for the Dunder Mifflin crew’s documentary, Erin’s birth parents are in the audience and reveal themselves to her, with Cusack as Erin’s mother. Despite only appearing briefly and having just a few lines, it’s a sweet and touching moment in the highly emotional series finale. It’s also great to see Erin get her happy ending after growing up as an orphan.

Audiences may know him as Gob Bluth, Lego Batman, and BoJack Horseman, but Will Arnett also played Fred Henry, an applicant for the Dunder Mifflin regional manager position. Fred is a former weather predictor for the Navy and says he has a three-step plan to double Dunder Mifflin’s sales, which he won’t disclose. It becomes apparent that Fred has done no research and doesn’t even know what company he’s applying for. According to him, he’s interviewing for Vance Refrigeration. 

Before getting his own late-night talk show, Stephen Colbert appeared via webcam as Andy’s former frenemy Broccoli Rob in the show’s final season. The character had been mentioned in previous seasons, including Andy’s jealousy of his success, but now fans got to put Colbert’s face to the name. When Andy’s old a capella group from college visit Dunder Mifflin and perform, Broccoli Rob is there virtually and steals Andy’s thunder before they get into a heated argument.

In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo, former talk show host Conan O’Brien is seen walking down the street in New York. When Michael is outside the NBC building, he thinks he’s seen Tina Fey, only to miss O’Brien pass right by him. It’s just a brief appearance, but the genius is in the simplicity of it, and it proves that you don’t need a big scene or monologue for a guest star to leave an impression.

Most audiences will recognize her from True Blood and the Pitch Perfect movies, but Anna Camp also starred as Pam’s sister Penny in the two episodes where Pam and Jim get married. She shares some heartwarming moments with her sister, gets hit on by Kevin, and even dances down the aisle with the rest of the cast in the iconic scene soundtracked to “Forever” by Chris Brown. It's a small role, but her inclusion is a nice touch to these heartfelt episodes.

Best known for playing Bernadette on the other hit U.S. sitcom of the 2000s, The Big Bang Theory, Melissa Rauch starred as a fellow new mom called Cathy who shares a hospital room with Pam. In the dead of the night, Pam accidentally breastfeeds Cathy’s baby, thinking it’s her own. Cathy is none the wiser, although she is curious about why her baby is not hungry. It’s also strange to hear Rauch without her put-on high-pitched voice she uses for Bernadette in Big Bang.