‘The Office’: Why Darryl Philbin Actor Craig Robinson Feels He ‘Didn’t Earn the Cry’ in the Series Finale
The Office went off the air in 2013. But the show is still frequently watched and deeply beloved by it’s devoted fan base. The series finale was emotional for both viewers and those who worked on the series. Well, most of those who worked on the series. For Craig Robinson, the actor who played Darryl Philbin, the finale didn’t exactly inspire tears.
Craig Robinson on playing Darryl Philbin in ‘The Office’
The Office was a collaborative show to work on in many aspects. There was a crossover between actors and writers, and it wasn’t uncommon for an actor to speak with writers about the wants and needs of their character. However, Robinson says he completely let the writers do their thing when it came to Darryl. He trusted them completely.
“I input zero on Darryl,” he told IGN in 2013. “Sometimes the writers see you and they get ideas just from being around you, but I didn’t start writing and I didn’t start inputting, so I didn’t want to finish it. As a matter of fact, they gave us the opportunity, like, ‘How do you want to see Darryl end up?’ And it’s like, ‘Well, don’t ask me! What are you talking about? Ya’ll got this.’ So, no, I would just look forward to what Darryl was going to say and do when I got the script.”
Through the course of the show, Robison loved experiencing the changes Darryl went through.
“One of the things I adore about Darryl’s journey is that he would be so sure of himself, and so confident, and knowing he’s going to rise, and then he gets these interview opportunities and he just has a complete breakdown. So it’s fun to play those quirks and wonder what the hell is wrong with him,” he said.
‘The Office’ finale wasn’t emotional for Craig Robinson because he felt he didn’t ‘earn’ it
The publication asked Robinson if filming the series finale was emotional. While he said it was emotional for other people, it wasn’t so much for him.
“It was a lot of people crying and stuff. I feel I didn’t earn the cry that a lot of them earned. Because a lot of them were there for every single episode, I wasn’t. So part of me feels like, OK, you know I’m going to miss seeing these guys, and this was an amazing experience, but I don’t feel like I earned the tears as much as a lot of those characters did,” he shared.
Though Robinson wasn’t terribly emotional while filming the finale, he said he was happy with the finished product–a fitting ending to The Office.
“I think we have a really nice send-off,” he said at the time. “I think fans are going to get everything you’d expect from The Office, from awkwardness to a lot of humor and heart,” he said.
