Surprising stars who appeared on 'The Office'

It feels like just yesterday we were watching the shenanigans unfold at our favorite paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania! In celebration of the 15th anniversary of the premiere of "The Office" on March 24, 2020, Wonderwall.com is taking a look at some of the famous guest stars who've appeared on the beloved comedy series… starting with Dakota Johnson! The "Fifty Shades of Grey" actress appeared in the series finale on the show's ninth season. She played Dakota, Kevin Malone's replacement after he's fired by Dwight. Keep reading to see which other stars did short stints on the hit series…

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Given that he's a longtime friend of star Steve Carell's, a guest appearance by Will Ferrell seemed like a no-brainer. Will appeared a few times on season 7 as Deangelo Vickers, Michael Scott's temporary replacement. His time at Dunder Mifflin was cut short, however, after he suffered a basketball accident that put him in a coma.

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While we've come to love him on "American Horror Story," Evan Peters was once on "The Office." On season 7, Evan played Luke Cooper, Michael Scott's annoying nephew. By the end of the episode, Luke was in tears after Michael spanked him for being a terrible employee.

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Before she was on "Parks and Recreation," Rashida Jones appeared on "The Office" during season 3 as Karen Filippelli, Dunder Mifflin Utica's regional manager (and Jim's ex-girlfriend).

"The Big Bang Theory" star Melissa Rauch, who played Bernadette Rostenkowski on the hit CBS sitcom, appeared on season 6 of "The Office" as Cathy, the mother of the baby Pam accidentally breastfed.

Before he was a teacher at Greendale Community College, he guest starred on this NBC comedy series! On the season 2 episode "E-mail Surveillance," Ken Jeong played Bill, one of the members of Michael Scott's improv group. In 2020, Ken was a guest on the "Office Ladies" podcast where he discussed his experience on the show. "A lot of people, rightfully so, attribute my acting to being over the top, like on 'Community,'" he told podcast hosts and former "The Office" co-stars Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. "I think my breakthrough role [on 'The Office'] was playing something very understated with maybe just two lines, and I would basically whisper every line."

During the seventh season of "The Office," Jim Carrey guest starred as "Finger Lakes Guy." On the episode entitled "Search Committee," the "Kidding" actor played a creepy character who applied for the regional manager position at Dunder Mifflin. He was also remembered for constantly telling Jim, Toby and Gabe how he had to get back to Finger Lakes for some undisclosed, ominous reason. Not eerie at all!

While brief, Will Arnett's appearance on season 7 was definitely memorable! The "BoJack Horseman" voice actor played suspicious manager candidate Fred Henry, who insisted on having a mysterious three-step plan.

On season 5 of "The Office," Idris Elba guest starred as Charles Miner, the stern, no-nonsense vice president of northeastern sales at Dunder Mifflin. Despite initially developing a good rapport with Michael, their relationship became rocky as Charles began to interfere with Michael's management approach.

Beloved "School of Rock" actress Joan Cusack portrayed the biological mother of Erin Hannon (played by Ellie Kemper). Despite only having just a couple lines, Joan's character gave us one of the sweetest moments of the series finale.

How could we forget this hilarious cameo? Before she was in Hollywood hits like "American Hustle" and "Arrival," Amy Adams played Katy, Jim's bubbly ex-cheerleader girlfriend who appeared on three episodes during seasons 1 and 2.

On season 9, "Always Be My Maybe" star Randall Park played Steve, an actor who was hired by Pam and Jim to play "Fake Jim Halpert" in an effort to prank Dwight. While Jim was out for a dentist appointment, Steve sat at Jim's desk, adopted his mannerisms, reported his recent sales, had framed photos of himself in place of Jim, and even went as far as kissing Pam!

Yvette Nicole Brown, who's best known for her performance as Shirley Bennett on "Community," made an a guest appearance on season 3 of "The Office." She played Paris, Dwight's co-worker at Staples with whom he doesn't get along.

During the seventh season of the show, "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Ray Romano played Merv Bronte, a nervous, self-loathing interviewee who applied for the regional manager position.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that NBC's "The Office" wasn't actually the first version of the series, which originated as a U.K. sitcom co-created and starring Ricky Gervais as David Brent, the British Michael Scott. Both versions collided when Ricky reprised his role on the American version of "The Office" during season 7 — once where he chatted with Michael outside an elevator and again when he applied for the regional manager position at Dunder Mifflin.

Before she was a Barden Bella in the "Pitch Perfect" film series, Anna Camp appeared on season 6 of "The Office." She played Penny Beesly, Pam's sister who's seen during Pam and Jim's wedding.

Paul Feig appeared on an episode during the ninth season as an animal trainer, but the multitalented star has done far more on the show — he served as co-executive producer and also directed 15 episodes.

He captured our hearts with his portrayal of endearing singing club member Artie Abrams on "Glee," but Kevin McHale also made a surprising appearance on the fourth season of "The Office." He played the pizza delivery boy Michael kidnaps after his coupon is refused.

"You Raise Me Up" singer Josh Groban appeared on two episodes of "The Office" as Walter Bernard Jr., Andy Bernard's younger brother. On season 8, Walter Jr. upstaged his older brother during a father-son duet, and on season 9, he got drunk after the Bernard family lost their money. In the latter episode, Andy found Walter Jr. hiding in the liquor cabinet of their family boat as they sailed it to a buyer in the Bahamas.

"Mean Girls" and "Saturday Night Live" alum Tim Meadows appeared on the second season of "The Office" as Christian, an important client who could help prevent Dunder Mifflin from having to downsize. Fun fact — Steve Carell and Tim improvised the majority of their hilarious dinner scene!

On the second season of "The Office," Rob Riggle played Captain Jack, the captain of the ship used for the booze cruise that Michael put together to surprise the Dunder Mifflin staff. The two hilariously battled for authority for the duration of the festivities.

Who could forget this hilarious guest appearance? "The Affair" actress Maura Tierney played Susan California, Robert California's wife. At the end of the episode she was in, Susan voiced her interest in dating Andy after her divorce from Robert was made official.

On the eighth season of the hit NBC series, Kathy Bates guest starred as Jo Bennett, the former CEO of Sabre, the print company that bought Dunder Mifflin.

Remember this famous face? On season 5, Wendi McLendon-Covey portrayed Marie, the concierge at the hotel where Michael, Oscar and Andy stayed during their trip to Winnipeg, Canada. On the episode entitled "Business Trip," Michael developed a crush on Marie following his breakup with Holly.

"Santa Clarita Diet" star Timothy Olyphant portrayed Danny Cordray, a former model-turned-extremely successful traveling salesman who appeared on two episodes in the seventh season. To make matters more intense, Danny also dated Pam while Jim was in a relationship with Karen Filippelli (played by Rashida Jones).