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"Darryl Philbin. Then Regis, then Rege,
then Roger, then Mister Rogers."
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In a 2011 interview with Time Out Chicago, Craig told fans that his mother's occupation was why he became interested in music. Of his childhood home he said: "Our house was like a rehearsal studio. We had drums, trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, piano, organ. We were the best place to go on Christmas." His father was a corporate attorney, a profession that served Craig well as he became a legal driver. "My father got to represent me a couple of times, like in traffic court....One time somebody hit me, so he came down and represented me. I wasn’t, like, just always in trouble, but there was a couple of times it was beneficial to have your father as a lawyer."
Craig achieved an undergraduate degree from Illinois State University for Music in 1994, where classmates began to see him as a comedic gem and encouraged him to do stand-up. “At first, I didn’t really believe I could get up there and make people laugh...but several of my buddies on campus were telling me: ‘You’ve been cracking me up for months. Why don’t you take that stuff on stage and see if you can make it with a live audience?’” Robinson then tried his luck at Chicago's Second City (where Steve Carell once taught improv classes) and Chicago Improv, but he wasn't sure he could bank on a career in comedy. So he went on to get a Master's Degree in Education from St. Xavier University and then taught music for several years at Chicago's Horace Greeley Elementary School. He is a skilled musician who is proficient at guitar, piano and drums.
In 1998, Craig took part in Montreal's Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, and his stand-up caught the eye of Fox Broadcasting executives. They offered Robinson a development deal, which he wouldn't see the fruits of for several more years. But he did perform stand-up on notable late night shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live and Real Time with Bill Maher. Eventually, in 2003, he landed his first recurring acting job as "Buddy LeGendre" on the short lived series "Lucky" starring John Corbett. The series centered on the lives of compulsive gamblers, and was canceled after its first season. From 2004-2005, he had small speaking parts in some iconic millennial sitcoms: Arrested Development, The Bernie Mac Show, and Friends.
During the casting call for The Office U.S. back in late 2004, Craig met one of his future recurring co-stars and a dear friend in Seth Rogen. Rogen auditioned for Dwight, but obviously didn't land the role. The two bonded however, and went on to star in multiple film projects together: 2007's Knocked Up, 2008's Zack and Miri Make a Porno & Pineapple Express, and 2013's This Is The End.
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| Craig and Seth Rogen 2015 |
But it was Craig's role The Office where he really got his first big break. Though he likely wouldn't be considered a main character by most fans considering the infrequent use of a Darryl-centered episode, he has said: "People like, "Oh, they don't use you enough." I disagree. I think that it's a matter of the cardinal rule of show business - Leave them wanting more. " And on his dedication to the show he said: "It's a blast and you'd have to pry me out of there by my cold dead hands."
Craig's love of music didn't stop when he went into the world of acting, but instead flourished. Beginning around late 2008, he formed the comedic band "The Nasty Delicious" who still tours to this day.
His short screen time on The Office allowed Craig the opportunity to team with Judd Apatow and other notable comedic producers to work on multiple film projects. Craig appeared in several large-budget studio films in addition to his projects with Seth Rogen, such as voice work in Shrek Forever After and a starring role in the 2010 hit Hot Tub Time Machine.
When The Office ended in 2013, Craig's detached attitude for Dunder Mifflin's closing doors reflected his character's struggle to give a proper goodbye. In an interview with IGN he said: "It was emotional, 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, okay, 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."
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| Oh, you earned it Buddy. |
Earlier in 2015, Craig starred in the first of pseudo-Office spin-offs, Mr. Robinson, which was spearheaded by none other than The Office U.S. creator Greg Daniels. Unfortunately though, the series was canceled by NBC at the end of it's first season. But Craig's still busy. These days he's appearing in musical Walmart Christmas commercials, and currently has SIX different film projects in the works. The ambition Darryl was known for on The Office seems to come directly from Craig's own life. He is a busy, busy man, but one who always has time to poke fun at his coworkers.
