The Office’s Zach Woods Impressed His Costars With His Unmatched Improv – Looper

Prior to “The Office,” Zach Woods appeared in a slew of shows, shorts, and films, including 2009’s “In the Loop” starring “The Sopranos” legend James Gandolfini. Woods was no stranger to the screen, which allowed him to be his true, funny self on the set of a major NBC sitcom.

In an interview for Andy Greene’s “The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s: An Oral History,” show writer Justin Spitzer said of Woods, “He used to go on these riffs that were just shockingly funny. It couldn’t have been easy for him to come six years into a show …  And he wasn’t a selfish actor at all. He would just find ways to give people things, improv gifts and things like that.” According to first assistant director Rusty Mahmood, Woods often challenged Steve Carell to push his own comedic boundaries: “Steve even said, ‘That guy keeps me on my toes.’ What a great compliment.”

If Woods’ younger self was told that, someday, his improv talents would be so highly regarded, he wouldn’t have believed it. In an interview with The Off Camera Show, he revealed that, despite starting improv at an early age, he didn’t feel confident about his abilities for about a decade. There was much self-loathing and feeling like the weak link, but he pushed through the doubt. Woods said, “I just was addicted to the rare instances when it went well and it was worth it to suffer in the interim … Once you get that first big laugh or whatever, then I feel like your body relaxes and you can sort of ride the wave a little more.”