Andy Buckley—The Office's David Wallace—Worked as a Stockbroker Throughout the Series

We all have our favorite characters from The Office, and if our recent Mifflin Madness bracket proved anything, it's that there's a lot of love out there for Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute. But the series was very much an ensemble comedy, and in many ways it was the recurring characters like David Wallace, Dunder Mifflin's head honcho-turned-Suck It inventor, who really helped to drive the narrative beyond the parking lot of the Scranton Business Park. While Wallace appeared in less than 40 of The Office's 188 episodes, his presence is felt throughout series. Which made it even more surprising to learn that Andy Buckley, the comedic actor who played Wallace, held another (non-acting) job throughout The Office's run.

Buckley recently chatted with his former The Office co-stars Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey for an episode of their podcast, Office Ladies. As part of the conversation, Buckley discussed how he had another job during his entire run on The Office. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, it was a corporate gig.

Though Buckley did have professional acting experience, he was officially working as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch when he landed the role. Apparently, he ran into casting director Allison Jones at a farmer's market, and booked what was possibly a one-off appearance on the season 2 episode "Valentine's Day," which first aired on February 9, 2006. But because he wasn't called back again for another year after filming that episode, Buckley stayed at Merrill Lynch until the show ended.

As fans might know, Buckley is hardly the only actor on The Office to come from another background when being cast. Phyllis Smith, who played Phyllis Vance on the show, was actually the casting associate before being offered the role. And prior to that, she was a burlesque dancer. And while fans came to know Steve Carell as "the world's best boss," he originally wanted to be a lawyer before choosing acting (and spent some time working as a mail carrier).

Knowing Buckley's real-life job as a stockbroker makes it even easier to imagine him as the serious CFO David Wallace. The "Suck It" David Wallace, on the other hand? We're not so sure.

[h/t Mashable]