Craig Robinson

Craig Robinson (birthname: Craig Phillip Robinson) is a beloved comic actor who established his talent for good-natured laughs and deadpan style in his long-running role as Darryl Philbin on NBC’s The Office. Learning his stand-up and improv chops while in college at the renowned Second City company in his native Chicago, Robinson nevertheless earned a Masters’s in Education and worked as a Chicago schoolteacher. He worked his stand-up routine to the level where he won contests around the country and nabbed guest spots on Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Bernie Mac Show.

This soon led to his big break on The Office, but it was his close association with Seth Rogen that provided Robinson’s entry into feature films. A string of vivid turns followed with Rogen in Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up (2007), David Gordon Green’s Pineapple Express (2008), Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008), Rogen’s This is the End (2013) and the outlandish Sausage Party (2016). 

Like many contemporary comic actors, Craig Robinson has taken advantage of the upswing in Hollywood’s animated feature filmmaking activity with numerous voice performances in both purely animated work (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) and The Bad Guys (2022)) and mixed animation and live-action (such as Dolittle (2020) with Robert Downey, Jr.).

Craig Robinson has skillfully expanded his range beyond comedy with his lauded starring role (including an Indie Spirit Awards nomination and a Special Jury Prize for Individual Performance in the Sundance Film Festival) in Chad Hartigan’s Morris From America (2016) and strong supporting turns in Tate Taylor’s James Brown biopic, Get On Up (2014), Craig Brewer’s Dolemite is my Name (2019) with Eddie Murphy and James Franco’s Zeroville (2019), again with Seth Rogen.