Five Things You Didn’t Know About Odd Mom Out Star Andy Buckley
Photo by Matthias Clamer / Bravo
Like many of his pals on The Office, Andy Buckley, aka Dunder Mifflin CFO David Wallace, has some serious Massachusetts roots.
The actor, who was born in Salem and raised in Marblehead, isn’t exactly sure why the Boston-area has produced so many stars over the years, like former castmates Steve Carell, Mindy Kaling, and John Krasinksi. “It’s something in the Dunkin’ Donuts coffee,” Buckley jokes.
While he’s no longer bossing around Michael Scott, Buckley is back on the small screen with Odd Mom Out, Bravo’s hit comedy series created by and starring Jill Kargman. Check out what he had to say about the show’s upcoming second season, what it was like growing up in Massachusetts, and more.
1. He got into Stanford after honing his golf game at the Tedesco Country Club in Marblehead.
“I was actually the Massachusetts junior state champ, a long time ago. It’s funny, I won the New England junior, it was between the summer of my junior and senior year in high school. That was a big summer that I had, I actually qualified for the U.S. amateur… I was just fortunate that those three months were the three months that happened to be my best three months of golf ever because then it basically got me into Stanford, got me recruited, put me sort of on some college coach’s radar. Then I only played at Stanford for the first year and a half or so, so it wasn’t like I stayed doing it. I got into acting because I knew that would take 20 years to pan out.”
2. After a so-so start to his acting career, he briefly left the business to work as a wealth management adviser.
“After Stanford I moved to New York, studied acting, moved out to L.A., tried to do it not so successfully at all. I wasn’t really motivated, wasn’t going about it the right way. Then I said, ‘I got to get my act together.’ Actually my wife said that, ‘You better get your freaking act together, pal.’ Merrill-Lynch was kind enough to hire me. When I walked in, I didn’t really know much. I seemed to have an aptitude for whatever a financial adviser, wealth manager is supposed to do.”
3. He landed a job on The Office after bumping into fellow Massachusetts native and famed casting director Allison Jones.
“She said, ‘I think they’ll like that you’re some kind of financial guy and you might be the right guy’… Then they hired me. It was one day, a couple of scenes that episode. Then I went back to being a stockbroker. A year later they call and I got to do a few big episodes right near the end of that season and started doing some more before the writers’ strike. Then when the writers’ strike ended in 2008, for the next three seasons, they started using me a ton which was great because then I got to be in some movies and then other TV shows, then I got some partners at work because I was out of the office quite a bit and they were doing most of the work.”
4. His wife, Nancy Banks, is a sought after acting coach.
“She’s been coaching Channing Tatum for 11 years. She’s been coaching Jennifer Aniston for five years. She coached Jared Leto when he won his Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club. Margot Robbie, she’s been coaching her for the last five years… I’m her biggest cheerleader. I’m also her husband, so you know. I’m sure we’re the typical husband and wife. She’s a heck of an acting coach, which is a little bonus for me whenever I need it. Most of the time, she’s too busy to help me. But if I need her help, I’ll certainly ask her. It’s a secret little weapon. She’s certainly honest with her opinions.”
5. He got to work with a ton of great guest stars on season 2 of Odd Mom Out.
“You got Drew Barrymore, John Hodgman, Molly [Ringwald], Amy Sedaris did a thing. Meredith Vieira, she was actually very funny. The day with Drew and John, they had a big guest episode, but it was literally one, big long 14 hour day of a bunch of different scenes. I was surprised just how funny Drew is. I found her to be exceptionally funny.”
Season 2 of ‘Odd Mom Out’ premieres on Monday, June 20, at 10 p.m. on Bravo.
