76-year-old Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates shared her thoughts on her role as Jo Bennett in The Office during the The Office Ladies podcast. Appearing in eight episodes across seasons 6 and 7, Bates revealed she didn’t audition for the role but watched many episodes to prepare. She found adjusting to the comedy style and balancing improvisation with scripted lines challenging. Despite this, she described working with stars like Steve Carell and John Krasinski as "a great experience." While she left the show partly to focus on Harry’s Law, Bates mentioned that staying on The Office could have been fun.