Knox Alum Amy Rieckelman in hit TV show

It wasn't just "another day at the office" for Amy Rieckelman -- it was a day at "The Office" -- when the 2001 Knox grad landed a small part in the recent season opener for the hit NBC television program. The theatre major played the girlfriend of one of "The Office" co-workers. She described the audition for her hometown newspaper, the Macomb Journal/McDonough County Voice:

"I walked in and there was [the episode director] Harold Ramis," Rieckelman said about her audition during a phone interview with the newspaper. "I was like 'I don't care if I get this role, I'm on the set of 'The Office'; this has been a good day.' "

While at Knox, Rieckelman performed in theatre productions, played with the Knox Jazz Ensemble, Knox-Sandburg Community Concert Band and Knox-Galesburg Symphony. She joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority and participated in intramural sports, Student Senate and The Knox Student newspaper.

After graduating from Knox, Rieckelman earned a master of fine arts in theatre performance at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Rieckelman told the newspaper that she "wasn't intimidated by [Ramis, who is also] the legendary director of 'Caddyshack' or by the actors on the show. She said the everyone on the show went out their way to make her feel welcome on the set, where she even had her own trailer... 'Everyone was so friendly and nice.' "

• Article in Macomb Journal/McDonough County Voice
• The Office on NBC.com

"For Amy, her role on 'The Office' is another step up the ladder to achieving her dream of becoming an actor," wrote the Macomb Daily Journal. "Although she doesn't have an agent yet, Amy is hopeful her role on 'The Office' will make agents notice her."

Rieckelman lives in Los Angeles and divides her time between acting and performing in an indie rock band, Yes Me to Death.