Not many people can take a break from their office work to make a "porno" and have their job waiting for them when they get back: unless you're Craig Robinson and your office happens to be one in a hit television show.

Robinson recently took advantage of a major career opportunity as he broke from his role as Dunder Mifflin Infinity warehouse worker Darryl Philbin on the hit sitcom "The Office," to play a coffee shop worker-turned-amateur porn producer in writer-director Kevin Smith's controversial new comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno."

Opening in theaters Friday, the film stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as Zack and Miri, a pair of longtime platonic friends who live and share in everything together, including hard luck. And when unpaid bills lead to utilities being shut off in their apartment, the duo conspire to make a porn video with a group of locals to pay the bills -- a production bankrolled by Zack's co-worker, Delaney (Robinson), who ponies up the money's he's long saved for big-screen television.

Robinson is no stranger to working with Rogen, having co-starred in the comedy star's summer hit "Pineapple Express." And even though they had no scenes together in another hit comedy, "Knocked Up," the familiar territory the actors shared in the past made the transition into "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" an easy one.

"I went into audition for it with Kevin, and Seth was there for the reading," Robinson recalled in a recent @ The Movies interview. "We did a bit of improv together and next thing I know, they called me to do the part. I found out that Seth was actually telling Kevin, 'You gotta hire Craig.' That was so nice to hear."

Robinson said that he immediately signed on for the role because of his unwavering faith in Smith, the fearless director and, well, wordsmith, behind such hits as the "Clerks" movies, "Mallrats," "Chasing Amy," "Dogma" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."

"I hadn't even seen the script before I agreed to it, which is a testament to Kevin's pen," Robinson said." "The script was totally a secret."

With a title like "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," and a screenplay authored by Smith, no less, Robinson knew going in that the film was going to be filled with all the vulgarities that made his previous films so cinematically distinct (and a hot button with the Motion Picture Association of America, which eventually reduced the film from an NC-17 rating to an R).

But there was also a pleasant surprise in store for Robinson, as he discovered that there was something special behind all of "Zack and Miri's" explicit acting and dialogue.

"Even though there are shocking scenes in the movie, I think the most shocking part of it is that you're tricked into seeing a love story," Robinson said. "The difference is this time, the journey happens to take place through the making of a porno. The movie has heart in it, which is not easy to pull off -- but I think Kevin knocked it out of the park."

And while comedy is the key driver behind "Zack and Miri," Robinson believes there's at least one thing fans can learn from Smith's "Porno."

"They can learn to love each other," Robinson said, then adding with a laugh, "and have sex with each other for money. It's a win-win."

In addition to his continuing "Office" duties, Robinson, 37, will also be featured in Ben Stiller's comedy "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian" next May.

Like his "Museum" acting predecessors, Robinson said he's doing a part of a historical nature.

"Keith Powell of '30 Rock' and I are playing Tuskegee Airmen, and Keith's character annoys my character at every turn," Robinson said. "There's also a sweet part where the Tuskegee Airmen meet up with Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), so it was a nice role to get."