Embed from Getty Images
While I haven’t yet watched The Office, I enjoy Rainn Wilson’s quirky, Dennis-the-Menace vibe, and he’s in one of my all-time favorite movies, Galaxy Quest, as one of the aliens. I’m really intrigued by his latest Peacock series Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss. It’s based on a book of the same name (minus the Rainn Wilson intro, of course) and follows him around the world trying out local practices of happiness. So as part of promoting the show, Rainn sat down with Bill Maher on Maher’s Club Random podcast and discussed his personal journey with satisfaction over the years:
‘Why am I not the next Jack Black?’: “When I was in ‘The Office,’ I spent several years really mostly unhappy because it wasn’t enough,” Wilson admitted. “I’m realizing now, like, I’m on a hit show, Emmy nominated every year, making lots of money, working with Steve Carell and Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski and these amazing writers and incredible directors like Paul Feig. I’m on one of the great TV shows. People love it. I wasn’t enjoying it. I was thinking about, ‘Why am I not a movie star? Why am I not the next Jack Black or the next Will Ferrell? How come I can’t have a movie career? Why don’t I have a development deal?’”
It’s never enough: “When I was on ‘The Office,’ I was clutching and grasping at, okay, I was making hundreds of thousands. I wanted millions, and I was a TV star, but I wanted to be a movie star. It was never enough. Humans have lived for hundreds of thousands of years, and ‘never enough’ has helped us as a species.”
The Office–Pandemic edition: “It would’ve been so much fun to film ‘The Office’ during the pandemic,” Wilson said. “If we had pandemic episodes, that would’ve been amazing. ‘The Office’ writers were so great–they would’ve been able to spin that in some beautiful ways.”
He has an episode pitch ready: “I think it would be: [Dwight] gets the call from corporate to get everyone back in the office and everyone is resistant,” Wilson said. “So, one at a time, Dwight has to kidnap every ‘Office’ cast member and bring them into Dunder Mifflin in some kind of obscure and somewhat inappropriate way.”
If you take Wilson’s comments just from the excerpts in this article, he sounds whiny and petulant. But when you put it in the context of the show he’s promoting and, as a result, the searching, contemplative side of himself that he’s opening up in the process, then the comments make more sense. He’s clear now on the fact that his thinking back then was distorted, and he’s worked to figure out how his head got stuck in that place at that particular time. I have empathy with him for that. But of course, I’m the girl who took a summer course on existentialism in lieu of having a bat mitzvah at age 13, so I’m already a fan of breaking down these philosophical thoughts. And I’m just plain nerdy. Aside from that, all I have to say is I hope some producers were listening cause he offered up a great Office reunion/reboot scenario.
All I got from this is you haven’t seen the office so aren’t fully aware of the brilliance of Rainn Wilson. Much better than Jack Black.
New-Kay, preach!!
Dwight was just the one you loved to hate, lol. The Office was one of my favorite shows.
Agreed! If you haven’t watched the Office I can understand why his comments may rub the wrong way but he was iconic in the show. He absolutely could have / should have been getting the same kind of offers that Jack Black was getting at the time. I found his comments to be introspective – as someone close to his age that often looks back with some slight regret at not appreciating what I had in the moment due to wanting more I think that is what he is implying – he wishes now those thoughts hadn’t kept him from appreciating the moment he had as Dwight but at the time they did.
I love Jack Black as a person, he seems cool and fun, and yeah, Rainn should have the options he does for movie roles and such.
I’ve rewatched the Office so many times over the years, and the work he did as Dwight was definitely underappreciated, probably because Dwight was so obnoxious most of the time. But I really loved the Dwight/Pam friendship that developed over the years.
Rainn already posted a video about these headlines going around, it was definitely about him not appreciating what he had in the moment and the very human tendency to always want more.
On the one hand, wow, Rainn, you were part of an ensemble cast for a reboot show, and you immediately thought you deserved a millions of dollars movie deal? What a sense of entitlement. On the other hand, IMO Jack Black is unfunny and obnoxious, never have understood the audience attraction to him, so I can understand a talent like Rainn feeling resentful.
Also, now is there a person left in this country who has never seen at least a clip of The Office?!
I’ve seen an episode, but never followed up because I didn’t think it was as good as the UK version. It felt too sanitized. Love RW tho, so maybe I’ll give it another shot.
I always tell people, the first few episodes are a little rough. It was obvious they were trying to find their footing. But stick with it because it does get better.
Agree L84Tea. I have told people the same.
For sure. It finds it’s groove in season 2, but even season 1 has some good episodes when you go back to watch. But it was a little rough in the beginning.
I didn’t read this as him being whiny at all, rather that he regrets that his drive for the “next” prevented him from appreciating what he had. We all do it to a larger or smaller degree. I tell my kids all the time (especially my daughter, who is just “built” that way) that if you compare yourself to others, you will never be satisfied. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” She does not appreciate me telling her that, but I hope she will one day.
Love The Office, love RW, and have also come to love Dwight over the years.
RW was also fantastic in Six Feet Under
He’s been searching for meaning and understanding for a while, and using media as part of it even before the Peacock project. Check out his Soul Pancake project for a look at some of it.
I don’t see what he said as him being jerky, just being caught up in trying to advance his career, get to the next step professionally and in the world, but now he realizes more who he is and what really matters.
He was brought up in the Baha’i faith. I’m glad he found a path to happiness and contentment but I’m also weary from things getting preachy. I’ll give his show a chance in case it doesn’t go that direction. On Kismet saying they haven’t seen the office… Okay, a little alienating without some context.
I really, really hope he appreciates the special place he had, and still has, being Dwight from The Office. Some might disagree with me, but as far as I’m concerned, The Office was the greatest show ever written and is still where I go when I want comfort and joy. Rainn’s Dwight is, in my humble opinion, possibly the greatest tv character ever written, but it was so great because of how Rainn played him–the perfect combination of arrogance, idiocy, a little smarm, innocently naive, yet shrewd and calculating. He was hilarious and awful all at once. I know he’s said he gets sick of being known as Dwight, but he’s so much luckier than he realizes.
On another note, the episode of The Office that Jack Black made an appearance on is one of my personal favorites when I need a really big laugh. “Lily! Press the button! The reverse button!” And the so very ‘Jack Black’ crying that comes right after. I fall out of my seat laughing every single time. 😀
LITERALLY just watched that episode yesterday and that entire side plot with jack black was hysterical. I also agree with the person who mentioned he was fantastic in “Six Feet Under”. When it comes to who has more talent that’s all personal preference. I find them both talented, but as far as their off screen personas, I have never heard one negative thing about Jack (delightful on instagram) and R.W. does seem to have a whiff of elitism.
Thanks for the info on Jack Black Office episode. I’ve never consistently watched the series (either UK or US), so probably missed a lot.
So funny all the people that auditioned for the Office and didn’t get the job (Seth Rogon auditioned for Dwight). They are such an iconic cast because you can’t imagine anyone else in their roles.
I have nothing nice to say about this guy. He has said some pretty problematic $hit on Twitter – multiple times. I think the reason he was not the next Jack Black is because he simply wasn’t as talented or funny. I said what I said lol
Same. I used to follow him on Twitter, but stopped because he was so obnoxious. He clearly always thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room. Big ego, cynical jerk.
I really liked his new show, I’ve always been a casual fan but this show kicked it up. Highly recommend it!
It sounds like he suffers from extreme anxiety and maybe OCD.. I totally understand the experience of not appreciating what you have and regretting it when you look back.
Actually, i couldnt stand the US version of the Office because of Dwight. Him and Kevin completely ruined it for me. I just could not stand their characters. I think the reason they bugged me so much was because its a show that is so intentionally “realistic” (the characters look like normal people, not models, their clothes look like realistic work clothes for people who make those salaries, the office looks like a realistic office of a small corporation, the dialogue has a very unscripted, realistic feel to it), but then you have Dwight, a person SO unrealistic, so contrived, that i dont think a person like him, exists anywhere in the world. plus i just didnt think he was funny. Gareth, in the UK Office, played “Dwight’s” character SUPERBLY (or really since Gareth came first, Dwight played Gareth’s character). Dwight= thumbs DOWN. Gareth=EVERYTHING
#theOfficeUK4-ever