The Office star's tragic childhood filled with 'pain and suffering' led to better path
The Office is no doubt one of the greatest pieces of US television. If you don’t believe the avid fans out in the world, the data backs it up. However, The Office favorite Rainn Wilson almost never pursued acting following the hardships of his childhood.
Rainn Wilson played the manic Dwight Schrute in The Office, who later transformed the annoying co-worker to a lovable underdog. After endless pranks and high school type antics, fans couldn’t help but fight back tears over the friendship between Dwight and Jim (John Krasinski). The TV star recently opened up over his childhood and hardships when growing up. Rainn Wilson admitted if they didn’t happen, he may never have been in The Office or pursued acting at all. Who would have been Assistant (to the) Regional Manager, then?
‘I suffered a lot of pain’
The 57-year-old appeared on the popular podcast, Diary of a CEO, to speak about his life and TV career. The interview, which also features on YouTube, saw the movie star bring up difficult moments from his past.
Rainn explained the struggles he faced as a child still lingered decades later.
The celebrity star said: “I experienced a lot of pain in my life and a lot of suffering with anxiety and depression and addiction.”
He added, after recovery and therapy, he pins those sufferings down to the “gross imbalances and trauma” he dealt with growing up.
When Rainn was just a toddler at two years old, he says his mom left and a year later his father moved them to the Nicaragua jungle. Raised in the Baha’i faith, the actor admitted he felt confused later on in life. He claimed the things he was taught in the faith meetings were not always practiced at home, alleging his dad was in a “loveless” marriage after remarrying.
He further said it conflicted how he thought people dealt with emotions, by bottling them up and then going to a faith meeting.
The Baha’i faith’s key belief is unity, where all beings are equal under God’s creation. Gender, race, class or nationality doesn’t matter and people are treated without prejudice. There are believed to be between five and 8 million followers across the world.
‘Personal healing’
The confusion over growing up “alienated” him from his faith as a young man. After a “long journey” through to his early 30s of “personal healing”, he was able to return to the religion.
Despite what he was trying to work through, Rainn Wilson admits he was ‘grateful’ for his past, as The Office and his other career highs may not have happened. He believes the tough childhood spurred him on to better himself.
He explained: “These confluences of pain and difficulty and abuse and neglect, they caused me a lot of suffering later on, but at the same time, they caused me to be driven, to try and be the best version of myself.
“They set me on a spiritual path to really deeply explore the word’s spiritual traditions and try and connect with my higher power and go on a journey of self-discovery, and to take what I’ve learned and share it with others, and they gave me funny.”
Rainn Wilson was ‘unhappy’ during The Office
The star spent several years ‘mostly unhappy’ and this included while filming the hit sitcom.
This wasn’t down to the cast, script or show itself. It what was happening in his own life behind closed doors or away from the set.
Mirroring the fears of Dwight Schrute, who felt being Assistant (to the) Regional Manager was what he was destined for, Rainn felt the same.
During the nine seasons of filming, Rainn Wilson explained why he was unhappy on The Office on another podcast in July. He told Club Random With Bill Maher that he felt “it wasn’t enough” at the time.
He said: “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.”
Rainn, who hails from Seattle, admitted he was comparing himself to Hollywood greats like Jack Black and Will Ferrell. He desired a movie career and at the time didn’t realize how special it was. But he does now.
Watch the full interview below
The people person’s paper people
The Office follows fictional paper company Dunder Mifflin out in Pennsylvania. The fake documentary films the lives of the office workers. From in-office romances, demotions and promotions, to the risk of the company trying to survive in a difficult economic climate. But it’s the people that make it all worth it.
Other household names appeared on the cast list. Steve Carell and John Krasinski played the other main parts, alongside Jenna Fischer. Superb supporting cast include Mindy Kaling, Ed Helms, Ellie Kemper and BJ Novak.
It was loved by fans as well as receiving critical acclaim after airing back in 2005. The final season wrapped up in 2013 and ran longer than the original UK version of the show. It’s believed almost 6 million viewers would tune in. Its power never faltered, as it was the most-watched show on Netflix during the pandemic in 2020.
The streaming giant says it scored up to 58 billion total viewing minutes, and made it the top show in the US.
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