Credit: NBCUniversalRainn Wilson wants to make it abundantly clear that he was NOT the most miserable man in the world while he was playing Dwight Schrute on the historically good sitcom The Office from 2005 to 2013.
The actor, currently promoting his book Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution, as well as his docu-series The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World, went on Facebook Watch this morning to clear up a few things that he said on a podcast that, in his eyes, were wildly misconstrued.
Playing Dwight on ‘The Office’ didn’t make Rainn Wilson happy. Here’s how he’s seeking real joy: https://t.co/CKUWRxgysS
— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) July 8, 2023
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I’m front page news, folks! Clickbait alert! Listen to this:
“Rain Wilson was “mostly unhappy” filming The Office, felt he missed out on millions.” “Rainn Wilson spent years on The Office wondering why he wasn’t a movie star…”
The star continued to list out dramatic headline titles before reminding viewers that titles of articles on the internet are always engineered to get you to click on them, (even this one!) and don’t always tell the full or accurate story.
Rainn Wilson Was Trying To Make a Point About The Human Condition
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The actor continued, “Must have been a slow news day, folks,” before explaining that he was actually trying to make a point about the elusiveness of human mental health, as part of the promotion for his book.
Even at the height of my fame, playing a memorable TV character, a beloved character on an amazing show with an incredible cast, amazing writers…even then I felt like I was missing out, and I wish I had more, and I was unsatisfied during several of those years.
Wilson went on to explain that “the mainstream media took these three or four sentences and ran with it,” but he felt that their headlines were seeking to “profit off of [his] pain and despair,” as well as our own instinctual outrage at someone who has so much more than us admitting that they’re not entirely happy.
Happiness is Elusive for Everyone
A behind the scenes look at the making of #GeographyofBliss. Find your BLISS with me while I travel travel through Iceland, Bulgaria, Ghana, Thailand, and even Los Angeles. Streaming now on @peacock 📍🌍 🧳 pic.twitter.com/e2t9PCsP49
— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) July 8, 2023
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Rainn Wilson is, of course, correct on all counts. Journalism has always depended on the intense emotions of outrage and pain to sell headlines, and in the new age of internet journalism, that relies on ad revenue more than individual paper sales and subscriptions, it has become a more common practice than ever before.
Additionally, we are facing a mental health crisis in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and everything that led up to it. Happiness isn’t as simple as getting financial security or a steady job but in a world where even those things are hard to come by, people angry and divided than ever, and both Wilson’s book and his show endeavor to examine and fix this issue.
Naturally, therefore, he was more than a little irritated when headlines reduced his complex claim into exactly the weapon he was railing against. Still, he remained positive, and offered his fans a simple reminder:
This is what it’s like some days, but I hope a larger point was made. That we’re all in a search for deeper well-being…it’s right in front of us, every single one of us.”
You can find Rain Wilson’s book Soul Boom on Amazon now, and you can watch his show The Geography of Bliss on Peacock.
What do you think of what Rainn Wilson had to say? Are his critiques accurate? Drop your own opinion in the comments below.