8 Things You Didn’t Know About Rainn Wilson

Rainn Wilson was almost certainly destined to become one of the best character actors of his generation. His most prominent projects include Galaxy Quest (in which he plays a wide-eyed alien), Super (in which he portrays a self-proclaimed superhero), and Mom (showing up as a sad-sack therapist).

The man has led an intriguing life and continues to do so, and he has developed a profession on his own terms. Here’s a look at some of his little-known facts that you probably didn’t know.

8 Things You Didn’t Know About Rainn Wilson

1. Caught Infectious Worms In His Childhood

Wilson was not the luckiest youngster, as he contracted infected worms not once, but twice during his childhood. And, believe me, you don’t want to know where the worms were on his body. ^[1]

2. D&D Dungeon Master

In other words, he didn’t spend his adolescent summer nights making out with as many ladies as possible or driving fast automobiles. Instead, he spent them in the basement of his friend Larry, conjuring dragons and concocting potions. Yes, my friends, Wilson was a legendary D&D Dungeon Master in his hometown. ^[2]

3. Used To Be A Van Driver

He used to drive a moving van before becoming famous. If you moved to New York in the late 1980s, your U-Haul driver may have been none other than Dwight Shrute. ^[3]

4. Was Interested In Making His Own Sitcom

Wilson had previously expressed interest in creating his own sitcom before joining ‘The Office.’ It was going to be called ‘Assisted Living,’ and it was about two slackers inheriting an assisted living facility.

5. Revealed An Embarrassing Fact About Carell

Wilson says in his book that because Carell has overactive sweat glands, the temperature on set was constantly kept at 64 degrees to keep him from sweating through his costumes. The rest of the cast was eventually allowed to bring in space heaters to keep them warm.

6. Tried Bringing Clowning To TV

Rainn Wilson starred in a pair of intriguing TV pilots that were summarily rejected by major networks between his famous role as a silly alien in Galaxy Quest and his career-making spell as Dwight Schrute on The Office. In 2002, ABC cast comedian Janeane Garofalo in Slice O’Life, a sitcom about a human interest story producer for a newsmagazine show.

7. Blog Writer

NBC and The Office were forerunners in this emerging media landscape, releasing limited series of “minisodes” about side characters. And having a regularly updated blog “authored” by Dwight Schrute. Rainn Wilson performed that job on The Office, and he was also in charge of writing Dwight’s online missives — largely because it was all his idea in the first place.

8. Pitbull Lover

Rainn Wilson, who happily nurtures pit bulls and invites them into his house, understands the teddy bear-like nature of pit bulls better than anybody else.