Rainn Wilson says he was "mostly unhappy" playing Dwight on The Office

boing
1

Originally published at: Rainn Wilson says he was "mostly unhappy" playing Dwight on The Office | Boing Boing

…

3 Likes
2

So, he was a blustery gust.

5 Likes
3

an august gust of a guest

2 Likes
4

Assistant to the blustery gust.

Anyway, I actually watched the entire episode because I got up super early this morning and it popped into my YouTube feed and I like him as an actor. He’s an interesting dude, IMO. Seems a happy fella now.

4 Likes
5

So. . . accidental method acting?

5 Likes
6

I’ve seen and read some interviews with him over the years, and he seems like a generally well adjusted guy and hope he really is in a better place. I can see how someone might be so driven to achieve more and more that they just can’t enjoy their present success.

8 Likes
7

This is incredibly common of course, and very much the type of imposter syndrome many creatives suffer from. You’re either thinking “I don’t belong here and they’re going to figur4e it out any moment now,” or you’re thinking “why have I not taken the next step on this career; why am I stuck here at this level? Won’t I ever get another job?”

11 Likes
8

I wonder if that’s why some actors leave really successful shows to pursue a film career, only to end up having that not work out. Like David Caruso, famously.

5 Likes
9

Or Wil Wheaton.

Rainn Wilson, though is a better actor than many of those people who have ego quit serial television in hopes of high paying movie careers, and he didn’t quit.

Wheaton was pretty full of himself at the time he quit, but he did also legitimately get screwed out of some opportunities. But he has been pretty publicly self-reflective about about it. I like what he does now.

4 Likes
10

Wilson is advocating for playing Harry Mudd on SNW like he did on Discovery, I hope it comes to fruition.

2 Likes
11

Saw the trailer for his new series the other day, looks like an interesting and fun watch - he also mentions his diagnosis of an anxiety disorder:

Now I have to figure out how I can watch Peacock+ whatever the hell that is…

12

I think it might be more accurate to say that his parents were full of themselves. Have you heard him talk recently about the abuse he was subject to at that time of his life? He didn’t even want to be an actor. That was his mother’s dream.

2 Likes
13

I’m going off of some of what has said about himself in the past when he left Star Trek. I haven’t read about the abuse, I’ve only heard him mention it in passing. I haven’t read his most recent books.

14

He was great on Discovery! I thought casting him as Mudd was an inspired choice.

Though I hope he doesn’t expire the way Roger Carmel did …

(I didn’t have to look that name up – I swear!)

1 Like
15

Happy to hear that he seems to have gotten more relaxed, I know a bunch of people that mentioned having really shitty experiences with him when he was on The Office, so it’s nice to hear that he got self-reflective about it afterward.

16

Interesting take- I didn’t read it as imposter syndrome. I read it as “keeping up with the Joneses” syndrome. In other words, how difficult it can be for people to be happy with what they have and be grateful for it, instead of always comparing to the even bigger things you wish you had.

This is a well documented source of unhappiness and is why a lot really successful people are unhappy. The same drive that makes them successful also makes them miserable because nothing is ever enough.

17

It might not fall under imposter syndrome, my cataloging of it there could be incorrect. I of course suffer from the first kind, the “well, I may have HAD a small success, but I know damn well in five minutes everyone is going to realize I’m a total poser and kick me out of the club, because clearly I don’t belong here.”

18

I tend to feel like an imposter the first way at my job; and the second way actually stopped me from doing any meaningful creative hobbies for several years until last September. I figured that I needed to Take The Next Step and I was scared to so I just gave up.

Then I gave up listening to my brain’s ‘should’ about the next step and am having a much better time of it.

2 Likes
19

Comparison is the thief of joy.

3 Likes
20

Brains are assholes. Good for you for ignoring it on this key piece of misinformation. I let my brain scare me out of writing for twenty some years, and I lost all that time when I could have been doing one of the things I truly love.

1 Like