Rainn Wilson

Caption	Wilson at the Heroes for Autism event, Hollywood, California, 2010
Birth date	January 20, 1966
Birth place	Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, comedian, director
Yearsactive	1997–present
Birthname	Rainn Dietrich Wilson
Spouse	Holiday Reinhorn (1995–present)

Rainn Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor and comedian. He is primarily known for his role as the egomaniacal Dwight Schrute on the American version of the television comedy The Office. He has also directed two episodes of The Office: the sixth season's "The Cover-Up" and the seventh season's "Classy Christmas".

Early life

Wilson was born in Seattle, Washington, the son of Shay Cooper, a yoga teacher and actress, and Robert G. Wilson, a novel writer, artist, and business consultant. Wilson attended Central Middle School and Shorecrest High School in Shoreline, Washington, where he played the clarinet and bassoon in the band. He transferred to and graduated from New Trier High School after his family moved to Wilmette, Illinois to serve at the Bahá'í National Center. Wilson has a theatre background from Tufts University and the University of Washington, and has taught acting classes. He holds an MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and was a member of The Acting Company. While acting in theatrical productions in New York, he drove a moving van to make ends meet.

Career

In addition to his starring role on The Office, Wilson has appeared as the eccentric Arthur Martin—the intern at Fisher & Diaz Funeral Home—on HBO's Six Feet Under. He has also appeared in , , NUMB3RS, and Entourage, in the latter portraying a sleazy entertainment journalist based on Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News. Wilson guest-starred as a murderous baseball fan in an episode of Monk entitled "Mr. Monk Goes to the Ballgame". He appeared in the "Coyote Piper" episode of Charmed as an alchemist named Kierkan. On February 24, 2007, Wilson hosted Saturday Night Live, becoming the second cast member from The Office to host (after Steve Carell). During the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, Wilson appeared in ads for the 2007 United States women's national soccer team as public relations manager "Jim Mike." Wilson has made a guest appearance in two episodes of the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim-bloc series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job. Wilson has also appeared on Reno 911.

His film credits include Almost Famous, America's Sweethearts, BAADASSSSS!, Galaxy Quest, House of 1000 Corpses, Sahara, The Last Mimzy, Juno (in which he played convenience store clerk Rollo), The Rocker, and My Super Ex-Girlfriend.

premiere, October 2007]] Wilson starred in the Fox Atomic comedy The Rocker, released on August 20, 2008. His 2009 films include Bonzai Shadowhands, which he co-wrote and co-produced; the DreamWorks Animation film Monsters vs. Aliens, for which he voiced the villainous alien overlord Gallaxhar; and , in which he played a university professor.

Wilson wrote in-character as Dwight on his NBC blog, "Schrute-Space". In June 2008, Wilson confirmed that he no longer writes the blog.

SoulPancake

Wilson founded the website SoulPancake. Since its launch in March 2009, it has had over 1 million visits, and has been featured on Oprah Winfrey's Satellite Radio Show.

Personal life

Wilson is married to writer Holiday Reinhorn. They met in an acting class in college and married on the Kalama River in Washington. The couple have a son, Walter Mckenzie, born in 2004, and they currently reside in Agoura Hills, California. He and his family are members of the Bahá'í Faith. A short film inspired by his character in The Office was selected and shown at the 2009 Dawn Breakers International Film Festival in Zurich.

On Bill Maher's Real Time, Wilson described himself as a diverse independent, voting for Republican, Green Party, and Democratic candidates. Wilson's charitable works include fundraising for the educational organization The Mona Foundation.

Wilson and his father, both art collectors, buy and sell fine art and represent contemporary artists on their website, www.rrwilsonart.com.

Filmography

Films

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! Year ! Film ! Role ! Notes |- |1999 || Galaxy Quest || Lahnk || |- |1999 || The Expendables || Newman || |- |2000 || Almost Famous || David Felton || |- |2001 || America's Sweethearts || Dave O'Hanlon || |- |2002 || Full Frontal || Brian || |- |2002 || Wheelmen || Barney || |- |rowspan="2"| 2003 || House of 1000 Corpses || Bill Hudley || |- |BAADASSSSS! || Bill Harris || |- |rowspan="2"| 2005 || The Life Coach || Dr. Watson Newmark || |- |Sahara || Rudi Gunn || |- |2006 || My Super Ex-Girlfriend || Vaughn Haige || |- |rowspan="2"| 2007 || The Last Mimzy || Larry White || |- |Juno || Rollo || |- |2008 || The Rocker || Robert 'Fish' Fishman || |- |rowspan="2"| 2009 || Monsters vs. Aliens || Gallaxhar || Voice only |- | || Professor Colan || |- |rowspan="3"| 2010 || Hesher || Paul Forney || |- |Peep World || Joel || Post-Production |- |Super || Frank D'Arbo / The Crimson Bolt || Post-Production |}

Television

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! Year ! Show ! Role ! Notes |- | 1997 || One Life to Live || Casey Keegan || Several episodes |- |rowspan="4"| 2001 || Charmed || Kierkan || Single episode |- |When Billie Beat Bobby || Dennis Van De Meer || Television film |- |Dark Angel || Phil || Single episode |- | || Guy in Supermarket || Single episode |- |2002 || || Janitor || Single episode |- |2003 || Monk || Walker Browning || Single episode |- |2003–2005 || Six Feet Under || Arthur Martin || Thirteen episodes |- |rowspan="2"| 2005 || Numb3rs || Martin Grolsch || Single episode |- |Entourage || R.J. Spencer || Single episode |- |rowspan="2"| 2008 || Tim and Eric Nite Live! || The Psychic || Single episode |- |Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! || Bobby Stoan || Three episodes |- |2009 || Reno 911! || Calvin Robin Tomlinson || Single episode |- |2005–Present || The Office || Dwight Schrute || Every episode |- |2010 || Family Guy || Dwight Schrute|| Single episode; guest voice actor |}

References

External links

SoulPancake.com

Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:American bloggers Category:American actors Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American Bahá'ís Category:New Trier High School alumni Category:New York University alumni Category:The Office (U.S. TV series) Category:Tufts University alumni Category:People from Seattle, Washington Category:Actors from Washington (U.S. state) Category:University of Washington alumni Category:Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners