Rainn Wilson Out of the Office

            The last anyone saw of Dwight Schrute, the eccentric (and indispensable) sidekick on NBC’s hit comedy The Office was caught sans shirt, mounting an ex-office flame who, incidentally, had only moments earlier accepted the marriage proposal of a nemesis coworker.
Judging by the uncharacteristically passionate display from the otherwise uptight, straight-laced “assistant to the regional manager,” it’s safe to assume that in the show’s coming season we’re about to see a different side of Dwight.
            Before that, though, the show’s legion fan base will get to see a different side of the man behind the signature glasses: Rainn Wilson. After a career spent stealing scenes in supporting roles, Wilson is taking his lovable idiosyncrasies to the big screen with The Rocker. The film, directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) and co-written by Maya Forbes (The Larry Sanders Show) and Wallace Wolodarsky (The Simpsons), was picked up by fledgling Fox Atomic after execs screened a scene from The Office in which Wilson hurls watermelons from the office roof onto a trampoline in an effort to approximate a suicide attempt on office safety training day. The suits loved it.
            In the first lead role of his career, Wilson plays Robert “Fish” Fishman, drummer for the Will Arnett-fronted 1980s hair band Vesuvius, complete with outrageous blond rocker wig. The band is on the verge of breakout success when Wilson is unceremoniously kicked out of the band. “He’s replaced and they become as big as Aerosmith, and he’s left out,” Wilson laments on his character’s behalf.
What follows is two decades of angst and pent up ambition as redemption is slow to come. It isn’t until Fishman’s nephew needs a drummer for his emo garage band A.D.D., that a second shot at fame comes around. “It’s arrested development,” explains Wilson.” He’s arrested at age 19 when he was back in the heavy metal band, and then gets another chance to live that life. He’s a total classic rock guy.”
            Which is just fine by Wilson. After cultivating niche roles as a creepy mortician on Six Feet Under and an overambitious beet farmer-cum-paper salesman on The Office, The Rocker’s Fishman covers more familiar ground. “I grew up in suburban Seattle,” says Wilson. “All that there was on the radio was classic rock—The Stones, The Who, and Zeppelin. And then all of a sudden a friend gave me a tape of The Clash and it blew my mind.”
            To prepare for the role, Wilson took a grueling crash course on the drums and delved not only into the music but into the unique psyche of a rock star as well. “Drummers are an entity unto themselves,” he concludes. “To be a drummer, you’ve got to enjoy being behind everyone else and making a lot of noise.”
            It’s a notion Wilson knows a thing or two about. Scan the successes on his resume and the comparisons are obvious: Wilson thrives on being largely in the background, but making big noise. The irony that his first starring role is playing a supporting dude struggling for recognition is not lost on Wilson. “I’ve always been the guy to have the punch line here or the comment there—king of the B and C plot. All of a sudden to be in every scene and to have to drive those scenes, and to have your energy be the energy that’s carrying the movie was a big challenge.”
   Luckily, the big screen suits Wilson’s oversized personality. His 45-second turn as a quirky store clerk in Juno whet audiences’ appetites for more out-of-Dwight experiences. (“That ain’t no etch-a-sketch—this is one doodle that can’t be un-did, homeskillet” will be preached in health class for years to come.) And for those wanting more, Wilson hopes to oblige. He has dream roles in mind, like the lumbering protagonist in A Confederacy of Dunces (it’s been kicking around Hollywood for a decade) and his pet projects. “I’ve written a script for Jason Reitman called “Bonzai Shadowhands” about a down and out alcoholic ninja,” Wilson deadpans.
            For now, Wilson is back at “the best day job in the world” shooting season five of The Office, and of course playing the nerve-racking game of wait-and-see with The Rocker. “There have been a lot of cases of the second fiddle on TV shows doing movies. A lot of people are waiting and seeing how it goes.” Meaning that for the time being, audiences—and executives—are left wondering if Dwight Schrute has the chops to be anything more than, well, Dwight Schrute.
            When asked for an answer, the normally humble actor summons some bravado before inviting those who doubt to “climb on the Rainn train!” It seems Dwight isn’t the only one breaking character these days.