Rainn Wilson answered fan questions this week in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything).
Here are Rainn’s answers related to The Office. Good stuff!
What your favorite funny scene/joke/line that never made it to the final cut of the show.
Rainn: Dude. i did a shirtless talking head monologue in Dothraki for the last episode and it was hysterical. Didn’t make the cut. No idea why.
How do you feel about “the Office” post-Steve Carell?
Rainn: I think some mistakes were made in the Office last season creatively. That being said I think some of the best, most interesting and funniest stuff we’ve ever done was last season. The Talahassee stuff was pretty sublime I thought. The Episode when I had an appendectamy was brilliant.
Do you believe that these mistakes were made because of the absence of Michael Scott, or because of the change in main writers?
Rainn: Paul Lieberstein (Toby) had been running the show the two seasons before Steve left and was doing a great job. There was something about the energy of the ensemble that was off. James Spader is one of the greatest actors known to man but the chemistry with him and Ed running the office was a bit dark and needed to be brighter and more energized. IMHO.
Out of the many cast members on The Office, who do you think you’re most likely to keep in touch with after the show is over?
Rainn: I truly love the whole cast. I suppose I’ll stay bestest friends with Angela and Jenna. Oscar just had a baby girl! Named August. I’m going to kidnap her and sell her in Venezuela. I still see and talk to Steve occasionally too.
Rainn: I’m going to talk about The Farm, appropos of nothing. We shot the 5th Office episode as a pilot for The Farm. Because of a death in the family we meet Dwight’s brother and Sister and uncle as well as Mose’s brother, Zeke. It will air as a stand alone Office episode this winter. NBC has it right now, is going to test it with audiences and will decide whether or not to pick it up. PErsonally, i think its just terrific. IT’s weird and yet accessible. it’s a rural family comedy! Geese and goats and Schrutes and hijinx at the Bed and Breakfast.
Will there be any cameos from people in The Office?
Rainn: Yes!
Do you ever worry about being typecast? If so, do you plan on taking roles that go against that type in the future?
Rainn: I will always be known for Dwight and I’m fine with that. I’m so fucking grateful for the role! I have always been an actor and i’ll just keep acting and people will see my range BUT they’ll still say “hey, there’s Dwight from The Office!”
What do you believe are the reasons for The Office having lower ratings this season? (As indicated by your co-star Jenna Fischer)
Rainn: Most all TV shows have lower ratings this season. Also NBC didn’t promote us one bit.
After watching the office bloopers/extras you tend to see a good chemistry within the cast. Is it as fun to work on the set as it looks?
Rainn: Yes. Its crazy fun. Its too much fun, really. The hours are tough. Its hard being funny at 7 am – then shooting throughout the whole day and having to be just as funny at 6 PM. But we get paid well for it, so SUCK IT UP, WILSON!
What is your favorite opening scene from The Office?
Rainn: I have a ton of great favorite pranks. I loved when Jim moved my desk to the bathroom and Kevin was in there. I love the paper mache’ desk. I love the fax from future dwight.
who has been your favorite actor or actress to work with from The Office?
Rainn: Steve Carell is one of the greatest comedy actors of all time. Like Peter Sellers great. It was an honor to work with him.
What do you think about the English version of the Office?
Rainn: I fucking love the english office. Some of the greatest TV OF ALL TIME.
when was the moment you realized “I’m going to love being Dwight Schrute” Were you auditioned for that role ??
Rainn: I was THE VERY FIRST PERSON TO AUDITION FOR THE AMERICAN OFFICE. I did a terrible ricky gervais immitation for the part of Michael but nailed “Dwight”. I knew the part would be mine. I just knew exactly how he needed to be! It was an instinct thing.
How do you feel about becoming a popular meme as well as your popularity on the show?
Rainn: I love that Dwight is a bobble-head, a graffiti, a meme and an icon of weirdness for a generation. So thankful to the fans for making Dwight a legend of TV.
Who do you think is the funniest Office character besides yourself?
Rainn: Craig Robinson.
Death in the family… Does this mean they’ll kill Mose off?! I hope not, I love him.
Dammit how did I miss this AMA. Redditor here.
Interesting how overt his criticism of the Robert-Andy dynamic was.
Great interview with Rainn. Admire his honesty about the show.
Surprised that he did not say he’d stay in touch with John Krasinski. I think they have great chemistry and figured they bonded, especially with all the pranks.
For me the reasons the Office has not been as good:
1) Jim and Pam are together – a good thing, but while they were apart you always rooted for them and wanted to see what happened. They are the heart of the show.
2) Steve Carell is no longer with the show and therefore its soul is gone.
3) Too many characters – should have kept the core characters and done away with Sabre etc.
I love hearing the cast talking honestly about the show. Before this season started, I read similar interviews with Ed and Jenna, and they too both had ideas on why Season 8 didn’t work as well. What I love is how much they care about the show, and how much they love their characters. @Loves Italian Food, I don’t think that the show has suffered because Jim and Pam are together, I think it suffered because they stopped giving them dramatic storylines once they got together. The stuff between them this season is great, for example. Also, I think that Rainn has a lot of the same friends as Jenna, in particular, going by their Twitter feeds, so I think he’ll just see more of her and Angela. I imagine he’ll still stay in touch with everybody, to some extent.
Spader is a great actor, but he was clearly the problem with season 8. His presence overwhelmed things too much. the RC free episodes were by far the best and this season is a vast improvement over 8.