Rainn Wilson: I have this big, weird face. Im never going to be Josh Brolin
I have kind of a soft spot for Rainn Wilson. I can’t even explain why, I just enjoy him. I particularly enjoyed him playing against Allison Janney on Mom. Admittedly, I don’t know much about him. Like I just found out from this Guardian interview that Rainn had a somewhat nomadic childhood, and he is an adherent of the Bahaí’í faith. And that he wrote an autobiography, The Bassoon King, in which all that information is given. Rainn is promoting his new thriller, Don’t Tell a Soul. I always default to comedy when I think of Rainn, but he has range. And because he’s not a Hollywood pretty boy, he has more character options, too. Unfortunately, that same face has kept him from leading man territory, but Rainn said he made peace with that a while ago.
Some actors associated with a signature role will tire of talking about it. No such preciousness from Rainn Wilson, who appears on camera from his Los Angeles home wearing a grey T-shirt emblazoned with the word “Scranton”. That Pennsylvania city provided the setting for the US version of the mockumentary sitcom The Office, which ran for nine widely adored, award-winning series. Wilson earned three Emmy nominations for playing the livid, disagreeable Dwight, the Rust Belt equivalent of Mackenzie Crook’s Gareth. Today’s beard and baseball cap, as well as his chipper demeanour, banishes all memory of the pasty face, DIY haircut and startled expression he wore in that show.
On screen, he can be spookily reserved and unreachable, or gauche and goofy, as he is as a credulous alien in Galaxy Quest or a failed heavy metal drummer in The Rocker. That he can embody these disparate qualities is, he thinks, partly an accident of physiognomy. “When you put a camera on someone, you’re seeing a lot of what’s already there,” he says. “With me, it’s like – I don’t even want to go directly for ‘odd’ – but I’m an offbeat-looking guy who probably has a comedic side, just because I have this big, weird face. I’m never going to be Josh Brolin no matter how much I want it.”
That was a lesson learned in his earliest days as an actor. “I had agents who were, like: ‘You need to get your teeth fixed, build loads of muscles and lose weight.’ But I realised early on that I was in the character actor tradition. Also, sensibility-wise, I’m weird! I play chess, I play the bassoon, I read science fiction. I’m not out there hunting, driving a truck or …” He throws up his hands in mock-exasperation. “What do leading men even do in their spare time? Gut trout?”
I find Josh Brolin such an interesting choice of actor to compare himself to. Maybe that’s who Rainn wanted to look like once upon a time, we all have our physical ideal. Brian Dennehy (RIP!) once said something similar to Rainn. Studios were always pushing him to style himself differently and go for Rock Hudson kind of roles. He knew he was going to get lost so he kept his look, carved out a career as a character actor and always had work. Hollywood is a hard business to make it in, but not a hard business to figure out. Rainn found where he’s comfortable and has established himself there. I love his leading man downtime activities, though. I’m just picturing every heartthrob gutting trout as they read scripts.
In his new movie, Rainn’s character spends most the movie stuck in a hole (it’s in the trailer, that’s not a spoiler). They built him a room above ground with a side door because Rainn is claustrophobic. I have claustrophobic issues as well so to be honest, knowing this will allow me to see the movie. Even knowing the actor was confined keeps me from watching these types of movies. As soon as I start thinking about it, I start feeling the walls close in. So, I appreciate him admitting that. It looks, from the trailer, like Rainn’s character goes from vulnerable to creepy. That’s a hard switch to convince an audience of in two hours. But see, a big, weird face would totally help pull that off.
Photo credit: Instagram and Avalon Red
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcGpibYR0e9GaoKemj6y2rb%2FOp5ail5iWw6ar06GgrJeSnrSgw8SiqZ2XlpawpqvIppannaaav6CzzqKloJekpKyjsb6jpqygj5e%2FsLjIp2Y%3D