Rainn Wilson Wants a Lot of Celebrities to 'Shut the Eff Up'

By Jo Piazza Posted Sep 27th 2010 05:00PM

On 'The Office,' Rainn Wilson is the lovable, bumbly, eccentric and, yes, sometimes creepy paper salesman Dwight Schrute.

In real life, he is also lovable and sometimes he bumbles, but he is much less creepy and eccentric. The biggest difference between Rainn and Dwight is something a lot of Americans still might not know about the actor -- his intense spirituality.

Wilson is a member of the Baha'i faith and one of the most public faces of the religion in this country. In November, he is releasing a self-help book, 'Soul Pancake,' which seeks to answer questions about philosophy, spirituality, creativity and the intersection of all three.

Rainn chatted via Skype with the Religion Newswriters Association at their annual conference in Denver, describing what it's like to be a member of a marginalized faith, talking about faith at all in Hollywood and whether or not celebrityland is one dark hole of depravity.

Do you believe it is difficult for actors to receive spiritual support?
People ask me a lot about the corruption and materialism in Hollywood. You'd be surprised to know that everyone on 'The Office' goes to church, but there are a lot of bad eggs out there who are splashed all over the front pages of magazines and newspapers. There are some lost souls out there. I worked in a lot of businesses before Hollywood and the most miserable and corrupt was the insurance industry. I think we need someone to tend to the lost sheep of the insurance industry.

As a spiritual man what kind of advice would you give Dwight?
My Baha'i wisdom would be some common sense wisdom. I think if he went to counseling they would tell him, you need to get a life, all you do is work the farm and sell paper. This is relevant to Americans these days. They get a sense of who they are as people from their work. Dwight needs to go on a journey, a walkabout. He needs to put on a backpack and go to India. Whether we know it or not, we are all on a spiritual journey and it ends with your death. Embrace it.

You have two million followers on Twitter. What do you talk to them about?
Here is what Twitter has allowed me to do, which is what I am appreciative of: People know me as Dwight, so they think of me as a big, dorky, annoying, weirdo. Twitter allows my fans to have a glimpse at how my brain works. There are a lot of different things I tweet about. I tweet about my son. I do a lot of poop jokes and fart jokes and I tweet about high faith. I also piss a lot of people off along the way, but they can always hit unfollow.

Tell us some misconceptions that you've encountered about Baha'i.
One major one is that Baha'i is a conglomerate of other religions and that we take the best aspects of other religions and believe in that. In a sense, Baha'is do that, but mostly Baha'is are followers of Bahá'u'lláh. The Baha'is believe in a return of the spirit of all the divine messengers and read and study the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. Another misconception is that Baha'i is an offshoot of Islam, which it is not. Baha'is are generally persecuted by Muslims. Baha'i is no more an offshoot of Islam than Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism. It is an independent, fresh, new religion.

What do you think about how the media writes about the faith of celebrities who are public about their faith?
It's a tough thing. The last thing I want to become is some Baha'i spokesperson. I feel like no one wants to hear a celebrity tell them what they should do and that's not what I do and that's not what 'Soul Pancake' is about. I don't want to be a spokesperson. I think celebrities should just shut the eff up most of the time and do their work.

What's your philosophy for achieving a more peaceful world?
Muslims and Christians and Jews all believe in god and I think we could make tremendous progress if they all got in one room and prayed together. It sounds hippy dippy, but it hasn't been tried yet.

Why did you call the book 'Soul Pancake'?
Well, basically I wanted a fun, irreverent but not disrespectful spin on philosophy and spirituality. Originally, I wanted to call it 'Metaphysical Milkshake,' but that was hard to say. We needed a food and a spiritual item. We just wanted to have fun with the title. We wanted it to be a title that sticks in your head. I think you hear 'Soul Pancake' once and you remember it. It's fun for everyone.

Since you've been talking about Baha'i, do Baha'is come up to you on the street?
The Baha'is are so sweet. The Bible says the meek shall inherit the earth and I believe that means the Baha'is will inherit the Earth. We are a meek and motley bunch. It's pretty darn sad that I am a hero to the Baha'is; that this big dorky weird character is a Baha'i hero. There are a lot of Persian Baha'is because the faith started in Iran. You have a lot of old Persian ladies who don't understand 'The Office' for one second but tune in every Thursday night. Then they see me at a potluck or devotional gathering and say, "Oh Rainn, you're so good on 'The Office.' We watch it every week." I'm on a Baha'i pedestal, which is unfortunate. We need a much better looking and more spiritual Baha'i than me to come along because this is ridiculous.

Have you turned down any roles because of your Baha'i sensibilities?
There have been many things I have turned down. I turn down stuff that is morally repugnant, but I take a lot of things that are morally questionable.

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Comments

(10)

Monday 27 September

By Mark

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dude's a freak.

Tuesday 28 September

By Wish Belkin

Jim Seals and Dash Crofts were of the Baha'i faith.
They are two of the finest men I've ever met.

By Lua Crofts Faragher

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I love that Rainn isn't intimidated to talk about his Faith considering the industry that he's in.
He's probably the most well know Baha'i since my fathers 70's duo, Seals & Crofts.
Thanks Rainn for your service to mankind!
~Lua Crofts

By Kneewhite

Rainn Wilson is a very good man!
Another very good man said "Respect the religions of others"
I agree!!

By njgirlxxxx

me too

By Nico Toscani

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Baha'i is like the joke "future" religion that fuses all world religions into one. There's nothing spiritual about that, it's called hedging your bets.

Sunday 03 October

By Havealitlefaith

The equality of men and women, full racial integration, universal education, the harmony of science and religion are but some of the baha'i principals...they might sound now like hedging your bets... but they have been set forth over 150 years ago in persia at the risks and perils of those who dared promote them. Those that are in Iran today are still ostracized...If you are a betting man you'd have to say the stakes are pretty high. Despite that we Bahai's have an unwavering faith in Baha'U'llah's words. It just might be worth checking out.

By J

Rainn Wilson: "He needs to put on a backpack and go to India."

The only person dumber than this guy is the sucker who accepts spiritual advice like the above because the dispenser of such advice is on TV. Hell, a guy named "Rainn" can't tell me anything and be taken seriously.

By metoo

You state "The only person dumber than this guy is the sucker who accepts spiritual advice like the above".

What exactly were the bits of "spiritual advice" that trouble you?

Then you state "Hell, a guy named "Rainn" can't tell me anything and be taken seriously."

Does the name of an individual give credibility? If so what credibility can be given from an individual that uses only a single letter for a name?

Nico Toscani, why do you say that? What facts do you have that give you the illusion the Baha'i Faith is a "religion that fuses all world religions into one"

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