Rainn Wilson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rainn Wilson
Rainn Wilson in 2011
Born	Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (1966-01-20) January 20, 1966 (age 59) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Education	Tufts University University of Washington (BFA) New York University (MFA)
Occupation	Actor comedian podcaster producer writer director
Years active	1993–present
Spouse(s)	Holiday Reinhorn ​ (m. 1995)​
Children	1

Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is most famous for playing Dwight Schrute on the TV show The Office from 2005 to 2013. For this role, he was nominated for an Emmy Award three times.

Rainn Wilson was born in Seattle, Washington. He started acting at the University of Washington. After college, he worked in theater in New York City. His first movie was Galaxy Quest in 1999. He also had roles in Almost Famous (2000) and House of 1000 Corpses (2003). From 2003 to 2005, he played Arthur Martin in the HBO series Six Feet Under.

Besides The Office, Wilson has starred in movies like The Rocker (2008) and Super (2010). He also voiced the villain Gallaxhar in the animated film Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) and Gargamel in Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017). He played Harry Mudd in Star Trek: Discovery (2017) and Star Trek: Short Treks (2018). He also voices Lex Luthor in some DC Animated Movie Universe films.

In 2015, Wilson wrote his autobiography called The Bassoon King. He also helped start a digital media company called SoulPancake in 2008.

Early Life and Education

Rainn Wilson was born on January 20, 1966, in Seattle, Washington. His mother, Shay Cooper, was a yoga teacher and actress. His father, Robert G. Wilson, was a writer and artist. Rainn lived in Nicaragua with his father and stepmother from ages three to five.

He went to Kellogg Middle School and Shorecrest High School in Washington. There, he played the clarinet and bassoon in the school band. Later, his family moved to Wilmette, Illinois. He graduated from New Trier High School there.

Wilson studied at Tufts University before moving to the University of Washington. He earned a bachelor's degree in drama in 1986. Then, he went to New York University and got a master's degree in acting. To earn money while acting in plays, he sometimes drove a moving van.

He performed in many theater productions early in his career. These included shows at The Public Theater and the Guthrie Theater. He was nominated for three Helen Hayes Awards for his theater work.

Career Highlights

Early Acting Roles (1997–2004)

Rainn Wilson first appeared on TV in 1997 in the soap opera One Life to Live. His first movie role was in Galaxy Quest (1999). He also had a small part in Almost Famous (2000). In 2002, he was cast in the horror film House of 1000 Corpses (2003).

Starting in 2003, Wilson played Arthur Martin in HBO's Six Feet Under. He won a Screen Actors Guild award for being part of the best drama cast for this show. He also had small roles in movies like America's Sweethearts (2001). Wilson also made guest appearances on many TV shows. These included Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Monk.

The Office and Becoming Famous (2005–2013)

In 2005, Wilson appeared in the comedy film Sahara. The same year, he got the role of Dwight Schrute in The Office. This role made him very well-known.

Rainn Wilson in 2008

He was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2007, 2008, and 2009. He also won two SAG awards with the cast for best comedy show. Besides acting, Wilson also directed three episodes of The Office.

On February 24, 2007, Rainn Wilson hosted Saturday Night Live. In 2008, he starred in the comedy movie The Rocker. In 2009, he voiced the alien villain Gallaxhar in Monsters vs. Aliens. He also had a small role in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. In 2010, he played the main character in Super. Critics praised his performance in this film.

In the 2011 movie Hesher, Wilson played a sad father. A film critic noted his unique and strong presence as an actor.

Recent Film and Television Work (2014–Present)

In 2014, Wilson was in the horror comedy Cooties. He also appeared in the thriller The Boy (2015). He starred in the TV crime show Backstrom as a detective. Wilson was also a producer for this show.

Rainn Wilson in 2016

In 2017, Wilson voiced Gargamel in Smurfs: The Lost Village. He also starred in the comedy film Permanent. Wilson appeared in Shimmer Lake (2017) on Netflix and The Meg (2018).

He played Harry Mudd in the TV series Star Trek: Discovery. He also directed an episode of Star Trek: Short Treks. Wilson has voiced Lex Luthor in several DC animated movies. These include The Death of Superman and Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.

In 2019, Wilson was in the drama Blackbird. In 2020, he starred in the thriller Don't Tell a Soul. He was also in the Amazon series Utopia. In 2020, he narrated and produced the Netflix show We Are the Champions.

Wilson played Trevor Wells, a therapist, on the CBS show Mom. He was also cast in the mystery series Dark Winds. In 2023, he appeared in Lessons in Chemistry on Apple TV.

In 2023, Wilson hosted the travel series Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss for Peacock. He also had roles in Jerry & Marge Go Large and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. He is set to star in a comedy film called Code 3.

Other Projects

Rainn Wilson helped start SoulPancake in 2008. This is a website and YouTube channel. As of 2019, the channel had over 3 million subscribers. It was recognized as one of the most innovative video companies. In 2016, SoulPancake was bought by Participant Media.

Wilson also co-wrote the book SoulPancake: Chew on Life's Big Questions (2010). In 2015, he published The Bassoon King, a funny book about his life and career.

He is also an activist for climate change. In 2019, he visited Greenland to raise awareness. He made a web series about climate change for SoulPancake.

In 2021, Wilson voiced the main character in the comedy audio series Dark Air with Terry Carnation. In 2024, he started a new interview podcast on YouTube called Soul Boom w/ Rainn Wilson.

Personal Life

Rainn Wilson is married to writer Holiday Reinhorn. They met in an acting class and got married in 1995. They have a son named Walter, who was born in 2004. They have homes in Oregon and Los Angeles. They also have several pets, including two dogs, two pigs, a donkey, and a zonkey (a mix of a zebra and a donkey).

Wilson and his family are members of the Baháʼí Faith. He hosts a podcast called Baháʼí Blogcast. In this podcast, he talks to people about their faith and work.

Wilson has shared that he votes for different political parties. He believes that people with kind hearts can make the world a better place.

He supports charity work, including fundraising for the Mona Foundation. This charity helps people in developing countries. In 2013, he co-founded Lidè Haiti. This group helps teenage girls in rural Haiti through arts and reading programs. As of 2024, they help over 500 girls and provide scholarships.

In November 2022, Wilson changed his name on social media to Rainnfall Heat Wave Rising Sea Levels Wilson. He did this to bring attention to climate change. He did not change his legal name.

Filmography

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Galaxy Quest	Lahnk
2000	Almost Famous	David Felton
2001	America's Sweethearts	Dave O'Hanlon
2002	Full Frontal	Brian
2003	House of 1000 Corpses	Bill Hudley
	Baadasssss!	Bill Harris
2005	The Life Coach	Dr. Watson Newmark
	Sahara	Rudi Gunn
2006	My Super Ex-Girlfriend	Vaughn Haige
2007	The Last Mimzy	Larry White
	Juno	Rollo
2008	The Rocker	Robert 'Fish' Fishman
2009	Monsters vs. Aliens	Gallaxhar	Voice
	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	Professor Colan	Cameo
2010	The New Recruits	Narrator
	Super	Frank Darbo / The Crimson Bolt	Also executive producer
	Hesher	Paul Forney
	Peep World	Joel Meyerwitz
2013	The Stream	Adult Ernest
2014	Cooties	Wade Johnson
2015	Uncanny	Castle
	The Boy	William Colby	Also executive producer Nominated – Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actor
2016	Army of One	Agent Simons
2017	Permanent	Jim Dixon
	Smurfs: The Lost Village	Gargamel	Voice
	Shimmer Lake	Andy Sikes
2018	The Death of Superman	Lex Luthor	Voice
	The Meg	Jack Morris
	Where in the Hell is the Lavender House?		Executive producer Documentary of Longmont Potion Castle
2019	Reign of the Supermen	Lex Luthor	Voice
	Brightburn	Frank Darbo / The Crimson Bolt	Cameo (photograph only)
	Batman: Hush	Lex Luthor	Voice
	Blackbird	Michael
2020	Justice League Dark: Apokolips War	Lex Luthor	Voice
	Don't Tell a Soul	Hamby
	Don't Look Back	George Reed	Cameo Also known as Good Samaritan
2022	Jerry & Marge Go Large	Bill
	Weird: The Al Yankovic Story	Dr. Demento
2023	Ezra	Nick
2024	Empire Waist	Mark
	Hitpig!	Leapin' Lord of the Leotard	Voice
TBA	At the Sea	TBA	Filming

Television

Video games

Awards and Nominations

Written Publications

• Rainn Wilson. Soul Pancake. 2010. Hachette Books, ISBN: 978-1401310332
• Rainn Wilson. The Bassoon King. 2016. Dutton, ISBN: 978-0-525-95453-8
• Rainn Wilson. Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution. 2023. Hachette Books, ISBN: 978-0-306-82827-0

See also

In Spanish: Rainn Wilson para niños