Rainn Wilson, actor, writer, director, producer, is a man with many hats and beautifully geeky glasses. He has been a resident Geek actor since 2005 with his breakout performance as Dwight Schrute on the Office. Today we shine the sonic screwdriver on Rainn Wilson, Geek of the Week.

Rainn was born on Jan. 20, 1966.  Wilson was a Theatre and band geek in school. He also had a potent addiction to D&D.  His book, The Bassoon King, sheds light on some of those exploits and how they shaped his life.  After getting his degree he began a 10-year career in Theatre.  After a successful career on the stage, he would then go on to star in television and movies.  He is regularly cast as an eccentric character and has played a number of socially awkward characters.  Most notable is probably the competent yet socially inept Dwight Schrute.  The Office pioneered the mockumentary and brought comedy out of the laugh track era.   Our favorite episode “Spooked” comes from the 8th season where he cosplays as Kerrigan Queen of Blades, from Starcraft.  The Nerdgasm was undeniable.

Rainn Willson’s Soulpancakes

Rainn is the kind of geek who likes to share positivity.  Along with his colleagues, they developed a Youtube channel that spreads funny and positive videos. It has become one of the most popular channels on Youtube.  Even Oprah commissions the team at Soulpancake for a series on OWN.

His involvement in family-friendly entertainment does not stop there. He has a healthy list of voice acting performances including work on Monsters vs. Aliens and Adventure Time.  In addition, Rainn is going to be voicing Gargamel in the upcoming Smurfs movie and is staying busy starring in the series Backstrom. 

Rainn Wilson has taken his passion and used it to propel heaps of positivity into the world.  Deep down every geek aspires to be able to share their passion and use it to empower themselves and others.  We hope to see more great performances!

So what was your favorite Dwight moment?

Let us know, in the comments below

–H00k 0ut