I really enjoyed some parts of Rainn Wilson’s biography — tell me more about The Office, and the criminally underrated good/bad movie Sahara! — although some of the navel-gazing, actor-y stuff got a little old. Overall, it’s worth the read to see how many different ways he can insult his own head-size. For real.
“I was terrified, lost. Like most moments of intense personal tragedy, it was both heartbreaking and a little bit ridiculous.”
Rainn had an…interesting upbringing. His parents separated when he was a toddler, and his heartbroken father immediately fled to Nicaragua with Rainn, remarried and remained in South America until it was time for Rainn to start kindergarten. His father and new stepmother were pretty much unhappy for the 20 years it took them to divorce, but Rainn was well-loved (although dirt poor) and his father nurtured his creative side (although was never really on board with the acting thing, probably because Rainn’s mother ran off with her director). Overall, the serious makings of an actor.
He talks a lot about how he got into acting, and how very seriously he took it, and how long he struggled at it before he found what worked for him. He also discusses the baha’i faith, which sounds interesting, if a little funky, and his years of nerd-dom in his youth (…and now). My glazed over a bit with some of the discussions about his method as an actor, but his self-deprecating tone lightens the mood (while only occasionally veering into annoying).
