RAINN WILSON talks Dwight, Clowning, Baha'i

Summary

The Adam Friedland Show — Rainn Wilson Talks Dwight, Clowning, Baha'i

Date: September 17, 2025
Guest: Rainn Wilson
Host: Adam Friedland
Duration: Approx. 60 minutes

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Adam Friedland Show features an in-depth and often comedic conversation with actor Rainn Wilson. While Wilson is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on The Office, the discussion ranges from his acting process—including clowning and stage work—to his faith as a member of the Baha'i community, and his new film Code 3. The episode is peppered with surreal humor, banter about pop culture, and candid reflections on religion, artistic legacy, and the realities of paramedic work in America.

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Major Discussion Points & Key Insights

1. Rainn’s Relationship with “Dwight” and The Office

Timestamp: 14:47 to 31:39

• Wilson’s Team Request: Rainn's team preferred that The Office not be the main focus, but Wilson is good-natured about it.
• Character Origins: Wilson explains that much of Dwight’s idiosyncratic personality is drawn from his background in theater and specifically clowning training.
  • “The roots of creating a character like Dwight come from these ideas of clowns... you go back, there have always been clowns in human history." (17:17, Rainn Wilson)
• Clowning Technique: Wilson discusses a "Circle of Fire" exercise from his clown class: the performer can only leave the stage once everyone is laughing, teaching vulnerability in performance.
  • “What’s really funny is being totally vulnerable. If you were to cry about a dead relative, that would be hysterical.” (18:10, Rainn Wilson)
• Influences: Wilson cites British comedy, especially Mackenzie Crook’s role on UK The Office and his way of delivering absurdity with a straight face.
  • “He was so brilliant at that... say the most absurd, ludicrous things with an absolutely straight face without any kind of hint at all that there was a joke there." (20:29, Rainn Wilson)
• Building Backstory: Through improv, Wilson helped shape Dwight’s “Amish beet farmer” identity, with input from head writer Greg Daniels. Family photos and impromptu lines became part of canon.
  • “My name is Dwight Schrute. My father's name Dwigt [sic] Schrute. His father's name, Dwight Schrude. Amish.” (26:19, Rainn Wilson, paraphrasing his improv)
• Comparisons: Adam compares Dwight’s legacy to classic sitcom characters like George Costanza.

2. Clowning, Theater Training, and Comedy in Different Cultures

Timestamp: 15:12 to 21:40

• Circle of Fire: Wilson recounts how clown training forced actors out of typical gag-based comedy and into more authentic, vulnerable humor.
• Universal Comedy: Discusses what’s funny across all cultures; both agree that physical humor like “getting hit in the balls" is universally funny.
  • “I think someone, like, trying something and failing is universally funny... if that happened to the Amazon they would be hysterical.” (20:03, Rainn Wilson)
• Theater versus Improv: Wilson notes differences between actors with formal theater backgrounds (like himself) and those from sketch/improv/standup (like many Office cast members).

3. Celebrity Culture, Pop Parody, and Personal Anecdotes

Timestamp: 10:13 to 13:50

• Talk Show Memories: Fun reminiscences about Jay Leno and Weird Al Yankovic, emphasizing their kindness.
• Weird Al’s Resilience: Discussion of Al performing despite losing his parents shortly before a show.
  • “His parents both died, and then... he had a concert that night, and he went out...” (11:02, Adam Friedland)
• On Set Stories: Adam jokes about his Aunt Amanda being the most attractive costumer on Rob Zombie’s film set; Rainn diplomatically sidesteps but keeps the exchange light.

4. The Baha’i Faith: Personal Journey and Modern Spirituality

Timestamp: 31:34 to 47:20

• Rainn’s Faith: Wilson is an outspoken member of the Baha’i faith, which he describes as the “fourth major Abrahamic religion.”
  • “It is an Abrahamic religion. I would say it’s the fourth major Abrahamic religion.” (32:08, Rainn Wilson)
• Origins and Tenets: The Baha'i faith, founded in Persia, is unique for its lack of clergy or formalized worship spaces, emphasizing democratic councils, daily prayers, and community service.
  • “No church, no synagogue, no temple, you don’t go. No clergy?” (33:40, Adam Friedland)
• Election Process: Religious leaders are elected by silent ballot after prayer and contemplation; campaigning is forbidden.
• Personal Practice: Wilson grew up Baha’i, left during his punk NYC theater years, but later returned, appreciating its inclusive and non-dogmatic spirit.
  • “I left the Baha’ I faith for a long time. I didn’t want anything to do like a lot of young people with religion or faith or God or morality...” (38:31, Rainn Wilson)
• Contentious Doctrines: Rainn admits to struggling with Baha’i teachings on sexuality but values a faith that emphasizes guidance over strict adherence, with no doctrine of hell or damnation.
  • “If I like 90% of the faith, then that’s enough for me.” (46:46, Rainn Wilson)
• Pop Culture and Faith Jokes: Lively banter about the historic and present Baha'i community, Jewish identity, and cultural crossovers.

5. Code 3: A New Film on Paramedics and the American Healthcare System

Timestamp: 48:39 to 54:30

• About the Film: Adam asks Rainn about Code 3, co-starring Lil Rel. It’s a comedic look at ambulance workers in South Central LA, blending humor with social critique.
  • “You want to tell us a little bit about who you play, what it's about...?” (48:39, Adam Friedland)
• Research and Ride-Alongs: Wilson did extensive ride-alongs with real paramedics for authenticity.
  • “Six or eight hours in South Central.” (49:18, Rainn Wilson)
• Serious Undertones: Both reflect on the emotional strain on EMS workers, the intimacy of their job, and systemic failures in healthcare.
  • “We entrust [EMS workers] to save our lives...paid essentially minimum wage, maybe a little bit more...” (51:48, Rainn Wilson)
• Humor Amid Hardship: Adam shares his own ambulance work stories from Israel, and they agree that gallows humor and camaraderie are key to surviving the job.
  • “No industry has a more gallows sense of humor than that.” (54:47, Rainn Wilson)

6. Artistic Legacy and Problematic Creators

Timestamp: 55:36 to 58:16

• Can You Separate Art from Artist? They debate whether it’s possible—or necessary—to enjoy works by artists with checkered pasts, referencing Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Wagner, and even Hitler’s paintings.
  • “I watch the art because I just feel like we’re gonna get in a bunch of trouble if we’re gonna try and, like, cancel the art made by people who are racist, sexist, you know, abusive, whatever. I’m not sure how to play that one out.” (57:17, Rainn Wilson)

7. Miscellaneous Banter: Music, Punk Years, and Instruments

Timestamp: 58:22 to End

• Musical Skills: Rainn plays guitar, drums, and even bassoon—a subject of running gags with Adam.
• Punk Youth: Rainn reminisces about his NYU punk phase, short hair dyed black, and favorite punk bands.
• Show Closes: The conversation ends, as always, with more exchanges of surreal jokes about Judaism, pop culture, and musical preferences.

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Notable Quotes

• “What’s really funny is being totally vulnerable. If you were to cry about a dead relative, that would be hysterical.” (18:10, Rainn Wilson on clowning)
• “The roots of creating a character like Dwight come from these ideas of clowns...” (17:17, Rainn Wilson)
• “If I like 90% of the faith, then that’s enough for me.” (46:46, Rainn Wilson on Baha’i)
• “No industry has a more gallows sense of humor than that.” (54:47, Rainn Wilson on EMTs/paramedics)
• “I just feel like we’re gonna get in a bunch of trouble if we’re gonna try and, like, cancel the art made by people who are racist, sexist, you know, abusive, whatever.” (57:17, Rainn Wilson on art and morality)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamps | |--------------------------------------------|-----------------| | The Office origins & clowning | 14:47–21:40 | | Theater, comedy as universal language | 15:12–20:03 | | Baha’i faith, childhood, and beliefs | 31:34–47:20 | | Code 3 & paramedic stories | 48:39–54:30 | | Separating art from problematic artists | 55:36–58:16 | | Musical skills, punk memories, farewell | 58:22–End |

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Tone & Vibe

• The episode is fast-paced, irreverent, sometimes meandering, with humor that’s both intellectual and absurd.
• Rainn Wilson is candid, self-deprecating, and open about complex personal topics (faith, discomfort with legacy, struggles with religious doctrine).
• The host and guest share mutual respect and quick-witted banter, resulting in a discussion that’s equal parts philosophical, informative, and silly.

Transcript

[Adam Friedland]

We're talking about the film. Okay, stop it. No, no, it's not that good. It's really. Some of them are.

[Rainn Wilson]

Rain's team wanted me to pass along the message. He's totally fine to talk about the Office, but he doesn't want it to be a main focus of the interview and appreciate it.

[Adam Friedland]

A main focus?

[Rainn Wilson]

We're talking about the topic to more of a minimum.

[Adam Friedland]

We're talking about the bag of David.

[Rainn Wilson]

That's pretty true. They glean that, we gotta call you fast.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, no, I want to talk about your new film, Code 3.

[Rainn Wilson]

You know how you talked about the Midwestern person saying thank you and not really meaning it?

[Adam Friedland]

I'm so interested in hearing about your new movie. Tell us about your movie. Welcome back to the Adam Friedland show, guys. Adam Friedland here first, as always. I want to thank our members for supporting the show on YouTube and Patreon. If you'd like to support the show, you can do so right here on YouTube.com by clicking the join button at the top of your page or the link in the description below. You'll get early access to episodes. Discounted merch. Also, if you prefer to use Patreon, there's a link in the description of this video below. Speaking of merch, we have merch available, as I said last week. Go to theadamfriedland show and check out the store there. That's the theadamfriedland show. And you can. We have T shirts, you know, great stuff. My guess this week is actor Rainn Wilson. Wilson is, of course, best known for his portrayal of the buffoonish Dwight Schrute on the NBC hit sitcom the Office. During the series eight season run, America reveled in Schrute's humiliation at the hands of Jim Halpert, who was played by John Krasinski from also the Benghazi movie, if you guys have seen that one. During one such episode, famously shrewd stapler was put in a gelatin mold and it was hilarious. Now, as everyone knows, one of my strengths as an interviewer is my natural charm and charisma. Practically every guest I've had on this show has left an interview in love with me, which is, frankly, kind of annoying. But my conversation with Wilson was perhaps the polar opposite. It was contentious, it was uncomfortable. And after he left the studio that day, it came to my attention that. That he had cyberbullied me on the popular social media app Instagram in a post that both doxed and ridiculed our office's bathroom but it didn't end there. The following week, Wilson sent me numerous threatening text messages, which, in this current political climate, has left me on edge and afraid. But I didn't want to be a victim. I wanted to put myself in Mr. Wilson's shoes. Why was this beloved comedic actor being mean? Perhaps the answer was right in front of us this whole time on NBC during prime time, before Parks and Rec. I think it was eight on Thursdays. Perhaps art bled its way into reality. Perhaps he'd been driven insane after eight years of publicly broadcasted torture. Kind of like Heath Ledger, Joker. I'm not a licensed psychiatrist, and in order to confirm my theory, I needed to consult with one. So I called up friend of the show, sexual misbehavior expert James Foley, to see if my suspicions were proven correct. James Foley. Hi, James. Adam Friedland. Adam Friedland show. How are you? I'm doing great. Miss you, brother. You're doing well. I miss you more. I'm doing fantastic. No, you couldn't possibly notice it, but, yeah. Thank you. Wait, quick question. Okay. Kind of random, but, like, if someone was, like, played like, a complete, like, complete joke, or like a clown, like. Or a buffoon, like, for maybe, let's say, eight seasons on a popular television show where America just. Just loved laughing at them, just getting their comeuppance and just like, stepping on rakes and like, you know, kind of like, metaphorically speaking, having their pants pulled down and then exposing their miniscule genitalia to. I don't know. Ignore that part. If someone plays a heel. Right. In an incredibly popular context on television, let's say NBC during prime time, before Parks and Rec, maybe. Okay. Would that potentially affect their real life? Right. I. I would. I would think so. I would definitely. I would definitely think it would have an. A drag on their emotions.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Kind of like a Benoit situation. I don't know. I don't know.

[Rainn Wilson]

Ben. What?

[Adam Friedland]

Who? Ben was Chris Benoit from wwe. Oh. Oh, okay. Yeah. Anyway, okay, thanks a lot. I won't keep you. I think that answers my question. Okay, thank you, chap. Okay, bye. So what can we do as an audience where we see a beloved individual teetering towards self harm? We can all go and see Code three, which is the new movie that he's in with Lil Rel. It's in theaters now. It's about an ambulance. It's hilarious, guys. Enjoy the show. This episode is sponsored by Roe. Roe Sparks are a 2 in 1 prescription treatment for guys who need a secret weapon. It's the new wave. They Hit the bloodstream faster because they dissolve right under the tongue. So no more waiting to perform. After rose sparks dissolve, they work in 15 minutes on average. After it dissolves, they give you the boost to last longer and can give you bigger, longer erections. Guys, isn't that incredible? And spark stays active in your system for up to 36 hours, so you can get back to back to back, round after round. Be ready the morning after. Best part, it's done 100% online, so there's no awkward conversations with in person providers. If approved treatments ships directly to your door. And if prescribed, new sexual health patients get $15 off your first order of Sparks. On a recurring plan, connect with a provider at Ro co Tafs to find out if prescription rose sparks are right for you. That's r o co tafs for $15 off your first order. Hey guys. Cooler temperatures are rolling in and as always, Quince is where I'm turning for fall staples that actually last from cashmere to denim to boots. The quality holds up and the price still blows me away. Quint has the kind of fall staples you'll be wearing non stop, like super soft, 100% Mongolian cashmere sweaters starting at just 60 bucks. Their real denim is durable and it fits right. And the real leather jackets bring that clean, classic edge without the elevated price tag. What makes Quince different? They partner directly with ethical factories and they skip the middleman. So you'll be getting top tier fabrics and craftsmanship at half the price of similar brands. Guys, a lot of people have been asking me what's different about me Recently, I, I've, I've lied to some of you. You know, I said I'm going back to the gym. That's not happening. I said that, you know, I got a bangs. We that. That didn't happen either. What happened is I've been wearing Quint and more specifically, I've been wearing their 100% Mongolian cashmere sweaters. Keep it classic and cool this fall with long lasting staples from quints. Go to quint.com tafs for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I N C E.com T-S free shipping, 365 day returns quids.com tafs Our next guest is a legendary Hollywood actor whose new film Code 3 comes out this month on the 12th. Please welcome Rainn Wilson, everyone. Big noise. Ooh, I like that with the drink. You're like a. You're like.

[Rainn Wilson]

They used to do that on the old talk shows. With the cocktails. They would come out, like, with cocktails.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, I think they were all hammered.

[Rainn Wilson]

They were.

[Adam Friedland]

I think. Yeah. What's his name? Ed Sullivan.

[Rainn Wilson]

I did. I only did Leno. Obviously, I was not old enough to do Carson, but they would have the drink cart, like, down the hall. Wheel in the drink cart, like, with the, you know, the shakers and the cognac.

[Adam Friedland]

And how is Jay?

[Rainn Wilson]

You know, he was nothing but nice and supportive to me. So I.

[Adam Friedland]

He gets too much crap.

[Rainn Wilson]

I think he gets too much crap. He was a really good, like, first of all, when he first started as a comic, like, especially in, like, the late 70s and the 80s, he was Ed. He was edgy or he was considered edgy.

[Adam Friedland]

Everyone from that era says there was one guy and by far he was the best, and it was Mr. Jay Leno.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

And for people my age, we're like, oh, the guy that's like Monica Lewinsky. Like, yeah, we're like that guy.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

They're like, the Republicans are crazy, the Democrats are crazy. Like, how. That guy was edgy. Yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

But, yeah, apparently he was. But he was always really nice to me, and I would go on and whore myself out to promote my.

[Adam Friedland]

He prostituted Mr. J. Leto.

[Rainn Wilson]

He was. Apparently, he was the guy in the 80s. So I let him.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, really?

[Rainn Wilson]

Have me.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Really. Out of respect.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. I did the same for Weird Al Yankovic.

[Rainn Wilson]

And he'll go there.

[Adam Friedland]

He will go there.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

He really does go there, actually. Apparently, he's the greatest guy of all time.

[Rainn Wilson]

Weird Al.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

Al is the nicest.

[Adam Friedland]

You know him? He's a friend of yours?

[Rainn Wilson]

Well, I also did his story about.

[Adam Friedland]

His parents dying and then him performing that night is the most. Did you know about that?

[Rainn Wilson]

I didn't know this story. Please tell.

[Adam Friedland]

His parents both died, and then.

[Rainn Wilson]

Do you want him on the show? Because I can get him on the show.

[Adam Friedland]

Yes, yes, yes. Okay. Here's another thing that gets too much crap. Funny songs, parody songs. Funny songs are like. People are like, say it's the lowest common denominator. It's the funny.

[Rainn Wilson]

Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, listen, that one. In this day and age, we can't. Come on. It's too dicey these days.

[Rainn Wilson]

You can't sing a Hanukkah song because of Gaza.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Yes, exactly. Out of respect for Hamas, I will not listen to it.

[Rainn Wilson]

No, but tell the dead parents joke.

[Adam Friedland]

It's not a joke.

[Rainn Wilson]

Or joke. A story. Sorry.

[Adam Friedland]

His parents. I think there was a gas leak and they both died. And he had a concert that night, and he went out and he was like, I'm fat. You know, he's like, I gotta do the show.

[Rainn Wilson]

Must go on.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. And he was like, you know, living in an Amish paradise.

[Rainn Wilson]

I think I lost respect for him.

[Adam Friedland]

He should have canceled the show.

[Rainn Wilson]

I'm sorry.

[Adam Friedland]

I think he probably should have canceled.

[Rainn Wilson]

He should have canceled the show.

[Adam Friedland]

We're talking shit on this guy about his lowest moment in his life.

[Rainn Wilson]

Al is the greatest. Greatest guy alive. I was in his movie Weird the Al Yankovic Story. Have you seen that movie?

[Adam Friedland]

No. Wait. No.

[Rainn Wilson]

It's very funny. They wrote a fake biopic of Al Yankovic, and it's got a great cast, a lot of comic actors.

[Adam Friedland]

That other movie is the three letters vh.

[Rainn Wilson]

Vh, uhf.

[Adam Friedland]

That movie is so funny.

[Rainn Wilson]

That's very funny. But this. This came out a couple years back. Weird. The Al Yankovic Story is very funny. It's kind of an alternate world, as if Al Yankovic was more popular than. And dated Madonna and was like, the most popular pop star on the planet.

[Adam Friedland]

He should have been, if you ask me.

[Rainn Wilson]

Right.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

How is this interview going so far?

[Adam Friedland]

It's not an interview yet. We're just. We're just feeling. We're like two dogs at the dog park sniffing each other's asses. Right.

[Rainn Wilson]

How is this show. Oh, the show itself going so far? How is the Adam Curly show, episode number 237 with Rainn Wilson or six minutes in? How's it going so far?

[Adam Friedland]

I feel like, again, like we're two dogs at the dog park smelling each other's bums.

[Rainn Wilson]

Okay.

[Adam Friedland]

And your shit, it smells like roses.

[Rainn Wilson]

All right.

[Adam Friedland]

It smells phenomenal.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yours smells like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, thank you so much. Is that good or bad? I mean, chocolate kills dogs.

[Rainn Wilson]

I mean, this is a good point.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay. I was looking at your filmography, and you're in a film directed by Mr. Rob Zombie.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Called. What was the name?

[Rainn Wilson]

House of a Thousand Corpses.

[Adam Friedland]

And correct me if I'm wrong. Did you wear costumes on the. On the set I wore costumes.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, yeah. And there was someone that was a costumer on set.

[Rainn Wilson]

I imagine that there was.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

And her name was Amanda.

[Rainn Wilson]

Could have been Friedland.

[Adam Friedland]

Perhaps.

[Rainn Wilson]

It could have been.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Perhaps my aunt.

[Rainn Wilson]

Your Aunt Amanda dressed me for that.

[Adam Friedland]

Show, and she said she laid out.

[Rainn Wilson]

My wardrobe in the trailer for me.

[Adam Friedland]

I don't know how you guys put the clothes on.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yep. It's usually laid out in a trailer. You got your Trailer, it says, like, Rainn Wilson. And you open it up and there's your wardrobe is laid out. And then a convenient person comes by and they're like, here's your pants. And we steam those. And if you can choose, you can either wear these tennis shoes and these for this scene. And there's a change of underwear in the closet. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Adam Friedland]

And then perhaps there's a vote on set of who in the production is most fuckable. And perhaps my aunt wins that vote.

[Rainn Wilson]

Wow.

[Adam Friedland]

This is what I was told on the phone yesterday by Auntie Amanda. And I just want to know, did you vote for my aunt or not?

[Rainn Wilson]

I would have voted for Rob Zombie's wife, Sherry Moon Zombie, because she is smoking.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay. You didn't vote for my.

[Rainn Wilson]

But I don't remember Amanda Friedland.

[Adam Friedland]

I would have liked. Okay. She said she saw you at Comic Con. You were very nice. You remembered her. But you would have remembered that she was voted most fuckable on set. Is that something that happens a lot in Hollywood? You know, where the fellers get together and they vote for who's the most fuckable?

[Rainn Wilson]

They do. Yes. Every production. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Who won on the Office? On the Office, Leslie. Jan Levinson.

[Rainn Wilson]

Jan Levinson. Gould. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

I want to ask you. See, the annoying thing is this. Every interview you get the question, are you tired of being Dwight or something? Right. Or like.

[Rainn Wilson]

Sure, some of being some ubiquitous.

[Adam Friedland]

Because it is an iconic, ubiquitous, like American comedy, like legendary character, right? And everyone asks you about getting, like, approached on the street, but they don't ask you about, like, how. What gave birth to Dwight.

[Rainn Wilson]

So right down the street at nyu, you know, I was always really good at. I was a theater actor and I was always really good at comedy theater, whether it was doing sketches or a farce or doing clowny kind of characters or Shakespeare clowns or something like that. But I did pretty wide ranging theater training. But one of the things we did is we took clowning class. And this is like, who's the guy who plays Borat again? What's that guy's name?

[Adam Friedland]

Sacha Baron.

[Rainn Wilson]

Sacha Baron Cohen.

[Adam Friedland]

He went to the guy in Paris.

[Rainn Wilson]

He went to go see Guy, right? Yeah, Lecoq. And that.

[Adam Friedland]

That's funny. That's funny.

[Rainn Wilson]

But this woman, Gates McFadden, was our clown teacher just for a couple of years, weeks or months. And she was actually played Dr. Crusher on Star Trek the Next Generation.

[Adam Friedland]

The beautiful redheaded woman, she teaches clowns.

[Rainn Wilson]

Is a clown teacher, a master Clown teacher.

[Adam Friedland]

That was a childhood. Like I didn't even have like, know what sex was, but I was like, I need her. Crusher was incredible.

[Rainn Wilson]

I think she's still available.

[Adam Friedland]

Is she? Mm. And she teaches clown.

[Rainn Wilson]

She doesn't regularly teach it, but she is capable of teaching a mean clown class. She could be your clown tutor, Your private clown tutor.

[Adam Friedland]

My clown teacher?

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Crusher.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

What did. What did Worf. Was he funny or. No, he was hysterical.

[Rainn Wilson]

He was my voice.

[Adam Friedland]

Michael Dorn. No, he wasn't. Yeah, Michael Dorn was.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah. And Patrick Stewart.

[Adam Friedland]

He taught. He taught. Non disclosure agreement. He taught.

[Rainn Wilson]

So. But. But anyways, in this clown class, you did a lot about creating a character kind of out of nothing and that when you put on the red nose, it amplifies whatever you're doing. And the big mistake with red nose clowning is you do something clowny. And there was this exercise we did called Circle of Fire, which is basically you put on the red nose, you go in front of people and you can only leave the stage once you've made everyone laugh.

[Adam Friedland]

Really?

[Rainn Wilson]

And sometimes people would be up there for 45 minutes.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Because you had enemies in the class. People that like really did good thinking.

[Rainn Wilson]

But because it's really hard to make people. Maybe not for you and maybe not even for me a little bit, but it's really hard to make people laugh with a red nose on your face.

[Adam Friedland]

What if you fart really loud, it's get out there.

[Rainn Wilson]

It's going to. It's not going to be that funny.

[Adam Friedland]

Really?

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah. Because no, what you think is going to be funny doesn't work with a red nose. Cuz it. So what. What's really funny is being totally vulnerable. And like, if you were to cry about like a dead relative, that would be hysterical.

[Adam Friedland]

Really?

[Rainn Wilson]

I'm not even kidding.

[Adam Friedland]

I cried on this show a couple weeks ago. I don't think it was.

[Rainn Wilson]

What did you cry about?

[Adam Friedland]

No, we don't have to get into it.

[Rainn Wilson]

All right, so I'm just saying. I'm just saying that the roots of creating a character like Dwight come from these ideas of clowns. Like you go back from. You know, there have always been clowns in human history. And you can go back to the Greek comedies and then the Roman comedies and then Commedia dell'. Arte. That was traveling clown troops in wooden wagons all across Europe. And then Moliere and Shakespeare took those tropes and those ideas, put them in all their places plays. And then those became like British vaudeville. That became American vaudeville. That became like, you know, Jack Benny and early television and the Honeymooners and sketch comedy and that became, you know, Monty Python. You can. You can trace clowning and some basics about building those characters back to the classics. Yeah, there were probably golden Hebrew clowns back in the Old Testament.

[Adam Friedland]

The slaves in Egypt, they were like, what? I can't be out in the sun this long.

[Rainn Wilson]

The slaves sound like Woody Allen.

[Adam Friedland]

It's ridiculous that they. My friend Mike Racine used to have a joke. He's like, imagine having a slave and it's a fucking Jew. He's like, those would be the worst slaves ever. Well, okay, so I.

[Rainn Wilson]

Do you want me to.

[Adam Friedland]

Is there a universal comedy language? Cause it's very interesting. You were saying that you have to go up on stage and make someone laugh. I've been thinking this. I've thought this for years. Like, what? Like, if you went to, like, a tribe in the Amazon, and, like, that's.

[Rainn Wilson]

Been, like, what would be funny?

[Adam Friedland]

What would be funny? And it's a very interesting thing to ponder, but I think there's only one thing I could. I would consider farting balls. Like, just getting hit.

[Rainn Wilson]

Hurting your hitting the balls?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, hitting the balls is fun.

[Rainn Wilson]

That is universal. I think there's some universals. I think someone, like, trying something and failing is. Is universally funny, I think. You know, I think if you went in the trouble, if that happened to the Amazon, they would be hysterical right now.

[Adam Friedland]

Crusher taught you that. Crusher taught you that.

[Rainn Wilson]

Go to two. Go to two.

[Adam Friedland]

That's a real pro. We got a pro.

[Rainn Wilson]

So those elements come into playing Dwight. Like, first of all, I saw Mackenzie Crook on the British Office, who was brilliant. And there was a thing that he did that no one had done as well as him before, which was to say the most absurd, ludicrous things with an absolutely straight face without any kind of hint at all that there was a joke there. And he was so brilliant at that. And Ricky, really, I think, taught him that. And Stephen Merchant, like, a lack of self awareness, basically.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

But without. You couldn't see the actor. Because it was a documentary. You couldn't see the actor kind of doing a weird line like, I drink my own urine and putting any kind of spin on it, just like, I drink my own urine just completely. And so I loved that. And then there were some other elements of, like, I knew that Dwight needed. I needed. I have a huge, weird head, and I needed a haircut to showcase just how gargantuan and melanic my head is. And so I sculpted that and the self seriousness. And I knew he was kind of, like. He was a nerd and kind of a bully at the same time. Like, you can never.

[Adam Friedland]

Lives matter. Yeah. He respects the.

[Rainn Wilson]

The police. Yeah, totally.

[Adam Friedland]

He wants to be a cop. Right.

[Rainn Wilson]

But, like, yeah, it was a Lackawanna county sheriff's deputy.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

So you put these elements together, and you kind of create a clown almost in the way that you would have a red nose. Is your audience gonna give a fuck about this?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Yeah, I think so.

[Rainn Wilson]

Okay.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay, wait.

[Rainn Wilson]

Well, my son is a huge Adam Friedland fan. What's happening?

[Adam Friedland]

Does he have emotional problems? Sorry.

[Rainn Wilson]

A little bit.

[Adam Friedland]

I want to get my. Sorry. My stupid thing.

[Rainn Wilson]

Should we call him?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, call him right now. This is very unprepared.

[Rainn Wilson]

I think he's in class.

[Adam Friedland]

He is. Tell him to get out of class. Send him a selfie. Okay. I'm just gonna take one of these stupid things. I'm sorry. The person you've dialed can't take your call now. Oh, my God. He blocked you.

[Rainn Wilson]

They go by Kenzie.

[Adam Friedland]

They. Okay. And they're a big fan. Where do they go to school?

[Rainn Wilson]

Bard college. Here, you can leave an audio note.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, yeah, no, they're doing ketamine right now. Hello? Kenzie, I'm with your dad right now. This Adam Friedland. Oh, you sent him the Richie Torres interview. It's so embarrassing.

[Rainn Wilson]

He sent it to me. He said, please don't read my text.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay, well, you're. You. Oh, should I pick up?

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Hey, what's up? It's Adam. I'm with. I'm with your dad right now. We're chilling. It's Adam Friedland. Oh, hi, Adam. What's up? How's Bard going? This is so surreal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How's Bard? You go to class? Oh, it's. It's nice. Are you wearing all black? No, but I do. You got to stay away from those NYC kids. They're. They're no good. Yeah, yeah. Well, I heard that you like the show. I just want to say hello real quick. What'd you say? I have a friend who's more of a fan of you than me. Who likes you more than me. Oh, well, I'm sorry, dude. I'm okay. So we'll tell your friend I say what up? All right, we got to get back to this interview. We're doing a bad job so far. Oh, am I on tape right now? Are you serious? No, no, no. You're not on the show at all. Okay, bye. All right, bye. Wait. Okay, so they Released the auditions for the Office. And the amazing thing is this. And I don't like not to freaking blow smoke up your hole or whatever they say, but like it's Seth Rogen, Judah Friedlander, Patton Oswald and you. And you're just white. The character is fully fleshed out just in an audition, like a self tape. And it's like, it's amazing to see that like, you know, these guys are like heralded comedic actors, right? And you just destroy, I mean you're just Dwight. So in that sense, when I watched that I was like, oh, he's crafted this. It's not a matter of like that the writers kind of have done it. This is a guy that's auditioning for a role and that's to me it made it like all the more impressive, you know.

[Rainn Wilson]

Well, I love all those actors. They're all great. I think you're, you come at a character from a different way when you've had theater training versus when you come from a stand up or improv or sketch background and nothing against them. Like Steve Carell comes from a sketch and improv background and he's one of the, I think and truly one of the greatest American actors all time, his dramatic work and his comedic work. So that's nothing against them. I just think when you, when you have theater training, you're, you're, you're trying to create a character, a three dimensional character that can be funny but taken seriously and could walk down the street and you, and you would believe it. There's not anything kind of like you want to, you know, theoretically make that character like fully living and breathing. And so I try and do that kind of work when I'm, you know, going in, especially on an audition. But this was one of those rare auditions where I'd seen the BBC office. Loved it.

[Adam Friedland]

It's the best. How good is it?

[Rainn Wilson]

It's so good. And I took so many things from Dear MacKenzie and just kind of put my own kind of American, kind of white trashy spin on it and Pennsylvania Dutch kind of. Yeah, well, that whole thing came out of an improv.

[Adam Friedland]

So you brought, did you bring that in that like you're a farmer and your cousin was like, oh, so that's another question I had, like how much was that the writers and how much was it you creating backstory?

[Rainn Wilson]

This is how Greg Daniels does that no one else does. And he's amazing in this way. Early on I did an improv. We would just kind of improvise all the time to just kind of Find the character and find the tone. And I did this improv. I don't even remember when it was. I think it was in the first week. And I was like. And I just improvised. And I went. I really had not planned it at all. I was like, my name is Dwight Schrute. My father's name, Dwight Schrute. His father's name, Dwight Schrude. Amish. And out of that, they were like, oh, we'll make him and his family Amish. And then I did something about. I brought in, like, family photos of, like, my farmer ancestors in Wisconsin and Minnesota. And Greg's ancestors, Jewish, were actual beet farmers in Poland. And so, like, we'll make it. We'll have this farm Amish backstory to Dwight. That's perfect.

[Adam Friedland]

It's in Pennsylvania. Anyway.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah, so it came out of that. It came out of all that. So, you know, that's amazing writing that you can kind of, like, just kind of go with what you pick up.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, it is just a legendary. I mean, it's like Costanza level. Just, like, comedic character. I mean, it's like. And it's just like. It's so impressive.

[Rainn Wilson]

Oh, no, no, no. It's better than Costanza.

[Adam Friedland]

I mean, I don't know. Costanza's pretty good. Costanza. Costanza's pretty. I mean, it's anti Semitic for you to say, even though it's not Jewish character. Wait, wait. You were quoted as saying that one of the best parts about the show was that there were no Jewish characters. Is that correct?

[Rainn Wilson]

That's correct.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, I guess. Who? I guess there were, actually. I just made that up. Oh, Jan. Jan Levinson.

[Rainn Wilson]

That's Jan Levinson. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Actually, Laura Harden.

[Rainn Wilson]

Non Jew.

[Adam Friedland]

That's probably a Jew.

[Rainn Wilson]

How could she possibly understand what it is to be Jew? I can't believe she hasn't been canceled.

[Adam Friedland]

That has to be the most accurate character, actually. Like, she's just playing a proper Jewish psycho. She's like, my friends moms were like that. They were all like Joseph Stalin. The Dinner party is my favorite.

[Rainn Wilson]

Of course it is.

[Adam Friedland]

Of course.

[Rainn Wilson]

That's your favorite episode. And it's. It is. Is that it's, like, just next level.

[Adam Friedland]

Going to a couple whose rate, like, relationship is falling apart.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

For dinner. And you bringing an old lady.

[Rainn Wilson]

My old babysitter.

[Adam Friedland]

Your babysitter.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

There's also implication that. That you're like, an incredible fuck throughout the entire show. That you're just like a. Yeah, you do.

[Rainn Wilson]

Which is another. Like, no. No one else would do that. Would create a show, a character like Dwight and like, let's not have him like fuck up in love. Let's let, let's have him bed like 20 or 30 women over the course.

[Adam Friedland]

Incredible. Like lover.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, on Peacock they have the extended episodes and I've seen a couple of them and it's really fun to watch those. I don't know, I'm sure that one is up, but I would love to see the extended episode of that one.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh my God.

[Rainn Wilson]

Because every episode, you know, this was back in the days of network TV. We had to get every episode down to one to 21 minutes and like 40 seconds. So lots of stuff got cut out. So much stuff got cut out.

[Adam Friedland]

It's also amazing. They used to do like 25 of them. Like a season. Like that's so much work.

[Rainn Wilson]

We would do between 21 and 25 episodes in a nine month span.

[Adam Friedland]

I mean it's just like a testament to like that operation had to be like a well oiled machine. Daniel's had to be like fucking like an admiral or something.

[Rainn Wilson]

It is, he is like a general. And not only that, but he's making decisions about what about this location and what about this hire and what about this payroll and he's meeting with the network and like Staples wants to sponsor these next episodes and how do we work that? And so you're dealing with everything but the writer's room was like 15 strong and just amazing, amazing talent.

[Adam Friedland]

Like 87 year old Jewish men that were like dying. No, I'm just kidding.

[Rainn Wilson]

Obviously not 38 year old Jewish men.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, I'm sure it's like Harvard kids. I'm sure it's like Lampoon. Like it was a lot of Harvard kids.

[Rainn Wilson]

I think my grandmother was Jewish. Jewish. I'm sorry, but we don't know. We don't know that.

[Adam Friedland]

You say that in Hollywood.

[Rainn Wilson]

Her name is Marie Nunberg and she's from northern Romania and the rumor is.

[Adam Friedland]

That she was Jewish, but she could have been.

[Rainn Wilson]

She died young and her family all died and blah blah blah. We don't know. But Marie Nunberg, it sounds pretty Jewish.

[Adam Friedland]

Where's the rest of your family from? Brazil. Right? No, I thought they just showed up and like around the, you know, late 40s.

[Rainn Wilson]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. They showed up in the 1948 in Brazil.

[Adam Friedland]

My name is Heinrich. Yeah, yeah, we are like, we've been Brazilian this whole time.

[Rainn Wilson]

We are Brazilians.

[Adam Friedland]

We love like threesomes and.

[Rainn Wilson]

Did you ever see that movie Boys from Brazil?

[Adam Friedland]

Of course.

[Rainn Wilson]

In the 70s, of course.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. So.

[Rainn Wilson]

Fuck.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Yeah. That was a Mengele, right, that. It was about, like, Joseph Mengele.

[Rainn Wilson]

It was about. They had cloned Hitler.

[Adam Friedland]

They cloned. And he cloned Hitler.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. That's just an insanely stupid premise for a movie that in the 1970s, you can make. You could, like, you can. Yeah, you could really make that in the, like, Death wish era of Hollywood, where it's like, what if a guy's really pissed off and he just kills.

[Rainn Wilson]

He just.

[Adam Friedland]

Thousand minorities on the. On the subway. Yeah. Well, okay. I kind of wanted to, like, let's. Let's. Let's parlay that. You were talking about your grandmother, but, like, I know that you talk a lot about faith and in your. Like, you have a podcast and, like, and, you know, like, in your career since then, you're very upfront about spirituality. And you're Baha'.

[Rainn Wilson]

I'm.

[Adam Friedland]

Baha'.

[Rainn Wilson]

I. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

And that's an Abrahamic religion. I know nothing of Baha'. I. But it's new, right?

[Rainn Wilson]

It is an Abrahamic religion. I would say it's the fourth major Abrahamic religion.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. How many boys you got globally?

[Rainn Wilson]

Six million. So small.

[Adam Friedland]

Small, yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

Six million. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

And you're like, the number one.

[Rainn Wilson]

I'm number. I'm like, number two or three.

[Adam Friedland]

I've done. We found. Dizzy Gillespie was Baha'.

[Rainn Wilson]

I. Yeah. Dizzy Gillespie was Baha'. I.

[Adam Friedland]

That's not bad. Yeah, yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

I went, what's your.

[Adam Friedland]

Hollywood. What's the Baha'? I? Like, what's the thing that you guys have. Have on lock? What's your. What's your.

[Rainn Wilson]

There's like, seven Baha' Is in Hollywood.

[Adam Friedland]

No, I mean, saying, like, our thing is, like, we control the media and the banks.

[Rainn Wilson]

Like, what.

[Adam Friedland]

What do you guys control?

[Rainn Wilson]

The highest control nonprofit international development service work.

[Adam Friedland]

That sounds evil. That sounds real evil. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

My. My. My bro, I'm staying with my homie. My Baha' I homies letting me stay in his apartment in Harlem. He's off working on the international food program for Rockefeller foundation, you know, feeding the. Feeding the kids. You know, feeding the kids.

[Adam Friedland]

And you guys have that sorghum unlucky. What's sorghum?

[Rainn Wilson]

I don't even know. It's a thing.

[Adam Friedland]

What. So what's, like, the. What's the book? What's your. Like. Like, what language is it? Because it's not like a. It's not attached to, like, an ethnic identity. Right.

[Rainn Wilson]

Like, it's. It's an international faith, but it started in Persia.

[Adam Friedland]

In Persia, right?

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah. So the, you know, the main languages, the main Baha' I writings were Persian, Farsi, and Arabic, both.

[Adam Friedland]

So when you go to shul or when you go to church or.

[Rainn Wilson]

No church, no synagogue, no temple, you don't go. No clergy?

[Adam Friedland]

No clergy, no. So what's. So, like, do you like. Do you have songs or something?

[Rainn Wilson]

There's some songs that people make up and stuff like that. There's a bunch of Baha' I books and tablets and prayers. We're here in New York City. So every year, all the Baha' Is of New York City gather and elect nine Baha'. Is. They feel like are the most wise and spiritual to ever get on there, democratically run the affairs of the Baha' I community in New York City. So that. And then there's. But none of them have any authority over any other. So it's completely democratically elected. Religious faith.

[Adam Friedland]

Are you thinking about running?

[Rainn Wilson]

No campaigning.

[Adam Friedland]

No campaigning.

[Rainn Wilson]

Campaigning is illegal in the Baha' I faith.

[Adam Friedland]

So they just have to think of someone.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yes. You literally go into prayer and contemplation and you write down silent ballot nine names of the people that you want to vote for.

[Adam Friedland]

So if you get on that, you have to do it. Can you decline?

[Rainn Wilson]

You can. You could decline. You can either just stop showing up or you can decline for, like, health reasons and some, you know, some other, like, hardship reasons.

[Adam Friedland]

So how does one practice the faith if there's no church? You can't go to the place and, like, you know, sing the song.

[Rainn Wilson]

We meet and gather at community centers or people's homes or something like that. So Baha' Is read from the holy writings in the morning and the evening. We say one prayer in the middle of the day. And there's a fasting period kind of similar to Ramadan.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay.

[Rainn Wilson]

And so Baha' Is do a fast. These are some of the things the Baha'. Is. These are what the Baha' Is do in your neighborhood.

[Adam Friedland]

And your parents were Baha'? I.

[Rainn Wilson]

My parents were Baha' I.

[Adam Friedland]

Raised Baha', I, Yeah. Is it kind of in America? Is it like kind of hippie or.

[Rainn Wilson]

It was kind of a hippie. It's this weird amalgam where my parents are Baha', is, kind of bohemian Baha' is from the. A lot of people became Baha' is in the 60s and 70s when people were exploring kind of different spiritual paths. Like, Cat Stevens became a Muslim, and.

[Adam Friedland]

You know, Yusuf Islam, I call him.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah. And Steve Jobs was in a. Like a Buddhist monastery. And then there was this influx of all these Persian refugees from the revolution in 79 and 80. So you had all these like hippie Baha' is singing peace and love songs and then this influx of Persian black.

[Adam Friedland]

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[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah, I left the Baha' I faith for a long time. I didn't want anything to do like a lot of young people with religion or faith or God or morality or anything like that. And you went punk? I went, I want punk. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Were you punk? NYU?

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah, I.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, 86 NYU. Where are you listening?

[Rainn Wilson]

I got a buzz cut and dyed my hair black.

[Adam Friedland]

Buzz cut and black?

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Really?

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah. I look kind of like Henry Rollins a little bit.

[Adam Friedland]

Really?

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

What. What were your bands when you were punk?

[Rainn Wilson]

You know, I wasn't really that hardcore because I was like Clash, you know, stuff like that.

[Adam Friedland]

What's wrong with that?

[Rainn Wilson]

Well, yeah, but I wasn't like, best band. I wasn't like. I wasn't like, going all like Black Flag and, you know.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Too scary.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

I don't hurt.

[Rainn Wilson]

Smelly a little bit smelly.

[Adam Friedland]

I like the. Yeah, my first. My Grandma gave me 20 bucks. I got a three CD set, self title, London Calling, and Combat Rock.

[Rainn Wilson]

Oh, amazing.

[Adam Friedland]

When I was, like, 13 and I.

[Rainn Wilson]

Was like, it's life changing.

[Adam Friedland]

That's what I thought. I was punk, too.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

And then my mom was like, fucking. You're an idiot. You're a Jewish.

[Rainn Wilson]

There's a lot of great Jewish punks.

[Adam Friedland]

Who? Henry Rollins, Not Jewish. I can't think of one.

[Rainn Wilson]

Jello Bialfro.

[Adam Friedland]

Ugh. What is he on about? You know, he has got the same voice as the B52S guy. No one says that. Right. He's annoying. That's true. The government doesn't. I trust that. President Reagan. Yeah, it's. Whatever, dude. Anyway, I. Wait, so. So I've been to the Baha' I temple in Haifa in Israel. It's a new religion, you guys. You think about maybe getting the hell out of there. You don't need to be in the. We were there.

[Rainn Wilson]

We were there before. Not. Certainly not before the Palestinians or the Jews. But Baha' Is were, you know, the Baha' I Holy land was coming to existence, you know, late 19th century, early 20th century. So Baha' Is are so, like, neutral about the whole thing.

[Adam Friedland]

You guys are. Wait, wait and see. That's your. That's your vibe.

[Rainn Wilson]

Baha' Is are just trying to survive and keep our holy lands intact.

[Adam Friedland]

It's a really good kind of like.

[Rainn Wilson]

Please make peace and stop fighting, and it's beautiful and. Yeah, but it was, you know, it was pretty intense because the war was raging as the Baha' I temples were being built and the administrative center was being built. And then there was the, you know, the 1948 and stuff. And we weren't sure, like, where. Where's the Jewish state and the Palestinian state? And how is that going to subdivide the Baha'?

[Adam Friedland]

I? You guys were just gardening.

[Rainn Wilson]

We're just like, yeah, just pruning shrubs.

[Adam Friedland]

It's really beautiful that the Baha' I gardens. I mean, the buildings. I was like, looking online. The one in India is really stunning. The Lotus Temple.

[Rainn Wilson]

The Lotus Temple, yes.

[Adam Friedland]

You guys have nice places.

[Rainn Wilson]

Baha' is are very good at building houses of worship.

[Adam Friedland]

They really are the community. You pay a tithing. How do they afford that?

[Rainn Wilson]

You donate whatever you want to donate. But there is another thing called. Now I'm forgetting the name of it. I'm blanking on the name, but where we pay 9% of all profit over. It's kind of like a tithe over and above all essential costs. So once you pay your rent, your insurance, and blah, blah, blah, kids, tuition and, you know, cost of living, electricity, cell phone, anything extra, you pay 9%.

[Adam Friedland]

So you have to, like, ask your accountant to figure that out.

[Rainn Wilson]

I do. That's what I literally do. Craig Tesler, Jew.

[Adam Friedland]

Of course, you shouldn't let him near your money. But anyway, no, but, like. So wait. So I'm just interested because I was reading about it and I was like, I'd rather just ask you about it, but there was a guy named Bob, right?

[Rainn Wilson]

The Bob the Bab, which means the gate in Arabic. B, A, B.

[Adam Friedland]

And then there was an offshoot that became the Baha', I, Right, from the Babists.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yes and no. It was a movement kind of like John the Baptist had a religious spiritual movement that then became Christianity. And Christianity came out of John the Baptist's movement saying, like, there is a Messiah that's coming. There's someone greater than me. It's going to be. It's going to rock your world. It's going to be amazing. And then Jesus gets baptized and sees the dove and the spirit of God and et cetera is kind of similar to that. So there was this religious movement called Babism, followers of the Bab who claimed to be a new prophet in this Abrahamic tradition. And he kept saying, there's a Messiah even greater than me that's coming imminently. And then Bahaullah is the founder of the Baha' I faith. His name means the glory of God. And Baha'. Is. Bahaullah.

[Adam Friedland]

Wow. You guys have beef with Gary Dellibate. He's kind of making with Baba Bui. And then there was a third prophet named Baba Bui. Yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

Do you believe in God, I, I.

[Adam Friedland]

It would be nice, but I don't.

[Rainn Wilson]

Are you a Judas?

[Adam Friedland]

No, I didn't have anything to do with that, no.

[Rainn Wilson]

Like Buddhist, but so many Jews. Because the Old Testament is so, like. We didn't do anything. I didn't have anything to do with that.

[Adam Friedland]

It was the Romans. We just, we may have suggested.

[Rainn Wilson]

It was.

[Adam Friedland]

May have suggested maybe you wanted maybe if you could maybe would maybe crucify him.

[Rainn Wilson]

I just read this whole thing. I read a whole book, who's the Roman? About how they did that spin, trying to get it away from the Romans. And the reason they did that, the early Christians and they spun it towards.

[Adam Friedland]

The Jews because the empire.

[Rainn Wilson]

Because they feared the persecution from the Roman Empire, especially in those first 300 years.

[Adam Friedland]

And then the whole empire converted.

[Rainn Wilson]

And then the whole empire converted. But before that, if they had in their writings, hey, our Messiah was put to death by the Romans, then the Romans would come in and be like, what the fuck?

[Adam Friedland]

Wait, so do you abide by like kind of like the New Testament, the Old Testament, kind of the Quran, just.

[Rainn Wilson]

The Baha' is accept from all the. We absolutely do. And Baha' is accept all of the world's holy books, including Buddhism and Hindu. And we read the Bhagavad Gita and the writings of the Buddha. Has all of our book, so you.

[Adam Friedland]

Have to know every single one.

[Rainn Wilson]

We have it memorized. And you ask me any line, any.

[Adam Friedland]

Page, what's the best book? What's the best one? Our one sucks. The Jewish one is like, there's some good chapters. There's no, it's. God is just so.

[Rainn Wilson]

It's kind of like Dune.

[Adam Friedland]

God is so insecure.

[Rainn Wilson]

There's some good chapters. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

God is like, oh, you don't respect me, I'm gonna smite you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. God's like, he's mean.

[Rainn Wilson]

God changes, though, over the course of the Hebrew Bible. You know, there's an evolution. As you read it, you can kind of see his.

[Adam Friedland]

Have you read the Haktua?

[Rainn Wilson]

I haven't read the Haktua girl. Did she sell her memoir?

[Adam Friedland]

No, it's an ancient text. The Haktua.

[Rainn Wilson]

The Haktua girl?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. It's an ancient. No, it's not. Oh, I didn't know. Girl, you've never read the Haktua. It sounds like a Jewish prayer, doesn't it?

[Rainn Wilson]

Lunacy.

[Adam Friedland]

What do you mean lunacy? People having a good time.

[Rainn Wilson]

People watch the show.

[Adam Friedland]

What are you hating on the show?

[Rainn Wilson]

A little bit.

[Adam Friedland]

Why?

[Rainn Wilson]

I can't finish a sentence.

[Adam Friedland]

Have you Read the Huktua. I just. Are they so. They. So Baha' I like everyone? They're nice to everyone?

[Rainn Wilson]

They're nice to everyone?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Are they. They're nice to women? Women could be, yeah. They're nice to gay people or they're nice to. They don't like gay people.

[Rainn Wilson]

Well, they like gay people.

[Adam Friedland]

Why do they like gay people?

[Rainn Wilson]

Well, this is. This is a. This is a. This is a matter of a great deal of.

[Adam Friedland]

So you guys are like Rastafarians. You're like spiritual, but you still don't like gay people.

[Rainn Wilson]

There's that Abrahamic thing about marriage and men and women and stuff that is still in the Baha' I faith. And I really struggle with it. Personally, I don't know how to do that. I really struggle with it. But If I like 90% of the faith, then that's enough for me.

[Adam Friedland]

But what other parts do you not like?

[Rainn Wilson]

That's the main one. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Religion is kind of a pick and.

[Rainn Wilson]

Choose, but it's a little different in the by faith. It's not like there's no hell, there's no damnation. Sin doesn't work the same way. It's kind of like, here's the moral laws, but they're there for your guidance, so it's much less. There's none of this kind of like gays going to hell, gay evil stuff like that. It's accept and love everyone.

[Adam Friedland]

They're just being bad. They're being bad boys. Are you. You're a blazer or. No?

[Rainn Wilson]

I used to be.

[Adam Friedland]

You used to be. You're. You're a sober gentleman.

[Rainn Wilson]

Sober, yeah, I'm a sober gentleman.

[Adam Friedland]

What was. What was your vice back in the day?

[Rainn Wilson]

Mostly alcohol.

[Adam Friedland]

Booze? Yeah. Yeah. During your New York days.

[Rainn Wilson]

But yeah. And I had some. Some. Some drug phases. I dated a coke dealer for a while that was not a girl.

[Adam Friedland]

Coke dealer? Yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

Down on Wall Street? Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, to like Wall street guys.

[Rainn Wilson]

She had. Yeah, she had a leather satchel and she would open up. She had everything in there. Wow.

[Adam Friedland]

She's cool.

[Rainn Wilson]

Like zipp.

[Adam Friedland]

What's she up to now? She works in the Jewish community.

[Rainn Wilson]

She's running JP Morgan.

[Adam Friedland]

She is?

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Really? Wow. That's a really cool kind of girlfriend. She definitely fucked your life up. You were. That was definitely like a.

[Rainn Wilson]

It didn't help. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, no, just in like a. Like a high fidelity sense, like remembering all the girls of the past.

[Rainn Wilson]

Right.

[Adam Friedland]

You were like, along for the ride.

[Rainn Wilson]

This was for a nerdy Baha' I boy from suburban Seattle. That was a sharp left turn.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, my God. Like 21. New York City.

[Rainn Wilson]

Exactly.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, my God.

[Rainn Wilson]

23 and a half, 24. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Let's talk about the film. Okay. Stop it. No, no, it's not that good. It's really. Some of them are.

[Rainn Wilson]

Rain's team wanted me to pass along the message. He's totally fine to talk about the Office, but he doesn't want it to be a main focus of the interview and appreciate we're talking about keeping the topic to more of a minimum.

[Adam Friedland]

We're talking about the Bag of David.

[Rainn Wilson]

That's pretty true. Yeah, I think that's pretty true. I don't know that I ever said that to them, but they. They glean that.

[Adam Friedland]

But I'm happy to call it. We gotta call you fast. Well, no, I want to talk about your new film, Code 3. You want to tell us a little bit about who you play, what it's about, and then we can kind of get into, you know, how you talked.

[Rainn Wilson]

About the Midwestern person saying thank you and not really meaning it.

[Adam Friedland]

I'm so interested in hearing about your new movie. Tell us about your movie. Is it a little bit of Bringing out the Dead? A little bit.

[Rainn Wilson]

No, it's not as artsy and dark as that. It's more funny.

[Adam Friedland]

It's more funny.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

You did a ride along with real paramedics. And how long did you do that for?

[Rainn Wilson]

Like six or eight hours in South Central. No bag.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, that's, like, kind of. There's a real intimacy in doing that job because you enter people's homes, you see people's lives, and you see these.

[Rainn Wilson]

And you're riding with them in the back of an ambulance to a hospital.

[Adam Friedland]

For half an hour. In moments of crisis, right? You see, like, a son become the man of the house. You see people in their worst moments.

[Rainn Wilson]

They piss their pants or they've got vomit on them. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

And then you also see the different ways that people live. Right. And you see, like. You see, like. And I did. I was in Israel for a year doing it, and I really saw the difference in, like, the way Arabs and Jews lived and the way that Orthodox and secular lived. And it was intense. I mean, there were a couple funny parts of it, but, like, there was a hypochondriac, like, a Russian lady, and me and my friend, she would call, like, every three days, and she was just a liar. Another time we had to go to a funeral because they were afraid that it was, like, this big tragedy that, like, a police officer was killed in the Line of duty. And they were afraid of, like, people passing out because of the local tragedy. And we didn't speak, like, our Hebrew was pretty bad. And there was this woman, she was.

[Rainn Wilson]

Just there just in case.

[Adam Friedland]

Just in case. And there was this woman, like, who had, like, smelling salts. And she's like, she was walking around like they were crying women, like. And she'd make them smell it and slap them across the face. And they had me and my friend Matt behind the rabbi giving the eulogy. And we were just watching this lady just slapping other women in the face.

[Rainn Wilson]

That's insane.

[Adam Friedland]

And we were trying as hard as we could not to laugh. Oh, my God, it was the hardest I've ever, like, I was like, about to pee my pants out of female.

[Rainn Wilson]

But you know what? They should have every 19 year old be a paramedic for a while.

[Adam Friedland]

No, it's not. Well, it's.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah, they should.

[Adam Friedland]

You really see.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

I mean, like, you really see people in moments of extreme crisis.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah. And mostly at their worst and occasionally at their best, I imagine.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. And you see.

[Rainn Wilson]

You see humanity rising through. Through the ashes.

[Adam Friedland]

Exactly. You see how families are immediately reshuffled and reorganized and like, wow, it's. It's. A doctor sees the end result. This is like a very. There's. Yeah, there's a real personal, intimate aspect to it. And. Yeah, I think I was maybe a little too young. I think it was like, a little bit, like, intense.

[Rainn Wilson]

And I think, like, well, this is what Code three deals with, is kind of the mental health ramifications of these frontline workers and EMS workers who are paid essentially minimum wage, maybe a little bit more that we entrust to save our lives. You know, in the movie, we tried to make it a comedy. It is a comedy. It's very funny. It's a very good movie. I hope you'll see it. And I really do mean that. Audiences are loving it. And the EMS frontline worker community are loving this movie. Movie.

[Adam Friedland]

They feel like they're like, this is like their story. And. But it so.

[Rainn Wilson]

But it's so rare. It's so rare to do a movie that's, like, funny, entertaining. If you want to just go watch an action comedy and eat popcorn, that's great. But it also is, like, about something, and it really is about looking at the underbelly of the American health care system and how these poor people, we're paying essentially minimum wage and we entrusting them to save our lives.

[Adam Friedland]

And also it costs like, $8,000.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah. And then you get your Bill from the hospital or like something more 10 or 20 grand. And it's just all, it's all, it's all fucked up. But I did ride alongs with the fire department in South Central la, and that was fascinating because down there there's no health care. I mean, they've shut down all the hospitals because all the hospitals are owned by conglomerates and they're like, this South Central Hospital's not making us any money. They shut it all down. There's no walk in clinics, there's no like, you know, it's like a food desert.

[Adam Friedland]

For hospitals. Yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

For healthcare. And there's barely any doctors. And so they call 911 for everything. The people down there, because they kind of have to. And the firemen are the heroes down there. The cops are kind of, obviously there's some issues there, but the firemen are the heroes. The firemen are getting them, getting their locked keys out of the car, you know, breaking down bathroom doors, getting a guy some diabetes medicine, taking someone to the hospital because they can't get an Uber. Like, and these guys, these are the most like white bred dudes you could imagine. All these firemen down there, but they're cheered wherever they go. In South Central you don't hear that story. It was really interesting. But one of the darkest call we went on that night was, and this happens occasionally, this woman had fallen out of bed and needed the firemen to bring straps and get her back up on the bed because she weighed about 500 pounds. So they needed like four hardy men to kind of get her back up on the bed. The family couldn't do it. That was really intense, but that's the kind of work that they were doing. But you're right, you're going into people's homes every day too. You're doing it 12 hour shifts, you know, three or four days a week.

[Adam Friedland]

There were laughs though. You're saying that it was a comedy, but I remember they just like, we like play Black Eyed Peas or like lmfao, like pumping on the way to like. Yeah, because there's just like a sense of humor because these people are like about to deal with some fucked up shit. So then they play some like, you know, goofy like.

[Rainn Wilson]

No industry has a more gallows sense of humor than that.

[Adam Friedland]

These people are seeing just fentanyl overdose. Gunshot. Yeah, yeah, I, yeah. Telling that story I think is very worthwhile and I haven't really seen that story told very much. And like, from my experience, it's like that seems like an incredibly worthwhile and noble thing to depict.

[Rainn Wilson]

And with that, my job here is done.

[Adam Friedland]

Bye.

[Rainn Wilson]

Bye.

[Adam Friedland]

Is that what I sound like?

[Rainn Wilson]

No, that's your imitation of, like, a Jew, circa 1000 B.C. moses. Why'd he go up to the mountain for then?

[Adam Friedland]

I went to bed with her. She was a fabulous woman, and I went to bed with her, and she was my analyst.

[Rainn Wilson]

How do you. How do you deal with the Woody Allen of it all? Do you still watch Woody Allen movies? Yeah, the best.

[Adam Friedland]

One of the best ever.

[Rainn Wilson]

Even the bad ones. You watch them all?

[Adam Friedland]

I watch every single one.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

What's your favorite?

[Rainn Wilson]

Oh, Annie hall is my favorite.

[Adam Friedland]

There's so many watch this weekend.

[Rainn Wilson]

You did this weekend? Yeah, yeah. Now, what do you. What about the cancellation and the thing and the. The whole thing?

[Adam Friedland]

I don't know. I mean, like, it's a movie.

[Rainn Wilson]

Ronan Farrow and I. I don't know.

[Adam Friedland]

I mean, it's a movie.

[Rainn Wilson]

I'm asking you if. Generationally. Because I don't know, like, I know where I stand on it, which. I'm. The same way. I'm like, it sounds. Listen, if we're gonna separate the art from the artists, like, we're not gonna listen to Beethoven because he. His seventh daughter. We're not gonna listen to, I don't know, Chopin because he was a racist. And we're not gonna.

[Adam Friedland]

Caravaggio is a murderer.

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah. How are you. How do you differentiate that? It's a really tricky moral argument. It's really tough.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, it also just seems like it's like, this horrific thing that. I don't know. Like, I don't know.

[Rainn Wilson]

And it's also very he said, she said. And it's not. Doesn't seem like there's, like, damning evidence.

[Adam Friedland]

Am I the one to adjudicate it? I mean, I think that we have this notion of, like.

[Rainn Wilson]

Well, Roman Polanski was adjudicated. Would you watch Chinatown?

[Adam Friedland]

I watched Bitter Moon the other day, so. Good. Have you seen it?

[Rainn Wilson]

No.

[Adam Friedland]

What's it called? So Horny.

[Rainn Wilson]

Bitter Moon.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. The one where they're on a cruise ship. Yeah. No, there's a milk scene. It's one of the sexiest scenes I've ever seen.

[Rainn Wilson]

Sign me up. Bitter Moon.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. You gotta watch it. How do you adjudicate it, then?

[Rainn Wilson]

I watch the art because I just feel like we're gonna get in a bunch of trouble if we're gonna try and, like, cancel the art made by people who are racist, sexist, you know, abusive, whatever. I'm not sure how to play that one out. And maybe we'd love to hear from you in the comments section if you have ideas about.

[Adam Friedland]

What's your favorite Wagner?

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah, exactly. De Guvenden.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, I like the Ton. The Tanner Hauser Tannhauser. The. Yeah, the. What do you call it? The Epic. The epic one, yeah. What's it called?

[Rainn Wilson]

The Flight of the Valkyries.

[Adam Friedland]

Not. No, that. That's. That's played out, dude. Yeah, that's hack. Yeah.

[Rainn Wilson]

So 1979.

[Adam Friedland]

Over it, dude. Now the Tannhauser. Whatever. The. There's one part of it that's stunning, but, like. Yeah, he hated.

[Rainn Wilson]

I like. I don't know, but I love. I love the Looney Tunes where they do the Wagner opera. Oh, boom. Hilda, you are so wovely. Yes, I know it. I can't help it.

[Adam Friedland]

I mean, Hitler had a lot of great paintings. I mean, let's just be. Let's be honest. Do you play music?

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

What do you play? Seattle grunge.

[Rainn Wilson]

I play the skin flute and I play the.

[Adam Friedland]

No, you don't. Yeah. Do you guys catch that?

[Rainn Wilson]

I also play a little guitar and drums.

[Adam Friedland]

Really?

[Rainn Wilson]

Yeah. And I played the bassoon in college. In a high school.

[Adam Friedland]

What is a bassoon?

[Rainn Wilson]

Fuck you.

[Adam Friedland]

In my mind, I think Kazoo.

[Rainn Wilson]

Fuck you. What is a bassoon? You know what a bassoon is? It's not a kazoo.

[Adam Friedland]

A bassoon sounds like you.

[Rainn Wilson]

Shit.

[Adam Friedland]

It sounds like an antiquated racial slur. Like in the 1800s, a bunch of bassoons.

[Rainn Wilson]

Bassoons. I don't want my daughter with no bassoon.

[Adam Friedland]

What is a bassoon?

[Rainn Wilson]

You know what a bassoon is?

[Adam Friedland]

You don't claim ignorance, Kazoo.

[Rainn Wilson]

You don't really believe that.

[Adam Friedland]

I only know rock, bro. Rain Wilson, everyone. Hollywood. Hollywood legend Sam.