'The Office' Star Rainn Wilson Says He 'Spent Several Years Really Mostly Unhappy' on Beloved Series

The actor, who played Dwight Schrute from 2005 to 2013, admitted he often wondered: "Why am I not a movie star? Why am I not the next Jack Black or the next Will Ferrell?"

Rainn Wilson may have made TV viewers laugh for nine seasons as the delightfully eccentric Dwight Schrute on The Office — but off camera he still felt unfulfilled.

"When I was in The Office, I spent several years really mostly unhappy because it wasn't enough," the actor, 57, said in Sunday's episode of Bill Maher's Club Random podcast. “I’m realizing I’m on a hit show, Emmy nominated every year, making lots of money, working with Steve Carell and Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski and these amazing writers and incredible directors like Paul Feig. I’m on one of the great TV shows. People love it."

He continued, "I wasn’t enjoying it. I was thinking about, ‘Why am I not a movie star? Why am I not the next Jack Black or the next Will Ferrell? How come I can’t have a movie career? Why don’t I have this development deal?'”

Related: Rainn Wilson Channels The Office's Dwight Schrute in Surprise Home Makeover for Son's Nanny

The actor also wasn't thrilled with the salary he was earning, especially as he watched Carell's movie career take flight with The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine and Date Night.

"When I was on The Office … I was making hundreds of thousands," explained the author of Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution. "I wanted millions. I was a TV star, but I wanted to be a movie star. It was never enough. Humans have lived for hundreds of thousands of years, and 'never enough' has helped us as a species.”

Related: 'The Office' Stars Celebrate 10 Years Since Series Finale: 'A Lot of Beauty in Ordinary Things'

All that said, the actor recognizes how much the acclaimed comedy series — which aired 201 episodes between 2005 and 2013 — has meant to viewers. In October 2020, he and Carell appeared together on the finale of Wilson's Hey There, Human Instagram Live series and chatted about how the show enjoyed a surprise resurgence of popularity during the pandemic lockdowns.

"One thing that's been really gratifying for me is during this really dark time, I've heard from so many people that they've really appreciated having The Office there — that it has a warmth and humanity to it, kind of a family feel that makes it a special thing and that's helped them during this time, and even helped their mental health," Wilson said at the time.

Carell, 60, acknowledged that audiences "who watch the show definitely know the show better" than they do now. "Maybe we watched it when we'd all get together and watch episodes. That was most of my watching the show, so I don't know all the details. It's great that it caught on like it did, because we all felt that it was special when we were doing it."

Related: Rainn Wilson Shares Hilarious Video of Unsuspecting Seatmate Watching 'The Office' Next to Him on a Flight

Overall, Wilson — who has gone on to appear in films such as Weird: The Al Yankovic Story and Jerry & Marge Go Large — still gets a kick out of the fame the show has brought him. While on a flight in April, the Mom star captured a funny moment when his seatmate appeared to be watching The Office, completely unaware that the many who played Dwight was sitting near him.

In the clip shared on his Instagram Story, Wilson — looking unrecognizable wearing a face mask, hat and headphones on the Delta flight — shook his head before panning over to his fellow passenger watching an episode of the hit series as they enjoyed an in-flight meal.

"When the person sitting next to you has no idea who you are…" he quipped in the video's caption.

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