Rainn Wilson Shares The Office Bits He Wishes He Could Do If The Show Was Still On The Air

Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute talking while at his desk in The Office, Season 7, Episode 10
(Image credit: NBC)

The Office’s main cast may have hung up their desk jobs at Dunder Mifflin more than a decade ago, but many of them just reunited for a new gig! Rainn Wilson is the lead of an AT&T Business ad campaign that has him back with Jenna Fischer, Craig Robinson, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery and Creed Bratton. While talking to CinemaBlend about the new ad, Wilson reflected on Dwight Schrute with some hilarious bit ideas.

Even though last May marked a decade since the end of The Office, it remains just as popular as ever, with fans often coming back to old episodes. But what if Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrute was still on the air today? I asked the actor if he’s thought about the opportunities he’s perhaps missed in the time since the TV show’s finale. Here’s what he said:

I have [thought about it], 'cause I thought a lot during COVID about how much fun it would be to write Dwight episodes during COVID. I mean, you could get into the conspiracy stuff. He could single-handedly want to take down the virus. He could be trying to invent his own vaccine. He could be showing up at people's houses in a hazmat suit, making sure they're getting on the Zoom meetings that they're dressed in office attire. The list goes on and on. He could have wanted Dunder Mifflin staff to create a pod where everyone's together. He would want us all to move in together in a pod. He would want a Dunder Mifflin pod. There could have been a lot of really fun ideas.

Rainn Wilson had a lot of golden ideas for Dwight Schrute if The Office was bringing us new episodes during 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic had us adjusting to a lot of changes. From Zoom meetings to “pods,” Wilson recalled imagining scenarios that would be fun to explore as his iconic The Office character. As he continued:

[With] battling A.I., [I could see] Jim doing pranks by making Dwight's computer talk to him and creating a Dunder Mifflin A.I.. There's lots of good possibilities in the modern world.

There were so many hilarious and disastrous pranks across the run of The Office, but as Rainn Wilson shared, there could certainly be more good ones in the 2020s. While it’s unlikely The Office’s original cast will ever officially bring back the series, Wilson and other familiar faces from the NBC series have teamed up to promote AT&T Business. In the commercial campaign, Wilson heads a startup for his “Sleep With Rain” pillow which gives snoozers the ability to hear the actor’s voice in their ear when they head off to dreamland. Check out the funny ad:

More From Our Exclusive Interview

Craig Robinson as Daryl and Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute in The Office

(Image credit: NBC)

Craig Robinson Pitched Us His Own Spinoff Idea For The Office And Rainn Wilson Added Hilarious Way Dwight Schrute Could Be Part Of It

Fans can also get excited for an upcoming The Office spinoff from the original creator. Earlier this month, it was announced that Greg Daniels is behind a new take on the show that will be about the staff of a struggling Midwest newspaper. Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore have already been cast. During our interview with Rainn Wilson, the actor also shared his thoughts on The Office spinoff.

While we wait for the series, you can check out Rainn Wilson in the original The Office series with a Peacock subscription.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.