He’s still not over it.
Rainn Wilson, star of The Office, acknowledges that the NBC comedy sometimes went too far — and says it would need to be a “very, very different” show if it returned in 2025.
“Listen, you know, the Benihana Christmas episode, where Michael and Andy draw on one of the Asian women with a Sharpie during the Christmas party, is jaw-droppingly… kind of horrific,” he said during an appearance on The Last Laugh podcast, released Wednesday.
Rainn Wilson in a 2008 episode of The Office.
Rainn Wilson on The Last Laugh podcast.
Wilson, who starred as the office oddball Dwight Schrute on the comedy that ran from 2005 to 2013, offered a blunt assessment of the show’s humor.
“They’re clueless, and in their cluelessness, they’re racist and insensitive, always saying the wrong thing. That’s Michael, Dwight, and Andy — and Kevin, for that matter,” he explained. “So it’s a show about clueless, insensitive, racist, sexist people that, in many ways, mirrors the United States.”
He acknowledged that it’s a complicated topic.
“[It’s] a tricky conversation,” he said.
While Wilson admitted that the show’s humor is something you want to “encourage” because “it’s funny as hell and also skewers a particular American sensibility,” he noted that some jokes “go pretty far if you dig deep.”
“Could it happen today?” he asked. “I think it would have to be very, very different if it were made in this environment.”
