The Song That Changed My Life: Rainn Wilson

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2022

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Song That Changed My Life is a segment that gives us the chance to talk with some of our favorite creators in show business about the music that made them who they are today. This time around, we're joined by Rainn Wilson. That's right: Dwight from The Office and more! Rainn explains how Mystery Dance by Elvis Costello literally changed his life when he moved from Seattle to Chicago in his teen years. He had just switched schools, and describes the school assignment that helped him visualize a career in acting with the help of that Elvis Costello song. You can see Rainn star alongside Daniel Radcliffe in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story for free on the Roku Channel.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:20.8	It's Bullseye, I'm Jesse Thorn. Time now for a segment we call The Song that Changed
0:25.3	My Life. It's a chance for us to hear from some of our favorite people in show business
0:29.4	about the song that made them who they are. On deck today is Rain Wilson. Rain Wilson
0:34.9	is an actor. He probably know him best for his part on the office where he played Dwight,
0:41.0	maybe the closest thing that show had to a villain. Certainly the weirdest character on
0:46.2	that show. Every year my grandfather would dress up as
0:50.2	belch-nickled Christmas. He was okay at it. I am great. You know they say some people
0:58.7	were born to be bad while I was born to be belch-nickled. Rain has starred in a bunch of
1:24.2	other stuff he has done TV comedies like Alison Janney's mom, Indy dramas like Blackbird
1:29.9	and now one of the biggest biopics of the year. Weird, the Al Yankovic story tells the
1:36.4	tale of the most beloved parody artist of all time. Weird Al. Only since it's a Weird
1:42.2	Al movie it is a parody of the biographical drama genre. Al, who's played by Daniel
1:48.4	Radcliffe, enters into a toxic relationship with Madonna, develops a nearly life-ending
1:54.7	addiction to drugs and alcohol and barely survives a violent encounter with Pablo Escobar
2:01.1	among other things. One more or less true story from the movie though. Al's relationship
2:07.4	with beloved Weirdo radio DJ Dr. Demento, the first person to put Weird out on the air.
2:13.5	And who portrays Dr. Demento? Our guest, Rain Wilson of course.
2:19.0	Did you see the show? I did. Let me tell you something kid. Every once in a great while
2:24.9	I can spot a talent that I know is headed straight to the top. Nervous, norivous. Wild
2:31.8	man, Fisher. And now you. What I saw you do on that stage tonight blew my mind. I'm
2:40.9	telling you you've cracked the code you're on to something special. Wow, you you you
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.