Rising to fame through the US version off The Office, Rainn Wilson’s ability to lean into the weird and quirky was a perfect fit for paper salesman and beet farmer Dwight Schrute. Taking on the role of the by the book suck up, originally portayed in the UK version by Mackenzie Crook, Wilson’s take on the role was straight faced repressed anger in a beige suit. As time went on, and the US version deviated from the original scripts, Dwight Schrute became one of the most insane characters while still being one of the most popular for his wit, complete lack of charm and near psychotic loyalty to his associates.
Having studied theatre and the arts at the University of Washington, Wilson came from a creative background and would often cite his father, author and painter Robert Wilson, for his passion for the arts; often sharing his fathers works on social media before his passing in 2020. Over the Office’s nine year run, Wilson would earn himself three Emmy nominations and spread his creative wings by writing and directing for the show. Since it’s final episode he’s appeared in both drama leading shows such as the American adaption of Backtrom to appearing alongside Jason Statham in comedy The Meg.
Being a fan of Star Trek since his childhood in the 70’s, when Discovery was announced to bring a new lease of life to the franchise, Wilson chased down his chance to get involved.
“As soon as the writers staff was formed, I begged my agents, ‘Can I just have a general meeting?’ Wilson told StarTrek.com back in 2017 while discussing a meeting with the producers who discussed their visual ideas at the time, “Then, I don’t know, six months later I got a call. ‘How about Harry Mudd?’ I was like, “That’s perfect.”
First appearing in Choose Your Pain, Wilson had the chance to show the darker side of a desperate and imprisoned Harry Mudd who found himself in a Klingon holding cell alongside Lorca and later in the season, in the shows most standalone episode Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad, would follow up with Mudd using time altering technology to get his revenge for Lorca leaving him behind.
Sharing more of his talents with the Star Trek universe, Wilson would return a third and final time for an episode of Short Trek’s focused solely on Harry Mudd’s mischievous adventures. Written by Mike McMahon, the short was directed by Wilson himself and bridge the gap between Mudd’s more sinister side with the mischief of the original performance by Roger C Carmel.
Outside of the acting world, Wilson is a huge advocate for mental health, climate change and the environment and spiritual wellness, all of which he writes about with depth in his book The Bassoon King. Still writing and performing today, Wilson continues to work with non profits and charities including LIDE which he co-founded with his wife.
With Discovery racing to the 32nd Century in it’s third season, it’s uncertain if we’ll see Rainn Wilson’s version of Harry Mudd again on screen. But we can live in hope that with Strange New Worlds continuing for five seasons that Captain Pike might just run into the rogue having jippers on the beach….
About the author
[Treknology] Clearing The Way: The Deflector
Over the decades the technologies of Star Trek have become so popularised and well known that even someone who's never seen an episode knows what a phaser is, or that warp drive goes really, really fast. Even if someone couldn't tell you what a transporter does, “Beam Me Up” is still a phrase you can say and people will just know what it means.But when you look at ships like the Enterprise, there's one big feature built into every design since that might not be as well known as the saucer, the bridge or the glowing warp nacelles, but is one of the most vital parts of any and all starships flying from planet to planet. When you think of space, you imagine this big empty void of nothingness. But while there is a huge expanse of distance between locations […]
Them From That Thing: Sally Kellerman
Building an eclectic career with over sixty years in film, television, music and theatre, Sally Kellerman is fondly remembered by a whole generation as the original Hotlips Houlihan in the film adaption of MASH. Her part in the world of Star Trek helped introduce the world to the little sci fi show that began it's own franchise of entertainment. Starting her acting career in the late 50's after turning down a contract with Verve Records, Kellerman was a familiar face on television by the time Star Trek came around. With appearances on Bonanza, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and the Twilight Zone among others, Kellerman was able to gain a wide range of experience that helped establish an adaptability that would carry her career forward in playing anything from a glamorous and sophisticated character, to intense and eccentric parts. Kellerman’s appearance […]
Who is David Marcus?
While the original series brought the idea of Star Trek to life, it's film sequels did a lot to flesh out and develop the characters in the next era of their life, with new characters coming on board the Enterprise to both challenge the leading crew and give us a new perspective of the world saving heroes of the Federation. One of the most impactful appeared in only two of the six films, but left a lasting impression on Captain James T Kirk... Working with his mother Carol, David Marcus was one of the lead scientists on the Genesis project. Based on a remote space station, David's part in the project was both what helped it succeed, as well as cause it's downfall. Genesis was an experimental, and highly secret, project to terraform barren planets and manufacture life. While Starfleet […]
Across The Universe And Back To Strange New Worlds!
Time has certainly flown by as Strange New Worlds penultimate season is just days away. Things have been a little guarded since the show was announced to be ending with a shortened 5th season, but it gave the production plenty of warning to wrap things up and bring an end to the original Captain and his crew! With some cast announcements for Season 5 seeing new additions including Thomas Jane as Leonard McCoy, as well as knowing it'll a shorter season to bring the show to a close, the fourth instalment feels a little bittersweet. But from recent hype from Paramount, we might just be in for a fun time. Season 4 Episode Titles Ahead of the series launch, the Star Trek social media team have been hard at work with some teases including short clips of each of the […]
Behind the Viewscreen: Jerry Goldsmith
Across a long career writing music for some of Hollywoods most celebrated films, Jerry Goldsmith's mark can be heard in a huge range of genre's from The Omen, to LA Confidential, from Patton to Planet of the Apes. But even when it comes to his science fiction scores including Alien and Total Recall, none have left as iconic a mark as his contributions to Star Trek. During the reinvention of Star Trek for cinema, director Robert Wise knew the challenge. Turn a small sci fi show into a cinematic epic. The success of that has often came up for debate, but no matter the opinion on the Motion Picture, the one celebrated element was the music Goldsmith delivered and the new template he build for the sound of Star Trek. Blending classic orchestra with electronic synthesizers and complex rhythmic patterns, […]
Across The Universe…. into the Holodeck…?
As the Star Trek Online world is celebrating it's annual Summer event on Risa, the wider gaming world is adding some new dimensions to the gamers of the fandom as we see even more games announced within the Star Trek Universe following some already surprise additions in the past year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YK_Fw4_kLk OUTPOSTS UNKNOWN Set in the 23rd Century era of Strange New Worlds, Outposts Unknown comes from Magic Fuel Games, made up of former developers of various simulations including The Sims and Sim City and delivers exactly what you'd expect from them! The player takes command of the USS Resonant as the core of a new outpost building game where you lead a crew across a newly found system and build your perfect colonies with a mysterious force building up in the background... Sim City meets Strange New Worlds is […]
Related
Them From That Thing: Sally Kellerman
Building an eclectic career with over sixty years in film, television, music and theatre, Sally Kellerman is fondly remembered by a whole generation as the original Hotlips Houlihan in the film adaption of MASH. Her part in the world of Star Trek helped introduce the world to the little sci fi show that began it's own franchise of entertainment. Starting her acting career in the late 50's after turning down a contract with Verve Records, Kellerman was a familiar face on television by the time Star Trek came around. With appearances on Bonanza, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and the Twilight Zone among others, Kellerman was able to gain a wide range of experience that helped establish an adaptability that would carry her career forward in playing anything from a glamorous and sophisticated character, to intense and eccentric parts. Kellerman’s appearance […]
Behind the Viewscreen: Jerry Goldsmith
Across a long career writing music for some of Hollywoods most celebrated films, Jerry Goldsmith's mark can be heard in a huge range of genre's from The Omen, to LA Confidential, from Patton to Planet of the Apes. But even when it comes to his science fiction scores including Alien and Total Recall, none have left as iconic a mark as his contributions to Star Trek. During the reinvention of Star Trek for cinema, director Robert Wise knew the challenge. Turn a small sci fi show into a cinematic epic. The success of that has often came up for debate, but no matter the opinion on the Motion Picture, the one celebrated element was the music Goldsmith delivered and the new template he build for the sound of Star Trek. Blending classic orchestra with electronic synthesizers and complex rhythmic patterns, […]
Inside Trek/Outside Trek: Colm Meaney
To the entire Star Trek Universe, Colm Meaney will forever be remembered as The Chief. Making his first appearance in The Next Generations pilot as a background character, Meaney soon found himself in the rotating guest cast for the Next Generation as the character O'Brien was fleshed out and used to bridge the next spin off when he became part of the core cast of Deep Space Nine. Becoming a favourite as the mild mannered transporter chief, O'Brien solidified his place in Star Trek history in Deep Space Nine thanks to Meaney bringing a grounded, working-class style into the collection of officers and diplomats around him, kicking and cursing at broken down equipment in DS9's pilot episode and continuing to bring the most human character as a father, husband, mentor and overworked fixer of all things. Beyond Star Trek, […]
That Guy From That Thing: Harris Yulin
Among the many acclaimed guest appearances from all corners of the Star Trek Universe, there are only a small few who gave as deep a performance as Harris Yulin in his sole appearance in the franchise. Taking the spotlight as Aamin Marritza in Deep Space Nine's first season episode Duet, a Cardassian civilian who arrives at Deep Space Nine and raises a massive red flag for Kira when she learns he has a condition that links him to a brutal mining camp that many Bajorans suffered through during the occupation. Yulin is an actor who you may not recognise by name, but you always recognise. Having made his name in the New York theatre scene in the 60's, he quickly established himself as a serious dramatic talent with an incredible command of language, subtly and presence before he'd ever step […]
[Inside Trek] Behind the Viewscreen: Robert H Justman
It takes an army to bring a TV show to life, especially one creating it's own world to explore in and more often than not the people behind the scenes are often unsung heroes despite being key to the creation of an iconic a legacy as Star Trek. Robert Justman was one of the many responsible to shaping the Star Trek Universe, particularly in it's early days, and was one of the most influential producers in helping form the original series. Staring his career in technical and production roles, Justman learned the ropes in the 1950's as television in the US would go from a rare luxury to a household staple throughout the decade. Building his skills and reputation as assistant director and production manager on a variety of styles, Justman gained a reputation for being highly unorganised and keeping […]
Inside Trek/Outside Trek: Robert Picardo
The Doctor was a character designed as a stop-gap, a temporary solution in a crisis who would end up developing beyond his limited programming to serve as the only doctor on board the USS Voyager for it's seven years lost in the Delta Quadrant. It seems fitting that the man behind the emitter, Robert Picardo, has since become a larger part of the Star Trek Universe than he ever thought he'd be. Now starring as a main feature on Starfleet Academy, his second live action role, Picardo's Doctor was also a prominent part of both seasons of Star Trek Prodigy and has even man aged to squeeze in appearances as another EMH on board the Enterprise E in First Contact, and as holographic engineer Lewis Zimmerman in Deep Space Nine as well as bringing the character to expanded media including […]
