WATCH: Rainn Wilson says ‘The Office’ couldn’t be made today
‘The Office’ star says cancel culture and political division have made it difficult for modern comedies to succeed, shares his frustration with partisan double standards and growing political division. (Credit: Nicholas Ballasy for Fox News Digital)
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Rainn Wilson, best known for playing Dwight Schrute in the hit comedy “The Office,” says partisan hypocrisy on both sides of the political aisle is fueling divisions in America, while arguing that cancel culture has hardened modern comedy.
Wilson told Fox News Digital that cancel culture, a result of growing political divisions, has damaged the ability of a comedy show like “The Office” to thrive and be acceptable in today’s society.
“I’m sorry you couldn’t make it to The Office today,” Wilson said. “I think it would be too hard to be as politically incorrect as the show was. And I miss it, I kind of miss it.”
He explained how, even though both his character and actor Steve Carell’s role as Michael Scott were deliberately portrayed as lacking “self-awareness” and “dumb,” the humor still did not work or be seen as socially acceptable in today’s society.
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John Krasinski as Jim Halpert, Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly and Steve Carell as Michael Scott appear in a scene from the pilot episode of “The Office.” (Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank)
“We took advantage of that to do a lot of really cool, really inappropriate things,” Wilson said. “But even painting that character as just an idiot, I don’t think you can get away with that today.”
Comedy aside, Wilson said one of the biggest drivers of America’s political dysfunction is what he described as partisan hypocrisy, in which both Republicans and Democrats are quick to condemn bad behavior from the opposing party while overlooking similar behavior on their own side.
Wilson used as an example the response to Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s list of mounting scandals throughout his campaign, specifically citing the reaction to his Nazi tattoo as racist or religious discrimination.
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Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maine, points out a covered tattoo that was previously recognized as a Nazi symbol during an interview in Portland, Maine, on October 22, 2025. (GTME via AP)
“The political right is furious about ‘Oh, he’s racist,'” Wilson explained. “But they don’t look to their own side when people show racist tendencies or say racist things. And it’s the same thing on the left. They’re willing to overlook Platner’s Nazi tattoo, but if it was someone on the other side who had a questionable tattoo, they’d be on MSNBC about it.”
“It’s the hypocrisy that bothers me the most. It’s the hypocrisy that both sides need to have equal standards of behavior.”
Despite his concerns about political division, Wilson argued that faith and spirituality remain one of the most overlooked sources of common ground in the country.
“There is no topic that has more common ground and reciprocity than spiritual ideas,” Wilson said.
“Ideas around spirituality have become a weapon in terms of national discussion, but in reality the two sides have more in common than one might think.”
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Rainn Wilson addresses a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, as part of an effort to promote dialogue across political and ideological divides. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Wilson made the remarks while appearing at the Capitol alongside Reps. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., and faith leaders for the public release of A common effort: making America’s promise a reality, a five-part charter endorsed by leaders of the Baha’i faith that works to overcome political polarization and focus on shared American values.
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“Partisan division, toxic partisanship and corruption in partisanship is something the American people are very passionate about,” Wilson said.
“People want this to be fixed. There is an outcry from the people. They want it to be fixed.”