Rainn Wilson is facing one of the big challenges many television actors have to deal with. After playing the beloved Dwight Schrute on NBC’s The Office for a decade, he now has to convince viewers to take him seriously as the title character on Fox’s Backstrom.
Schrute stars in the series as Detective Lieutenant Everett Backstrom, a detective without any filters who offends everyone he meets. While he personally is nothing like the character, Wilson told reporters at the Television Critics Association Press Tour that he has been able to relate to Backstrom.
“I can relate to someone whose life is falling apart, and they are doing the best to get by, using humor to survive,” Wilson said, reports Fox News. “Backstrom really wears his heart on his sleeve and his life is unraveling… I would much rather hang out with that person than a slick procedural detective who has all the answers… it’s human, it’s frail, it’s interesting.”
In an interview with HitFix, Wilson said that part of the challenge is to make people not assume that Backstrom is just Dwight as a detective.
“Yeah, I know that most people are gonna be like, 'Oh, it's Dwight as a cop,'” Wilson said. “And that's what they're gonna say and be like, 'Oh, it's Dwight.' Or it's gonna be like, 'Oh, that guy's always gonna be Dwight, he can't play a cop.' But I'm excited for the challenge."
Backstrom is based on the novels by Leif G.W. Persson and was originally set up at CBS in March 2013. However, CBS ultimately passed on it, allowing Fox to save the day in January 2013.
The series was created by Bones’ Hart Hanson and also stars Page Kennedy and Beatrice Rosen. It starts on Fox on Thursday at 9 p.m.
image courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com