HSK - "Office" tyrant sets sights on renaissance fairs

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ENTERTAINMENT / Television






"Office" tyrant sets sights on renaissance fairs


(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-08-24 16:30





Rainn Wilson from the nominated NBC show 'The Office' arrives to attend
the
64th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, January 15,
2007.[Reuters]

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Rainn Wilson, who plays the tyrannical Dwight on NBC's "The Office," will
star in a comedy feature set in a Renaissance fair.

Wilson is co-writing "Renaissance Men" with fellow actor Matt Ross, and
will produce with "Austin Powers" director Jay Roach. Universal Pictures
will distribute.

The story follows two down-and-out community theater actors who think
they've accidentally killed a co-star. In a panic, they go on the lam and
hide out in a Renaissance fair.

"It's a bit like 'We're No Angels,' only funny, and in a Renaissance
fair," Wilson said.

Wilson has long been fascinated by "Ren fairs," attending them with his
family during his teenage years, when he also played "Dungeons and
Dragons" and fought with broomsticks and garbage-can lids in his backyard.

Wilson and Ross attended the same drama classes at the University of
Washington, where Ross also took up fencing and swordfighting.

Both eventually made their way south to Hollywood, where after bit parts
in movies like "Almost Famous" and TV shows Wilson found success as
apparatchik Dwight Schrute on "Office." Ross has appeared in such movies
as "American Psycho" and "The Aviator" and is now gaining attention for
his work on HBO's "Big Love," where he plays the villainous Alby Grant.

The friends have harbored the idea of a comedy set in a Ren fair for a
long time, but it was only during a general meeting with Roach that
Wilson brought it up. Roach loved the idea, and after Wilson and Ross
honed the story, the trio took it to Universal, where Roach is based.

"(Renaissance fairs) are fascinating," Wilson said. "Everyone has been to
one, but no one really knows what makes them tick. The great thing about
them is how seriously people take their duties at the fair or as their
characters, whether they are doing swordfights or selling giant turkey
legs. And I think that the best comedy comes from people taking
ridiculous circumstances extremely seriously."

Wilson is also writing "Bonzai Shadowhands," a ninja comedy that Jason
Reitman ("Thank You For Smoking") will direct for Fox Searchlight. Like
that project, this one will feature characters that are failures,
something that is a Wilson trademark.

"I will always write only loserish kind of characters," he said. "I don't
think I have a handle on winners."

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