It's Rainn-ing Men for MONA
Photo by: Morgen Schuler
Saturday was pretty stormy. Rain was dripping, reddened leaves were falling, and most people probably chose to stay indoors catching up on household projects or the latest Stieg Larsson novel. We, however, chose to catch up with our new BFF, Rainn Wilson. Okay, okay. "best friend forever" may be pushing it a bit, as our time with him was roughly 4 minutes, squeezed between his signing Dwight Schrute bobbleheads and Dunder Mifflin t-shirts. But, nonetheless, getting to know Rainn Wilson and all he stands for was a pretty sweet way to spend a rainy Saturday.
We met Rainn (first name basis…) way out in Bellevue Square at the opening of Kiehl’s Since 1851 skincare store. Kind of a rando place to meet a celeb like Mr. Wilson, but the star is a user of the skincare line as well as a fan of the company’s community-oriented philosophies. Wilson's only requisite for participating in the day’s event was if they honored the MONA Foundation. Kiehl’s responded with a $15,000 check to the amazing charity.
MONA is really what this whole day was about. The MONA Foundation supports existing educational initiatives all over the world. They currently have 19 projects in 15 countries ranging from Los Angeles to Panama to China to India. These grassroots projects are already established with strong community support. MONA just provides the money for the ventures to continue. There’s no preaching, there’s no colonial attitude, there are just generous individuals trying to help those in need. Also, the people who run this organization are super nice; so far, Dwight's alter-ego seems to have aligned himself with an impressive organization.
Now, back to the venerable character actor. Rainn’s favorite places to go in Seattle?
1. 13 Coins (“It’s been the same since 1962!”)
2. Pike Place Market (His mom sells jewelry there.)
3. Ye Olde Curiosity Shop (He just took his 6-year-old son there and claims he used to go there “practically every day growing up.”)
We also asked about his interest in film directing. He said he’s been directing some episodes of "The Office" and will most likely make the transition to film directing at some point. When asked about shooting in Seattle, he responded with a very educated rebuttal about Washington State’s filming incentives. Moral of that conversation: Improve ‘em and they will come…
Photo by: Morgen Schuler
As if meeting the guy wasn’t enough, that night we got to see him perform at the Paramount Theatre. This event was jam-packed with comedic banter, music acts and benefits for MONA. Rainn served as emcee for the evening, killing time with jokes he created “while at the insane asylum.” (Our fave: “Attention farmers: candy corn is better than regular corn.”) Rainn brought along some of his besties (interestingly, all dudes) to perform a bunch of music to entertain people and inspire them to give money to MONA. Andy Grammer, John Roderick, Sean Nelson, Presidents of the United States of America and a surprise performance from Blitzen Trapper all helped make the benefit event a success. The best performance, however, came from Craig Robinson, who plays Darryl on “The Office” and sang hilarious songs with the audience about respecting women, love and takin’ off panties. All in all, a fabulous night of music and comedy.
Though he plays a total crazy person on TV, we have to admit that Rainn Wilson the human is pretty awesome. He’s generous and down to earth, and now we’re probably best friends. You can be his friend too by contributing some money (real stuff, no Schrute Bucks please) to the MONA Foundation.
