Rainn Wilson talks pandemic show 'Utopia,' 'Blackbird' and lessons from his dad: 'Be creative all the time'

For those who thought “The Office” hit close to home, just wait till you see Rainn Wilson’s new TV show about a global pandemic. No, really.

Amazon’s “Utopia” (now streaming), is a dark comedy thriller centering on a group of conspiracy-minded comic book fans who believe an underground graphic novel might be foretelling present and future events, including a sickness that's infecting kids across the country.

“It is absolutely eerie,” Wilson says of the long-gestating series, in which he stars as virologist Michael Stearns. “It's mind-blowing" that he wrapped shooting 'Utopia' in September, the coronavirus started in China in December and had hit here by March, while "they were editing this show about a pandemic.

“I was texting (creator and writer) Gillian Flynn the whole time, like ‘OMG, is this really happening? Is what our show is about happening on the world stage? This is crazy.’ And it still is a question mark. Are people going to be able to really see and enjoy this show?”

'Blackbird':Susan Sarandon talks 'heart-wrenching' COVID goodbyes, faces death

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"Utopia" is just one part of the current Rainnaissance: Wilson, 54, also stars in the drama “Blackbird” (streaming and on demand) alongside Susan Sarandon as a mother with Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) wanting to end her life after one last family gathering, Kate Winslet as her daughter and Wilson as Winslet’s husband, "who's a little bit of a doofus and finds his voice." (The entire cast got little blackbird tattoos to commemorate the experience - Wilson’s is on his left bicep.) And Wilson started the web docuseries “An Idiot’s Guide to Climate Change” and has interviewed folks like teen activist Greta Thunberg.

“I was able to kind of take an issue that I was passionate about, learn about it and get that out to a bigger audience,” says Wilson, who says he's dedicated to “trying to figure out what I can do to help make the world a better place.” He’s also currently assisting his 15-year-old son Walter in remote-learning Algebra: “We're only two or three weeks into the school year, so we'll figure it out.”

Wilson talks to USA TODAY about “Utopia,” the recent death of his father and what he learned from “The Office”:

How much research did you do on viruses and medical lingo for “Utopia”?

Rainn Wilson: The more important research that I needed to do was emotional and psychological. Dr. Michael Stearns starts as this kind of loser nobody, everyman, basement-dwelling, nerdy academic scientist, and several episodes in all of a sudden he's one of the most important people in the world and he goes on this incredible journey.

“Utopia” is your biggest show since “The Office.” What did you learn from that, and  the short-lived 2015 Fox detective series “Backstrom,” you take forward now?

Wilson: My challenge as an actor is I'm very well known for this one role of Dwight Schrute. But I did theater for 10 years before I did any TV or film, in which I played dozens of roles from Moliere to Shakespeare to Eugene O'Neill. Give me an offbeat character going on a journey and I want to hitch my wagon to that guy. So for me, I want to find those exceptional characters. Hopefully, I'll get a chance over the next decade or two to play some other ones.

I was so sorry to hear about your dad passing away last month. Do the themes of “Blackbird” resonate more with you now?

Wilson: I had never experienced a death in the family other than my wife's grandmother, who I was not that close to. You can pretend to know what death is like and as an actor, you fake it and pretend, but there's no substitute for the real thing.

“Blackbird” is a movie about death on its surface. But it really is about life and a celebration of family and of being alive. And that's what I experienced with my father's passing as well. Yes, a tremendous amount of grief, but also just an intense gratitude for what we have and how precious life is.

What’s one awesome thing you will always remember about your dad?

Wilson: You're gonna try to make me cry, aren't you? (Laughs) He was always being creative: every day, he was drawing, he was writing. He couldn't not create. And he really taught me that same sense of how to be creative all the time. And I'm hopefully passing that down to my son, Walter.