Rainn Wilson (‘The Geography of Bliss’): ‘I need to find out how to live a richer, happier, more deeply satisfying life’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
“The most surprising part of the journey was something truly simple, which is what I did not expect, but we all know,” reveals three-time Emmy nominee Rainn Wilson (“The Office”) about his new travel memoir series “Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss.” For our recent webchat he adds, “We feel the greatest well-being, happiness, satisfaction, deep soul resonance when we’re with other people and engaged with other people, whether it’s family, community, dining around a table, sitting at a pub, going on an adventure being together in nature. That was really solidified by my adventures around the world that so much of what brings us happiness is all about community and connectivity. It’s really that simple!” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
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The Peacock non-fiction series is part travelogue, part personal memoir, with the globetrotting host traversing the world in search of the secrets to the happiest places on the planet. The five-episode docuseries is based on the New York Times bestselling travel memoir “The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World” by N.P.R. journalist Eric Weiner. Wilson’s pursuit of happiness begins in Iceland, where he gets nude in a cauldron of magma and samples cod liver oil. His adventures also take him to Bulgaria, Ghana and Thailand, before ending up in Los Angeles, where he seeks out the key to happiness in his own backyard. The show is often quirky and surprisingly intimate in how it contemplates the science of happiness, and how people can access or create their own joy, notwithstanding that their often bleak surrounds may not be conducive to living a happy life. It’s a really hopeful and aspirational message that works seamlessly with Wilson’s wit and easygoing humor in truly unexpected settings in far-flung locales.
It’s also refreshingly candid and sincere, particularly when the actor, producer and host shares details about his own personal experiences with mental health. “The show works on a number of levels,” he notes. “First of all, it’s just a really funny travel show. So, if you’re just looking to laugh and see some exotic places with a quirky host, that’s what we do at ‘Geography of Bliss.’ We’re also on a fact finding mission. We’re learning as a show, as producers, as creators of this show, learning from these other cultures, and we want to bring that back to the viewer so that you don’t feel like you’ve been in school, but you really feel like you’ve come away with something,” Wilson explains. “At the same time the third aspect of the show that was very important to me was that it have a personal resonance. This is a journey that I went on because I needed it. I need to find out how to live a richer, happier, more deeply satisfying life filled with well-being. I need this for my mental health. I’ve had struggles that I talk about in the show with anxiety, with depression, and for me it’s a daily practice to live in connection and to live in serenity and peace and to try and find joy. It’s so important, and it guides my life. And I needed to go on this journey, and hopefully, I’ll get to go on season 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 of this journey and continue that conversation. So, it has great personal significance for me as well.”
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