Meet Your Heroes Sometimes
They say never meet your heroes. The implication being that the reality will inevitably fall short of the story you’ve built up in your head. But sometimes, you get lucky.
Yesterday, Sofi and I went to a fundraiser for Lide Haiti, the organization founded by Rainn Wilson and his wife, Holiday Reinhorn. I’ve admired his work and outlook for a while; partly because of The Office and other acting roles, of course, but also because of how openly he’s discussed spirituality, creativity, and service in his own life.
At the event, I let Sofi use my camera to walk around and take pictures. I stayed seated, watching her from across the room as she quietly captured moments. At one point, I saw her hesitate. Rainn was standing nearby, talking with a small group, and she looked torn between curiosity and shyness. Then, before I could even encourage her, he noticed.
He smiled, motioned for her to go ahead, and had the group of people he’d been chatting with pose with him for her to take a picture. Later, as we were leaving, I ended up chatting with one of the foundation’s board members, and Rainn was right next to us. When he finished talking to the person who’d been in front of him, he turned his attention to Sofi and engaged playfully with her. Sofi mentioned that she liked how he played Dwight, since I’d schooled her before we got there on the distinction between his character and him as a person. He lit up, leaned down to her level, and talked to her, not at her, with the same warmth he brings to the characters that made him famous.
It was brief, but it stuck with me. Not because he’s a celebrity, but because moments like that reveal who people really are when the cameras aren’t rolling.