The Office star says he was 'really unhappy' for several years of the show

Dwight Schrute from The Office is one of the most iconic TV characters of all-time.

But the man who played him for several years has claimed he was 'really unhappy' during filming of the show.

Rainn Wilson, who starred on the show for nine seasons, has admitted he was often left wondering why he wasn't a big-time movie star.

"When I was in The Office, I spent several years really mostly unhappy because it wasn't enough," he said in the most recent episode of Bill Maher's Club Random podcast.

"I’m realising I’m on a hit show, Emmy nominated every year, making lots of money, working with Steve Carell and Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski and these amazing writers and incredible directors like Paul Feig. I’m on one of the great TV shows. People love it."

Wilson added: "I wasn’t enjoying it. I was thinking about, ‘Why am I not a movie star? Why am I not the next Jack Black or the next Will Ferrell? How come I can’t have a movie career? Why don’t I have this development deal?'”

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The 57-year-old was on the show from 2005 to 2013 with Dwight being arguably his most renowned television role.

But it turns out Wilson wasn't too happy with his pay cheque either, especially with his co-star Steve Carrell becoming an overnight Hollywood megastar.

"When I was on The Office… I was making hundreds of thousands," Wilson said.

"I wanted millions. I was a TV star, but I wanted to be a movie star. It was never enough. Humans have lived for hundreds of thousands of years, and 'never enough' has helped us as a species.”

However, Wilson does acknowledge the sheer magnitude of The Office as a TV show – even if it's not as funny as the British one, right?

"One thing that's been really gratifying for me is during this really dark time [the Covid-19 pandemic], I've heard from so many people that they've really appreciated having The Office there — that it has a warmth and humanity to it, kind of a family feel that makes it a special thing and that's helped them during this time, and even helped their mental health," Wilson said on his Hey There, Human Instagram Live series alongside Carell back in 2020.