The Office Star Rainn Wilson Changes His Name to Raise Awareness for Climate Change

By Timothy Adams

Rainn Wilson, who played Dwight Schrute on the hit NBC comedy The Office, is changing his name to help raise awareness for climate change. While Wilson is known for playing the popular The Office character, he's also taken on several voice roles, including Lex Luthor in the animated The Death of Superman, Reign of the Supermen, and Batman: Hush. Lately, he's dedicated much time to advocating for the global climate. His latest mission to help draw attention to this crucial topic involves changing his name from Rainn Wilson to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson.

The Office actor announced this name change in a Twitter video, to coincide with the COP27 United Nations climate change conference taking place this week in Egypt. Wilson used Arctic Risk Name Generator to create the unique name of Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson. He's also a board member of Arctic Basecamp, which urges people to become an "Arctic name changer."

"Join me @ @ArcticBasecamp in bringing attention to the melting issue. We need world leaders to take action at COP 27!" Wilson wrote on Twitter. "The Arctic is melting at Millions of Liters per second, yet this problem can't seem to make a name for itself, so we'll make a name for it. Go to link in bio"

"With the help of my scientist friends at Arctic Basecamp, I've changed my name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson," Wilson said in a statement. "This is not a joke, I'm as serious as the melting Arctic, which amplifies global risks including extreme weather events around the globe.

"I'm hoping this name change brings attention to this growing… er, melting issue. We need world leaders at COP27 to take notice and take action. The Arctic is melting at millions of litres per second, yet this problem can't seem to make a name for itself, so it's up to us to make a name for it.

"Go to ArcticRiskName.org and create a name that will bring attention to this problem. Then – and this is the important part – change your social media profile or display name to match your new ArcticRisk name. And if enough of us do this, then maybe COP27 will be where our world leaders sit up and notice Arctic risks and introduce a solution."

At this time it's unclear if this is just a publicity stunt or if Rainn Wilson plans on legally changing his name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson.

Photo credit via Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

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