If you are not familiar with the movie here is the synopsis (from the studio) after a few words from me.

I’ve gotten a few emails about why I’m posting the straight synopsis and here’s the answer. The people who made the film have already written a good summary of what the film is about so why should I spend time trying to re-word it? I run the site on my own and I only have so much time in the day…I figure it would be better to use it posting more content and not re-writing stuff that’s already good…

Based on the acclaimed sci-fi short story by Lewis Padgett, The Last Mimzy tells the story of two children who discover a mysterious box that contains some strange devices they think are toys. As the children play with these “toys,” they begin to display higher and higher intelligence levels. Their teacher tells their parents that they seem to have grown beyond genius. Their parents, too, realize something extraordinary is happening. Emma, the younger of the two, tells her confused mother that one of the toys, a beat-up stuffed toy rabbit, is named Mimzy and that “she teaches me things.” Emma’s mom becomes increasingly concerned. When a mysterious blackout shuts down the city and the government traces the source of the power surge to this one family’s house, things quickly spin wildly out of their control. The children are focused on these strange objects, Mimzy, and the important mission on which they seem to have been sent. When the little girl says that Mimzy contains a most serious message from the future, a scientific scan shows that Mimzy is part extremely high level electronic and part organic! Everyone realizes that they are involved in something incredible…but exactly what?

I’m a big fan of Rainn and I think his work on The Office is always brilliant. He has a lot of interesting things to say but I especially liked hearing him talk about hosting Saturday Night Live – which he had done less than a week before we did the roundtable.

If you would like to listen to the interview you can download the MP3 here, otherwise the transcript is below.

And if you want to watch the trailer before reading the interview click here.

The Last Mimzy opens this Friday at theaters everywhere.

Question: What are your thoughts on the spiritual aspects of this film?

Rainn Wilson: I actually have spiritual beliefs that are very important to me, and I grew up a member of the Baha’i Faith.  It was one of the things that drew me to this project, in reading the script and seeing the spiritual and metaphysical journey that the story takes, as well as the science fiction and adventure journey.  That’s such a rare thing in a Hollywood film and I was really attracted to that.

Q: Did you want to be a part of something for an audience that is younger than who sees most of your stuff?

RW: No, I didn’t really look at it that way.  I think that I just really responded to the story.  I didn’t really think about it as a family film, or that I should expand my horizons to incorporate a family audience.  Last hiatus, after that season of ‘The Office,’ I was offered a number of projects that were very broadly comic and, after playing Dwight for eight or nine months, I just didn’t really feel like doing that.  I wanted to try something different and play a real character.  Although he’s eccentric, he’s a real three-dimensional person that you can picture really living in the real world.

Q: Was it daunting to have Bob Shaye as a director, and as head of the studio?

RW: It wasn’t daunting to me.  I don’t really care about that.  If I did a bad job and he never hired me again, I’d just get work somewhere else.  I’m fine.  I’ve got a TV show. [Laughs] I just didn’t know his work as a director, so that was a little bit scary for me. He directed this one other film, called ‘The Book of Love,’ a long time ago, and I actually had a friend in that film -- John Cameron Mitchell, the creator of ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch.’  I called John and said, “So, what’s Bob Shaye like?,” and he gave me the story of Bob Shaye and said, “Ultimately, he’s a good guy and a smart guy, and he’ll treat you well.”  So, that lead me to sign up for the project.

Q: We heard that there was a little bit more to your romantic scenes in the film.  Do you remember anything more?

RW: Yeah, I think I get it on with Kathryn Hahn.  I think they cut out after a kiss, but we had a scene when she took her clothes off, and I was in bed.  That scene continued. 

Q: Was there anything else of yours that didn’t make it into the final cut?

RW: Yes, my ass did not make it into the final cut.  They had to CGI underwear onto me, when I had the pajamas and I was walking to the refrigerator to get the chocolate cake. [Laughs] For real.  I like the opportunity to take my clothes off, especially for comedic effect.  Anytime they need a laugh on ‘The Office,’ they ask me to just take my shirt off.  “Let’s just get Dwight to take his shirt off.”[Laughs] So, I have no problem getting naked, but apparently that has been taken out.  But, I think most of my stuff is in the film.

Q: What was it like hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’?  Was it like what you expected?  How receptive were they to your ideas?

RW: It was an amazing experience.  I can’t even say that doing ‘Saturday Night Live’ was a dream come true ‘cause it was never even a dream that was on my radar.  I never thought I would be hosting ‘Saturday Night Live.’  I grew up watching Buck Henry and Steve Martin hosting, and I just never thought that would be me.  But, it was a great experience.  It’s exhilarating and terrifying, but they kept saying, “Make sure you have fun.  That’s the most important thing.  That’s what’s really going to read to the audience.”  And, I think I was able to have fun.  We did a spoof on ‘Black Snake Moan’ called ‘White Possum Scream,’ [laughs] and it was a long scene.  It was a 7-page scene, and they kept wanting to cut it.  I kept fighting with Lorne (Michaels) about it.  I was like, “Trust me, on this one.  If I’m in my tighty whities, on a chain, being held by a black man, writhing around, it’s going to be funny.” [Laughs] So, I fought for that to stay in.  They were open to my ideas.  I had a lot of ideas about the sketches I was in, that I think helped them.

Q: How was the experience of doing live TV?  Is that something you’re comfortable with?

RW: It’s terrifying, man.  It’s unbelievable.  Those lights pop on, on the cameras, and you know that what you say is being heard, that second, by millions of people.  I don’t even think ‘Saturday Night Live’ has a delay on it.  I don’t think they do ‘cause every once in awhile the F-word leaks out.  It’s terrifying.  When I did Bill Maher, it was terrifying, in the same way.  That was even scarier because I was talking about politics, in which I’m not really that adept.  But, it was a great experience.  I feel like now I can do anything. You feel like, once you’ve done that, you can do anything.  You really do.

Q: Would you like to do more live theater?

RW: I started in the theater, for eight or nine years before I did any TV or film, in New York.  I feel like right now is my time to do film and TV because I did that eight or nine years of theater.  But, when ‘The Office’ is over, I would love to go back and do some plays.

Q: Are there any surprises left in Dwight, or is it very comfortable at this point?

RW: That’s an excellent question.  The struggle is to not go on auto pilot with him, and to try to challenge myself to find different ways to allow his character and his comedy to come through the material.  I’ve got several years more of playing that big, annoying dufus, so I’ve got to find ways to keep me interested in it and to keep having new surprises coming from him.

Q: When does your season wrap for ‘The Office’?

RW: In about three or four more weeks.

Q: Do you have anything special planned for the finale?

RW: I think there’s a one-hour finale.

Q: Have you thought about what you’re going to be filming this summer?

RW: Yeah, I’ll definitely be filming, I think, two movies this summer.  But, we’re in negotiations, so we’ll have to see what those are yet.  It hasn’t been finalized.

Q: When you were a kid, or a teen, did you like science fiction or fantasy films?

RW: I think the first movie I ever went to was ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’  I was 5 or 6 years old and my dad took me.  It was terrifying.  I had nightmares about that baby coming over the earth for the rest of my life. [Laughs] I love science fiction movies.  I loved ‘Logan’s Run’ and the ‘Star Wars’ movies and ‘Close Encounters,’ which was produced by Michael Phillips, is fantastic.  That was a seminal movie for me.

Q: Did you grow up in Seattle?

RW: Yeah.

Q: Doesn’t Vancouver look beautiful in this movie?

RW: It does. [Laughs] It’s a gorgeous substitute for Seattle. Vancouver: it’s almost Seattle. [Laughs]

Q: How do you feel, as a Seattle boy, about the continuing use of Vancouver as a stand-in for Seattle?

RW: I feel fine about that.  It’s a lot cheaper to film there, what can you say?  I love the city of Vancouver.  I went with my wife and we had a great time for two movies.  I love it.  I went down to Seattle a couple times, and had my relatives come up and visit.

Q: Do you have any kids?

RW: I do.  I have a son who’s 2 ½.