Rainn Wilson Had to Overcome His Claustrophobia for “Don’t Tell a Soul”

Rainn Wilson, Famously known for his role as Dwight Schrute from The Office, plays Mr. Hamby in Don’t Tell a Soul. He says he had to overcome his claustrophobia for the film.

In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Rainn Wilson talks about the film, his character, and how he had to spend most of the screen time at the bottom of a well, despite his claustrophobia.

“You know how it is when you have those kind of fears. Like you look around and you’re really truly at the bottom of a 40-foot hole and you’re, like, ‘I’m in a hole. I’m in a hole. I’m in a ho— Oh, there’s a hatch. Right, I’m fine, whew.’ So I kind of hit that freak-out threshold and then I would be reminded of my real physical circumstances.”

Rainn Wilson

In his remarks to Yahoo! Entertainment, Wilson sounds rather grateful to the thriller film for helping him overcome his fears of small spaces. But even then, it must not have been easy to keep aside your fears for the sake of performance.

However, the filmmakers understood his predicament and built him a large 40-feet tall “above ground” well. Wilson would be filmed inside the well from above ground on wooden scaffoldings. At the bottom was a hatch that let him in and out of the well between the takes.

Wilson’s character, Mr. Hamby, finds himself in a rather uncomfortable and life-threatening situation. He tries to catch two teenage brothers (roles played by Fionn Whitehead and Jack Dylan Grazer) as they try to steal money and falls inside of a well.

Rainn Wilson got praised for such a complex portrayal of his role, as we previously saw him in comedy and humorous roles only. The film garnered some mixed reviews from the critics, but his performance did add a lot to the film. Don’t Tell a Soul is out in theatres, in addition to VOD, since January 15, 2021.

About Don’t Tell a Soul (2021)

Don’t Tell a Soul (2021) is an American psychological thriller film directed by Alex McAulay. It stars Jack Dylan Grazer, Fionn Whitehead, Rainn Wilson and Mena Suvari.

The film premiered at the Deauville Film Festival on September 8, 2020, and made a theatrical debut on January 15, 2021.