The beloved actor who brought Dwight Schrute to life on The Office goes by Rainn Wilson no more. On Wednesday, Wilson announced that he changed his name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson, and it’s for a very important reason: to raise awareness about climate change.
The Office star made the announcement on behalf of environmental advocacy group Arctic Basecamp, of which he is a board member, telling fans in a video posted to the group’s socials, “With the help of my scientist friends at Arctic Basecamp, I’ve changed my name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson.” He went on to confirm, “This is not a joke,” explaining that he is “as serious as the melting Arctic, which amplifies global risks including extreme weather events around the globe.” The actor added, “I’m hoping this name change brings attention to this growing… er, melting issue.”
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“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,” Wilson told his fans, even encouraging them to modify their name to bring attention to the issue by using the Arctic Basecamp “name-changer” on website ArcticRiskName.org. “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.”
In the video, Wilson said as a “cheap little stunt to help save planet Earth,” he changed his name “Twitter, Instagram and even on my fancy writing paper.I’m an Arctic risk name changer which is going to be a game changer.” He later updated fans, saying that he could not change his name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson on Twitter due to the temporary restriction on name changes for verified accounts, implemented by new Twitter owner Elon Musk. It is unclear if Wilson legally changed his name.
Wilson is a board member of Arctic Basecamp, a climate change awareness body led by a team of Arctic experts and scientists. The body has a base camp in the Arctic and uses its findings to raise awareness about the environmental crisis. His Wednesday announcement coincided with the United Nation’s COP 27 meeting which is currently taking place in Egypt.
