The comic actor, who played the hilariously awkward Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom, recounted his nightmarish childhood on The Diary of a CEO podcast this week. (Watch it below.)
Wilson said he was abandoned by his mother as a toddler, whisked away to live in the jungles of Nicaragua by his father at age 3, and then endured abuse amid a loveless household with his father and stepmother.
I experienced a lot of pain in my life, and a lot of suffering with anxiety and depression and addiction, he told host Steven Bartlett. As I dove into recovery and the therapeutic process, I can pin that squarely on a lot of gross imbalances and trauma that I suffered as a child.
Pressed by the host to elaborate on the abuse, Wilson declined.
But he put a positive spin on his bleak upbringing.
This is the curious thing, Im grateful for it, Wilson said. Because, you know what, if I had a happy, well-balanced childhood, I dont know what my career would have been. But it certainly wouldnt have been an actor. And it certainly wouldnt have been a successful actor.
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These confluences of pain and difficulty and abuse and neglect, they caused me a lot of suffering later on, but at the same time they caused me to be driven, to try and be the best version of myself...and they made me funny.
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Wilson recently discussed how he felt unfulfilled at the height of his fame on the beloved sitcom, but his interview here went in another revealing direction. Fast-forward to 2:20 for the segment on Wilsons childhood:
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