While many know him only as salesman Dwight Schrute from NBC’s The Office, Rainn Wilson, actor and former UW student, unveiled a bit of his personal side on campus Friday night.

In front of an at-capacity crowd in Kane Hall, Wilson touched on a number of topics including his involvement with the Mona Foundation, his Baha’i faith and his social-networking Web site, SoulPancake.com.

Wilson was in town for the 10th anniversary of the Mona Foundation, a non-profit organization he is heavily involved with. The 720 students in attendance had the opportunity to see Wilson as himself instead of as the know-it-all Dwight Schrute.

“It was weird seeing him in just jeans and a button-down rather than in his ugly brown Office suit,” sophomore Anthony Ghazel said. “He was goofy and dorky, just like I expected, but seemed like a very down-to-earth, personable guy.”

Wilson felt he had a great opportunity to discuss his spiritual journeys during his 20s and talked about SoulPancake.

“I love talking to young people,” Wilson said. “SoulPancake is really for, about, and by young people. There is so much crap out there [on the internet], and the idea behind SoulPancake is something I feel really passionate about.”

The idea for the site came from the experiences Wilson had while studying in New York City as a young man. The 43-year-old actor knows that words like “spirituality” and “faith” make many of today’s youth cringe. SoulPancake, Wilson says, is a cooler way of discussing the philosophical, spiritual and creative journeys that many young people take while trying to find themselves.

“I really spent my 20s soul searching through spirituality and faith and what I believed,” Wilson said. “I wanted to created a Web site for someone like me — something that I could have really used as a tool.”

Growing up in Seattle, Wilson was raised under the Baha’i faith. According to the faith, one of the highest forms of worship is service. Although it may seem odd that performing as his character Dwight is a form of providing service, Wilson loves what kinds of things people can sometimes take from his acting.

“I’ve had so many fathers tell me the only time their son talks to them is when they watch The Office together,” Wilson said. “It brings families together. I think what I do is important, and, not to get all grandiose about it, but making people laugh is a great way to make a living and it’s important in this world.”

While there were a number of questions from students relating to The Office, many were curious about Wilson’s experiences as a youth.

“Students seemed to be open to the experience that Rainn wanted to share with them, and he was very well-received,” said sophomore Hediyeh Mohajerjasbi, a Baha’i Club member who helped organize the event.

Wilson also discussed his involvement with the Mona Foundation and showed video footage of a recent trip to Haiti, where he had the opportunity to see some of the schools that the foundation supports.

“Building in these places, it brings people together from the community and lets them run the schools and let’s them teach what they want to teach” Wilson said.

The event was sponsored by the UW Baha’i Club. Club members were happy with the fact that students were able to listen to Wilson as himself instead of as his character from The Office.

“The event went great,” Baha’i Club officer Hooman Behzadpour said. “I didn’t think it’d be easy for him to talk [to students] about those topics, but he talked about it in a great way even though he wasn’t being Dwight, which I appreciated.”

Reach reporter Taylor Soper at news@dailyuw.com.