Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Got a minute? Rainn Wilson explains that he isn't just Dwight K. Shrute, he's also The Rocker—and he's coming to a theater near you in his underwear.

Q: Do people think that you and Dwight are the same person?

A: Yeah. There are a lot of geeky fans who see Dwight as their geek god. But there's also a frat-boy contingent of Dwight lovers. I was just walking past this bar in Atlanta, and I got a lot of "Dwight, yo! Dwiiiiight. Yo!" Like I will acknowledge that! You can just hear that former frat boy in their voice. They're between 28 and 33, but they still wear flip-flops to a bar, wear shell necklaces and their baseball caps backwards. But I ignore anyone, even grandmothers, that shouts out, "Hey, yo, Dwight!"

Q: What have you been up to since shooting the fifth season of The Office?

A: I've been tooling around this great nation spreading the gospel of The Rocker [out August 20], the greatest movie ever made—about a heavy-metal drummer. My character, Fish, is a drummer kicked out of his band in the eighties right before they hit it really big, like Mötley Crüe big. Then 20 years later, I'm a big fat loser and I get a second chance at my rock-star fantasy by joining my nephew's high-school band.

Q: I hear you had a high-school band in real life.

A: We were the worst garage band of all time, and our name was Collected Moss. Our 19-minute version of the Grateful Dead's "Fire on the Mountain" would be followed by the Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" Nothing about us made any sense whatsoever. I was the singer. I'll give you a taste. [Sings] See, I'm still off-key.

Q: In The Rocker promo shots, you're wearing underwear and cowboy boots. Were you cool with that?

A: Thank you for noticing. Those are heavy-metal underwear. They're leopard-print and they're fierce like a leopard. It's like they contain a leopard . . .

Q: What are you up to next?

A: I'm writing a movie. I've handed a draft in to Jason Reitman, and if all goes well we'll be shooting next year. It's about a down-and-out alcoholic ninja living in the San Fernando Valley. I'm calling it Bonzai Shadowhands. Katie Hintz

The theatrical trailer for The Rocker