Rainn Wilson explores the world, and mental health, in Peacock’s ‘The Geography of Bliss’

The Office veteran Rainn Wilson travels the world looking for happiness in Peacock’s new series Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss. 

Based on Eric Weiner’s New York Times bestselling book, The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World, the show sees Wilson visiting “some of the happiest and least happy places on earth from Iceland to Bulgaria to Ghana” to unlock the science of happiness.  

Wilson tells ABC Audio the show “is just perfect for people coming out of COVID, wanting to travel, wanting to connect again, and find inspiration and uplift … through other cultures.” 

In the series, Wilson doesn’t shy away from talking about his own mental health issues. “One of the things I’ve learned in kind of working in mental health a little bit is that it’s important to share your struggle,” Rainn expresses. 

He continues, “You know, because a lot of young people are suffering, and they feel like they’re the only one, and they look on people’s Instagram and everyone’s smiling and tan and happy and having these wonderful experiences. So it’s important to just communicate, ‘Hey, here’s where I suffer.’ And for me, it’s anxiety. It’s something that I’ve always dealt with, and at times it’s been crippling and overwhelming.”

Coincidentally, the show dovetails well with the publishing of Wilson’s own bestseller, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution, which also deals with mental health and happiness.

But could the star of a global hit like The Office travel like any other tourist? “I mean, they certainly knew who I was in Iceland,” Wilson said, but only a “a couple of people in Ghana” did, and “a couple of tourists” in Thailand.