Rainn Wilson Lands Detective Role in CBS' Pilot as 'The Office' Wraps Up Filming
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The Dwight Schrute of 'The Office' will play an offensive irascible cop in 'Backstrom' pilot, which is adapted from Swedish book series.

AceShowbiz - NBC has passed on "The Office" spin-off, but Rainn Wilson may have found a new project that will bring him back on TV after "The Office" ends. The actor nabs a lead role in CBS' pilot "Backstrom", a drama based on Swedish book series of the same name by Leif G.W. Persson.

Wilson will portray the title character, Everett Backstrom, who is described as an overweight, offensive, irascible detective. He tries, and fails, to change his self-destructive behavior. The drama follows Backstrom as he has recently been brought back from disgrace to head Portland's newly formed Special Crimes Group, comprised of an elite team of like-minded eccentric detectives.

"Bones" creator Hart Hanson will write and executive produce the pilot alongside Persson and Niclas Salomonsson, with Mark Mylod set to direct the pilot. Dennis Haysbert and Kristoffer Polaha have been cast as Det. John Almon and Sgt. Peter Niedermayer respectively.

Wilson was previously expected to reprise his role as Dwight Schrute on "The Office" spin-off, "The Farm", but NBC passed on the spin-off after watching the pilot. "The Office" itself just wrapped up the filming on March 16.

Teasing about the show's end at the series-finale wrap party on Saturday, showrunner and executive producer Greg Daniels said, "There are so many great characters that we all really cared about, so the biggest task was finding a story structure where they could have stories inside of it that would pay off and fit it all into the time frame."

Dishing on her character's storyline, Ellie Kemper said, "Erin has a spectacular end that I can't really tell you about. It involves some amazing people that I also can't tell you about, but I'm really happy with how we see her in the last episode.... Basically my wishes for her send-off came true."

Jenna Fischer, meanwhile, praised Jim and Pam's soryline. "I think this year we really portrayed them as a real married couple with real obstacles," she said. "People often don't really deal with change well and Pam didn't deal with the idea of Jim changing and his job changing. So I'm really proud of us for tackling some of those things in a realistic way and not a soap-opera way."

"It's going to be very heartfelt," another cast member Leslie David Barker additionally said of the show's ending. "It will give you a chance to see what people do when they leave - just like at a real office when people start to go their own separate ways."

Ed Helms, however, didn't see "The Office" end as a farewell to his co-stars. "We hang out as it is, so there will be much more of that. These are my dearest friends and family," so he claimed.

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