Rainn Wilson is jovial and full of jokes when we meet at the 20th Century Fox building in NYC to promote his musical comedy The Rocker, which is in theaters now. The Office star, 42, is married to wife Holiday, and together they care for son Walter, 3. 

In this interview, Rainn talks about family, fame and growing up with a “unique” name.

Ever regret that you didn’t become famous until later in life?
I’m happy the way it worked out. I couldn’t be more thrilled. I struggled for a long time, the first ten years of my career, and now things are taking off. I have no regrets that I wish this or that had happened. I’m a much better actor now than I was then. I needed to learn. Some people are like Leonardo DiCaprio and immediately brilliant at 19.  I wasn’t that way. I was learning and being in the trenches.

What was your experience like growing up with a unique name?
I was tormented terribly for being named Rainn and mocked and that’s what made me the sad clown you see before
 you. I do like my name very much. It came from my hippie, bohemian parents who lived on
 a houseboat in the late sixties.

Did growing up on a houseboat sour you or make you love the ocean more?
 I love the ocean. I'm a Seattleite. I like the mountains and
 the ocean both. I still go back to Seattle. My wife and I have a cabin
 up in Oregon.

How do you like to relax in your spare time?
I like to do this. [Turns around in chair and stares at me.] You’re wordsmiths. I leave it to you. I like to play tennis. That's my new passion. I feel like an old
 Southern Californian but I love to play tennis. That really
 relaxes me. I also like to kill people on X-Box Call of Duty 4 and go online and shoot people in the face. I also find that very
 relaxing. I also like to sleep.

Don’t you have a young son?
Yes.

That’s not relaxing?
That’s not relaxing with the little one. That’s a workout. I love it, but relaxing, no.

Did you have rock star dreams?
I got to thankfully live through a little bit of a rocker nightmare, 
which was my probably shortest-lived high school band ever. I did two gigs with
 my band Collective Moss; I wish I still had that flyer. We played two
 gigs, one for a bunch of 11-year-olds who ended up stealing our patch
 chords in a church basement. Then our second gig was an audition for
 the Battle of The Bands, which we didn't get into. That's how bad we
 were; we were not even in the top six bands at New Trier High School [in Illinois]. I was the singer.

What’s your best concert memory?
I never caught a drumstick and I've never been sweated on but I got to see Nirvana in their last U.S. concert and
 that was a thrill for me as a Pacific Northwest Nirvana freak.

Did you go backstage and meet Kurt Cobain?
No, I
 wasn't a huge international superstar like I am now to throw my weight
 around with my posse. My favorite concert memories are about the
 music. I saw Radiohead last year and that was pretty awesome. Doing
 this VH-1 Rock Honors The Who concert was just tremendous. I got to
 meet The Who and they were idols of mine growing up.  I just thought
 Pete Townsend was the best and I got to interview Flaming Lips and
 Dave Grohl and Pearl Jam. That was really awesome to be part of the
 experience.

Did Christina Applegate mind being cast as a sexy mom?
This was her first sexy mom role, and I’m sure there will be many more. I think she knew, she was like ‘You know what, I’m late 30s now, it’s time for me to tip-toe into the sexy mom world.’ She’s amazing. She’s so deft with comedy, just a light touch, and she’s hot and smart and really cool. We had a blast. I’m really psyched, and now we’re both Emmy nominees.

Why should we see this film?
The Rocker is awesome. It’s The Awesomer. It’s The Rawesome.  The Rocker is Rawesome. See I should do Fox’s work for them. It’s the first great heavy metal movie. It’s got it all. It’s got me macking on Christina Applegate, every man’s fantasy, it’s got great music, comedic hijinks, and it’s also got a lot of heart.