“The Office” star Rainn Wilson has changed his name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson to protest climate change.
The actor made the announcement via a Twitter video on Wednesday, timed to the United Nations climate change conference COP27 in Egypt this week.
Wilson, a board member of Arctic Basecamp, changed his name via a website called Arctic Risk Name Generator which encourages visitors to become an “Arctic name changer.”
Although Wilson said of his name change “This is not a joke,” it is unclear whether the actor and activist plans to officially change his name on government documents. Currently his Twitter and Instagram handles remain @RainnWilson. His full given name is Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson.
“With the help of my scientist friends at Arctic Basecamp, I’ve changed my name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson,” Wilson said in a statement. “This is not a joke, I’m as serious as the melting Arctic, which amplifies global risks including extreme weather events around the globe.”
“I’m hoping this name change brings attention to this growing… er, melting issue. We need world leaders at COP27 to take notice and take action. The Arctic is melting at millions of litres per second, yet this problem can’t seem to make a name for itself, so it’s up to us to make a name for it.
“Go to ArcticRiskName.org and create a name that will bring attention to this problem. Then — and this is the important part — change your social media profile or display name to match your new ArcticRisk name. And if enough of us do this, then maybe COP27 will be where our world leaders sit up and notice Arctic risks and introduce a solution.”