Rainn Wilson attends the Homeboy Industries' Lo Maximo 2024 Awards dinner at JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE on April 27, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
(Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images) Getty Images A new movie starring “The Office” actor Rainn Wilson is finally coming to theaters three years after it was filmed in the Syracuse area. “Empire Waist,” a body-positive, coming-of-age dramedy, will be released in theaters across the U.S.
and Canada on Sept. 27, according to Deadline. The cast includes Wilson and his “Galaxy Quest” co-star Missi Pyle, plus “SMILF” star Mia Kaplan.
The story follows Lenore Miller (Kaplan), an overweight, insecure teen whose talent for fashion is discovered by her confident, plus-sized classmate (newcomer Jemima Yevu). Wilson will play Kaplan’s supportive father and Pyle will play her image-conscious mother, raising the question of whether Lenore can feel the self-love she inspires in others. “ Empire Waist ” is the first feature film for writer-director Claire Ayoub, whose script was on Hollywood’s The Black List of top unproduced screenplays in 2019.
Ayoub wrote and directed her first play at age 14 and also wrote for Amy Poehler’s “Smart Girls.” She said she used her 2014 personal essay, “Notes to My Twelve Year Old Self,” as the inspiration for “Empire Waist.” Scenes were filmed in Central New York in 2021 with American High, the Liverpool-based film studio best known for Hulu releases like “ Prom D.