John Burke Krasinski (pronounced /krəˈzɪnski/; born October 20, 1979) is an American actor, film director and writer. He is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office.
Early life
Krasinski was born in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb outside of Boston, the son of a Polish-American father, internist Dr. Ronald Krasinski,[1] and an Irish American mother, Mary Clare (née Doyle).[2] He has two older brothers, Kevin and Paul, and was raised Roman Catholic in Newton.[3] Krasinski was friends with his Office costar, BJ Novak, while growing up in Newton.
Before entering college, Krasinski taught English in Costa Rica.[4] From there, he went to Brown University, studying theater arts with Lowry Marshall and John Emigh and graduating in 2001 as a playwright with an honors thesis titled "Contents Under Pressure".[5] During his time at Brown, he helped coach youth basketball at The Gordon School in East Providence, Rhode Island. He then attended the National Theater Institute in Waterford, Connecticut.[6]
Career
Television and feature films
Besides training at the National Theater Institute, he also studied at The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England and The Actors Center in New York City. After graduating from Brown University, Krasinski went to New York City to pursue acting, appearing in commercials and guest spots on television shows, as well as doing readings of off-Broadway plays and working as a waiter.[7] He starred in the play What the Eunuch Saw, which was written and directed by a former college classmate.[8] In 2000, Krasinski was a script intern on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.[9][10]
Krasinski filmed the footage of Scranton, Pennsylvania, for The Office, including the clips shown in the opening credits.[11] Krasinski directed an episode of The Office, entitled Sabre, the fifteenth episode of The Office's sixth season.
Krasinski starred as Gideon in A New Wave, which was filmed before he was on The Office and released in 2007. He also starred as Brevin in the Gregg Araki film Smiley Face, filmed in 2006. More recently, he had major supporting roles in the films License to Wed, with Mandy Moore and Robin Williams, and Leatherheads with George Clooney and Renee Zellweger. From April to June 2008 he filmed Away We Go, directed by Sam Mendes and co-starring Maya Rudolph.[12] He appeared with Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin in the Nancy Meyers romantic comedy It's Complicated, released in late 2009.[13]
In 2006 Krasinski wrote and directed Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, an adaptation of David Foster Wallace's collection of short stories. It premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.[14]
In addition to his role on The Office, Krasinski's television credits include appearances on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Without A Trace, Ed,[15] American Dad!,[16] and an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. His feature film credits include Kinsey, Duane Hopwood, Jarhead, The Holiday and Shrek the Third. He also had minor roles in For Your Consideration, Dreamgirls, and has a supporting role It's Complicated.
Krasinski will play the role of Ethan in a film adaptation of the novel Something Borrowed. He has also signed on to star with Drew Barrymore in Whales, a film based on the 1988 rescue of a trio of California gray whales.[17]
Other work
Beginning in March 2006, Krasinski narrated a series of commercials for Ask.com. He has also narrated commercials for Apple TV, Verizon Wireless, BlackBerry Storm,[18] My Coke Rewards,[19] and Carnival Cruise Lines,[20] and has appeared in print advertisements for Gap.[21]
A Quiet Place and Jack Ryan series
In 2018, Krasinski directed and co-wrote the horror film A Quiet Place, in which he also co-starred with his wife Emily Blunt. The film was released on April 6, 2018 by Paramount Pictures, to significant critical acclaim. It holds an approval rating of 95% based on 264 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "A Quiet Place artfully plays on elemental fears with a ruthlessly intelligent creature feature that's as original as it is scary – and establishes director John Krasinski as a rising talent." It also became a major box office hit, grossing over $325 million worldwide.
Krasinski is set to produce and star as the title character in the upcoming television series Jack Ryan, making him the fifth actor to portray the character after Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Chris Pine from the film series. Jack Ryan is set to premiere on Amazon Video on August 31, 2018. Four months before the series premiere, the series was renewed for a second season, after the critical and commercial success of A Quiet Place.
Personal life
Krasinski and his co-star on The Office, B.J. Novak, have been friends since childhood, as they attended elementary school, middle school, and high school together. They also played on the same Little League team, the Newton East Orioles. Krasinski's first stage experience was starring as Daddy Warbucks in a 6th-grade school production of Annie. His next role was in a satirical play written and cast by Novak when they were high school seniors. The two graduated from Newton South High School in 1997.[22][23]
In November 2008, Krasinski began dating English actress Emily Blunt, after they were set up by Blunt's The Devil Wears Prada co-star Anne Hathaway. On August 28, 2009, Blunt and Krasinski announced their engagement.[24] The couple married on July 10, 2010 in Italy. [25] They have two daughters named Hazel (born 2014) and Violet (born 2016).
Filmography
Films
[1][2]Krasinski at the 2008 Emmy Awards
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | State and Main | Judge's assistant | uncredited |
| 2002 | Fighting Still Life | Tyler | |
| Alma Mater | Flea Club Candidate 1 | ||
| 2004 | Kinsey | Ben | |
| Taxi | Messenger #3 | ||
| 2005 | Duane Hopwood | Bob Flynn | |
| Jarhead | Corporal Harrigan | ||
| 2006 | Doogal | Additional Voices | voice |
| For Your Consideration | Paper Badge Officer | ||
| The Holiday | Ben | ||
| Dreamgirls | Sam Walsh | ||
| 2007 | A New Wave | Gideon | |
| Smiley Face | Brevin | ||
| Shrek the Third | Sir Lancelot | voice | |
| License to Wed | Ben Murphy | ||
| 2008 | Leatherheads | Carter Rutherford | |
| 2009 | Brief Interviews with Hideous Men | Ryan/ Subject #20 | also writer and director Nominated: Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic |
| Monsters vs Aliens | Cuthbert | voice | |
| Away We Go | Burt Farlander | ||
| It's Complicated | Harley | ||
| 2011 | Something Borrowed | Ethan | |
| 2012 | Everybody Loves Whales | ||
| 2018 | A Quiet Place | Lee Abbott | also Director, writer and exeuctive producer |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Ed | Process Server | Episode "Good Advice" |
| 2004 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Jace Gleesing | Episode "Mad Hops" |
| 2005 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Lyle Davis | Episode "Who Shot Sherlock" |
| Without a Trace | Curtis Horne | Episode "The Bogie Man" | |
| 2006 | American Dad! | Gilbert | Episode "Irregarding Steve" |
| 2005–2013 | The Office | Jim Halpert | Every Episode
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2006, 2007) |
| 2018–present | Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan | Jack Ryan | Main role and executive producer |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Group | Award | Description | Film/Television series |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series[26] | Won | The Office |
| 2007 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series[27] | Won | |
| 2008 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |
| 2009 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |
| Sundance Film Festival | Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic | Nominated | Brief Interviews with Hideous Men |