John Krasinski

After graduating from Brown University, Krasinski moved to New York to pursue acting. He appeared in commercials and guest-starred on television shows, as well as doing readings of off-Broadway plays while working as a waiter.[18] He starred in the play What the Eunuch Saw, which was written and directed by his former college classmates Emily O'Dell and Isaac Robert Hurwitz.[19] In 2000, Krasinski interned as a scriptwriter on the show Late Night with Conan O'Brien.[20][21]

Krasinski's breakthrough came in 2004 when he was cast in the NBC sitcom The Office, a remake of the successful British TV series. In the series, a mockumentary about life at a mid-sized paper supply company, he played the role of Jim Halpert, an intelligent and mild-mannered sales representative and, in later seasons, co-manager of the paper distribution company Dunder Mifflin in Scranton, Pennsylvania.[22] Krasinski and Jenna Fischer's characters also served as the central love interests of the series.[23] To prepare for his role, Krasinski visited Scranton for research and interviewed employees at actual paper companies. He also shot the footage of Scranton used in the opening credits.[24] He appeared in every episode of the series and also directed several including "Sabre". For his work in the series (2005–2013), Krasinski earned approximately US$100,000 per episode of the third season of The Office, four times his salary for the previous two seasons.[25]

In 2006, Krasinski co-starred in Jason Carvey's independently produced, direct-to-DVD heist comedy A New Wave with Andrew Keegan and Lacey Chabert. In 2007, he co-starred with Anna Faris and Danny Masterson as Brevin in Gregg Araki's independent stoner comedy Smiley Face (2007). Reviews were largely positive for the film.[26] Later that year, he starred in the romantic comedy License to Wed (2007) with Mandy Moore and Robin Williams. Despite negative critical reception of the film, it emerged as a commercial success.[27] Krasinski guest-starred in a number of television series including Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Without a Trace, Ed,[28] American Dad![29] and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He also co-starred in films including Kinsey, Duane Hopwood, Jarhead, The Holiday and Shrek the Third, For Your Consideration and Dreamgirls.

Krasinski with The Office co-star Jenna Fischer in 2009

In 2008, Krasinski appeared alongside Renée Zellweger and George Clooney in the latter's directorial venture Leatherheads (2008), a period comedy about the early years of professional American football. He portrayed Carter "the Bullet" Rutherford, Princeton University's college football star and a decorated hero of the First World War. MTV.com praised his acting, describing him as "an actor who's able to project both boyish warmth and intellectual concern" while also stating that he "manages the considerable feat of holding the screen opposite Clooney without melting in the heat of his trademark movie-star mega-wattage."[30]

In 2009, Krasinski made his directorial debut in the comedy-drama film Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. He wrote the screenplay for the film based on David Foster Wallace's collection of short stories, played a minor role in it and also served as producer. The film premiered on January 19, 2009 at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize[31] and received mostly positive reviews.[32] Film critic A.O. Scott wrote that "though this experiment doesn't quite succeed, there's enough intelligence and insight in this movie to make it worth the attempt" while Elizabeth Weitzman from New York Daily News felt that "Krasinski deserves credit for having the ambition to adapt material as difficult as David Foster Wallace's short stories."[32]

The same year, he starred in the comedy-drama Away We Go with Maya Rudolph, directed by Sam Mendes.[33] It follows a couple searching North America for the perfect community in which to settle down and start a family. The film received positive reviews from critics. In his review, Michael Rechtshaffen from The Hollywood Reporter, said "terrific performances make this tender if slight little film worth the trip".[34] His third 2009 role was in Nancy Meyers' romantic comedy It's Complicated as part of an ensemble cast that included Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Lake Bell and Alec Baldwin.[35] The film was a box office success, grossing over $219 million worldwide.[36] It won the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Awards for Best Ensemble Cast for the film.

In 2011, Krasinski co-starred with Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson and Colin Egglesfield in the romantic comedy Something Borrowed, based on Emily Giffin's novel of the same name. Despite the film receiving negative reviews, his performance was widely praised.[37] Krasinski was also one of the top candidates to play the role of Steve Rogers/Captain America in the superhero film Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).[38]

Krasinski then starred with Drew Barrymore in the drama Big Miracle (2012), which covers Operation Breakthrough, the 1988 international effort to rescue gray whales from being trapped in ice near Point Barrow, Alaska.[39] The film saw him play Adam Carlson, a news reporter .[40] The same year, Krasinski starred in Ry Russo-Young's independent drama Nobody Walks with Olivia Thirlby and Rosemarie DeWitt.[41] In the film, Krasinski plays Peter, a sound-designer, husband and father of two who starts developing romantic feelings for a young artist while collaborating on her first art film.[42] His performance was praised by critics.[42] Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "Krasinski is such an appealing actor that his likability serves to complicate Peter's behavior in interesting ways."[42] Nobody Walks premiered in Competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and won a special Jury Prize.[43]

Krasinski at the Toronto Film Festival 2012

Next, Krasinski starred in, co-produced and co-wrote the screenplay for the drama Promised Land with Matt Damon based on a story by Dave Eggers that released on December 28, 2012.[44] The film follows two corporate salespeople who visit a rural town in an attempt to buy drilling rights from the local residents and was directed by Gus Van Sant. Krasinski came up with the film's premise and developed the idea with Eggers. They later pitched the idea to Damon.[45] It received Special Mention Award at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2013. He also narrated the documentary television series Head Games (2012) on the Discovery Channel.[46]

In 2013, Krasinski founded the production company Sunday Night production with Allyson Seeger. The company has an overall deal with Twentieth Century Fox Television.[47] Under the banner, Krasinski and Seeger along with Stephen Merchant, became executive producers of the live-action/animated sitcom Dream Corp, LLC created by Daniel Stessen on Adult Swim. Lost star Jon Gries co-starred.[48] Krasinski along with Merchant are also executive producers of the musical reality competition television series Lip Sync Battle which debuted on the American cable network Spike, on Thursday April 2, 2015.[49] The show is a spin-off of a bit first introduced on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Merchant, Krasinski and Krasinski's wife, Emily Blunt, were brainstorming ideas for Krasinski's upcoming appearance on Late Night when the idea took shape.[50] Jimmy Fallon then developed it into a recurring segment on his show. The show proved to be a major success for Spike; its series premiere was the highest-rated non-scripted premiere in Spike's history.[51] In July 2016, the show received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in the Outstanding Structured Reality Program category.[52]

In 2014, Krasinski collaborated with his Promised Land co-star and co-writer Matt Damon on the critically acclaimed 2016 drama Manchester by the Sea which starred Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams. The film was written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan and is based on an original idea of Krasinski's.[53] The film received six nominations at the 89th Academy Awards including Best Picture.[54] Next, Krasinski co-starred in Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy-drama Aloha with Rachel McAdams, Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone.[55] The film received a negative reaction and controversy from critics and audiences alike.[56]

In 2016, Krasinski starred in Michael Bay's biographical war film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi based on Mitchell Zuckoff's 2014 book 13 Hours. The film follows six members of Annex Security Team who fought to defend the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya after waves of attacks by Islamic militants on September 11, 2012. Krasinski went through extensive physical training for the role and put on 25 pounds of muscle to play a former US Navy SEAL.[57] That same year, he directed the comedy-drama The Hollars. The film also marked the first feature film produced under his banner Sunday Night.[58] Krasinski also starred in the film alongside an ensemble cast of Sharlto Copley, Charlie Day, Richard Jenkins, Anna Kendrick and Margo Martindale. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2016. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote that Krasinski "tackles the most clichéd genre in the movie business – the dysfunctional family dramedy." and that "he pulls it off with uncommon humor and compassion."[59]

Krasinski starred in the world premiere of the Off-Broadway play Dry Powder with Hank Azaria, Claire Danes, and Sanjit De Silva which was directed by Thomas Kail. The play ran from March to May 2016 at The Public Theater in New York City which sold out its run before opening. His performance was widely praised by critics and, later that year, he received the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance.[60][61] He also co-starred in the black and white short film Past Forward for Italian luxury fashion house Prada which was directed by David O. Russell and premiered in September 2016 at Milan Fashion Week.[62] In October 2016, he directed a live reading of the Good Will Hunting (1997) screenplay at New York's Skirball Theater in a one-off stage appearance of both the original stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon along with Emily Blunt.[63]

Krasinski's only release in 2017 was Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit.[64] The film was set during the 1967 Detroit riots and was released in July 2017, around the time of the 50th anniversary of the events, and on the anniversary day of the Algiers Motel incident, which is depicted in the film.[65]

In 2018, Krasinski directed and co-wrote the 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.[66] 95% of 367 reviews for the film are positive at rottentomatoes.com, which describes Krasinski as a "rising talent".[67] It also became a major box office hit, grossing over $340 million worldwide.[68]

Krasinski produces and stars as the title character in the 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 premiered 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.[69]

In March 2020, Krasinski started a web series titled Some Good News on YouTube as a response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The series focused on highlighting good news at the time, while featuring celebrities including Steve Carell, Robert De Niro, the entire original Broadway cast of Hamilton, Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Jon Stewart, Malala Yousafzai and the cast of The Office.[70][71] Krasinski became ordained as a minister in the state of Massachusetts to officiate a virtual wedding as part of the series.[72] The eight episode series attracted 72 million views and 2.58 million subscribers.[73] On May 22, 2020, ViacomCBS announced they had acquired the show to air on CBS All Access.[74] While Krasinski will no longer host the show, he will maintain some on-screen presence and will serve as the show's executive producer.[74] After receiving criticism on social media Krasinski defended the sale, saying that he had not planned on producing more than eight episodes of the show, and was focused on other commitments such as Jack Ryan.[75]

Beginning in March 2006, Krasinski narrated a series of commercials for Ask.com.[76] He has also narrated commercials for Apple TV, Verizon Wireless, Esurance,[77] BlackBerry Storm,[78] My Coke Rewards,[79] and Carnival Cruise Lines,[80] and has appeared in print advertisements for Gap.[81] He was also listed as one of People's Sexiest Men Alive in 2006, 2009, 2018, and 2019. He has also narrated two children's books: Curious George Goes to the Hospital[82] and Curious George: 75th Anniversary Edition.[83]