John Krasinski Finally Landed a Role With His Dream Filmmaker

The big picture

• John Krasinski juggles multiple projects, including Oppenheimer and A Quiet Place: Day One, but his passion project IF takes center stage.
• IF: Imaginary Friends features an all-star voice cast and a heartfelt story for both kids and adults, starring Ryan Reynolds.
• Despite his success, Krasinski remains humble and grateful for his journey as a director from indie films to Hollywood blockbusters.

Talk about a busy guy. Actor, writer, producer and director John Krasinski is having a banner year between sharing the success of Oppenheimer with his Oscar-nominated wife Emily Blunthis horror saga continues with A Quiet Place: First Dayand his family passion project, YES coming to theaters. Still, even with all that in the works, as well as a dream role come true with the filmmaker Guy Ritchie in progress, it is YES that has Krasinski on edge.

IF: Imaginary friends is written and directed by Krasinski and straddles the line between made for kids and made for adults in terms of story. Of course, there are colorful animated imaginary friends voiced by an all-star cast like Krasinski's old one. The office co-star Steve Carell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Matt Damon (the martian), i bradley cooper (teacher), but it packs a punch with its earnest narrative. At the top of the call sheet is Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool and Wolverine) i Cailey Fleming (The walking Dead) who co-star as the heroes who need the IFs to reunite them with their previous children.

During this conversation with Collider's Steve WeintraubKrasinski recalls his directorial debut at Sundance with The Hollarscomparing his take on indie projects to big studio blockbusters like YES and whether his view has changed since then. He explains how influential his children have been since then YESthe conception of him and of which critics he was most terrified. They also talk about future projects like Ritchie's fountain of youth and whether Krasinski will ever return to television.

You can watch the full interview in the video above or read the transcript below.

John Krasinski was the first DunKing

COLLIDER: I'm going to start with the most important question first.

JOHN KRASINSKI: What is: “Why did Ben Affleck steal our Dunkin' Donuts campaign?”

[Laughs] It's so funny that I'm going with Dunkin' Donuts on my first question! I love that you did. So, as a fellow New Englander and someone who tried to get a Dunkin' Donuts in LA before moving back, how crazy were you not to be at DunKings? Especially after casting Matt Damon?

KRASINSKI: Look, I don't know what I have to do to get into the DunKings, but I do feel like i've done almost everything i can and it's not working. So why don't you call them for me? I think you have more juice than me. [Laughs]

I don't think that's true. It's funny, this is so random, but I did an interview with Affleck and I talked to him about Dunkin' Donuts, and it picked up over the years. I really think, because it kept picking up, that's what led him to get that ad. It's not a joke.

KRASINSKI: Of course it is.

We got it wrong because We they were also talking about Dunkin' Donuts.

John Krasinski's daughter was involved in the marketing of IF

Anyways, so you created this movie as a result of your children. You have been inspired by them. So, were you more nervous about showing the film for the first time at the studio or to your kids?

KRASINSKI: The study I have already shown. My kids haven't seen it yet. They will see it tonight or tomorrow, and It will definitely be the most scared I've ever been to show anyone in my life. So, whether it's a study or not, the kids are the ones I'm most looking forward to reviewing.

Yeah, I can't imagine. Obviously they haven't seen it A Quiet Place or some of the other things you've done.

KRASINSKI: Imagine if I said yes. I say, “No, no, they do. They know it and they have lots of notes about it.” No, exactly. I've been joking about it, but I don't know what they thought I did because Emily definitely has an advantage in our house with Mary Poppins [Returns] i Cruise through the jungle, so they definitely knew what they were doing. I think they thought I was an accountant or something. It was very exciting to bring them from the beginning. I presented them with the idea and the terrible drawings. I'm a terrible artist, but I would show them the terrible drawings I was making and they would engage with it.

So, they were involved throughout the entire trailer, in fact. My oldest daughter, when the second trailer came out, I showed her before it came out and she said, “It's really good.” I said, “Is there anything you want to add?” And she said, “Yeah, I really miss that line, 'We've got to help them,' and Ryan's like, 'Yeah, we do.'” And I said, “What?” And she said, “I don't know, it was very emotional. You should put it back on.” And I did it.

First of all, this is amazing. When you finish the movie, you obviously show it to friends and family, or someone. Who gave you the best notes that you incorporated into the film from an early screening?

KRASINSKI: There's certainly a close group of people that I trust deeply, but no one as much as, obviously, my family, but outside of my family, my producing partner, Allyson. [Seeger], is the one I trust the most. I think the advice he gave me, or should I say the take he had at first, was to do it let the film be what it wants to be, which is this emotional film. It's not just for kids, it's not for adults. It's kind of in the middle, which is a scary place because you can get lost twice. And I think the confidence to move forward is always nice when you have someone who has your back, which is kind of what the whole movie is about.

John Krasinski never forgets where his direction started

We spoke many years ago at Sundance for your first film, and at the time you were just trying to make a film. Your career was still in its infancy. How do you feel now that you can make a big Hollywood movie, and if you want to make another one, people will want to work with you?

KRASINSKI: You know, it's very funny that you say that. There is something about Sundance that has always been so special to me, and there are certain points in my career that I always look back on and feel represent the entirety of my career, Sundance being one of them. There's something about walking out the doors with something that's so close to your heart and true to yourself that you hope you can keep it. So now that I'm doing bigger films, I have to say, I try to never look at them like that. I mean, this is a huge movie now, but when I came up with the idea it was just a crazy, ambitious idea that if I didn't execute it well in the script, I wouldn't have been able to come up with a good idea. enough actress like Cailey Fleming. There are so many of these parts that you just get into it almost like every movie is a Sundance movie.

I am obviously a fan of your work. I'm a fan of you as an actor and as a director.

KRASINSKI: Thank you.

Is John Krasinski done with TV?

Are you interested in taking on another TV role that could carry you for years? Are you writing more scripts with the direction plan? What are you thinking about?

KRASINSKI: That's a great question. I mean, the truth is, I try not to premeditate too much because there's something so organic about what inspires you and what comes next. Right now, I'm shooting a Guy Ritchie movie just as an actor, and that's, like, a dream come true. I've been Guy Ritchie's biggest fan forever, so if you had asked me at Sundance if I would ever work with Guy Ritchie, I would have said, “No way.” So, I just leave the door open, and hope that some magic has room to come in and give me an idea.

Are you writing something now?

KRASINSKI: I'm not now. I'm talking to you, but I mean… [Laughs] No, I'm not writing anything right now. We just finished this movie so recently it's crazy that it's even coming out. It's still a bit surreal.

YES now playing exclusively in theaters. Click the link below to view the timetables.

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