John Krasinski

John Burke Krasinski (/krəˈzɪnski/; born October 20, 1979) is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office. His film credits include Away We Go, Leatherheads, License to Wed, Big Miracle, Something Borrowed, It's Complicated, Promised Land and Aloha.

Early life

Krasinski was born youngest of 3 boys in Newton, Massachusetts to Mary Clare (née Doyle), a nurse, and Dr. Ronald Krasinski, an internist, His father is Polish-American and his mother is Irish-American. He has two older brothers, Kevin and Paul, and was raised Roman Catholic.

Krasinski made his stage debut as Daddy Warbucks in a sixth-grade school production of Annie. Afterwards, he co-starred in a satirical play written and cast by his future The Office co-star B.J. Novak when they were high school seniors. Krasinski and Novak graduated from Newton South High School in 1997.

Before entering college, Krasinski taught English as a foreign language in Costa Rica. From there, he went to Brown University, studying theatre arts under Lowry Marshall and John Emigh, and graduating in 2001 as a playwright with the honors thesis "Contents Under Pressure". During his time at Brown, he was a member of the sketch comedy group Out of Bounds. In college, he also helped coach youth basketball at The Gordon School in East Providence, Rhode Island. Then he attended the National Theater Institute in Waterford, Connecticut.

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-starring on television shows, as well as doing readings of off-Broadway plays while working as a waiter. 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. In 2000, Krasinski was a script intern on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Krasinski filmed the footage of Scranton, Pennsylvania, for The Office, including the clips shown in the opening credits. Krasinski directed an episode of The Office, titled "Sabre", the fifteenth episode of The Office's sixth season. He also directed the third episode of the show's eighth season, titled "Lotto" and the sixth episode of the show's ninth season, titled "The Boat". Krasinski starred as Gideon in A New Wave, released in 2007. He also starred as Brevin in the Gregg Araki film Smiley Face, filmed in 2006. Afterwards, he co-starred in films including License to Wed, with Mandy Moore and Robin Williams, and Leatherheads with George Clooney and Renée Zellweger. Krasinski co-starred in Away We Go with Maya Rudolph, directed by Sam Mendes that filmed from April to June 2008. He co-starred with Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin in Nancy Meyers' romantic comedy It's Complicated, released in late 2009.

In 2006, Krasinski wrote and directed Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, based on David Foster Wallace's collection of short stories. It premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Krasinski guest-starred in several television series including Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Without a Trace, Ed, American Dad! and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He also co-starred in films including Kinsey, Duane Hopwood, Jarhead, The Holiday and Shrek the Third. He also appeared in For Your Consideration and Dreamgirls.

Krasinski co-starred as Ethan in a film adaptation of the novel Something Borrowed. He also signed on to co-star with Drew Barrymore in Big Miracle. Krasinski also starred as Peter in the indie movie Nobody Walks that was released on September 6, 2012. He will appear in and also serve as executive producer with Aaron Sorkin on an HBO miniseries about the Chateau Marmont Hotel. Krasinski co-starred in and co-wrote Promised Land with Matt Damon that filmed in April 2012 and released on December 28, 2012. Krasinski was also one of the top candidates to star in Captain America: The First Avenger. Chris Evans eventually got the part.

Krasinski co-starred in Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy-drama Aloha with Rachel McAdams, Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone. Aloha was filmed in Hawaii from September to December 2013 and was released on May 29, 2015.

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, Esurance, BlackBerry Storm, My Coke Rewards, and Carnival Cruise Lines, and has appeared in print advertisements for Gap.

In April 2011, he co-starred in a New Era/Major League Baseball ad campaign with Alec Baldwin, playing off the rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. In 2012, he started narrating the show Head Games on the Discovery Channel.

Sometimes, he appears on The Young Turks.

Personal life

In November 2008, Krasinski began dating English actress Emily Blunt. Krasinski and Blunt became engaged in August 2009, and married on July 10, 2010 in Como, Italy. On February 16, 2014, Blunt gave birth to their daughter, Hazel. Actor Stanley Tucci, who married Blunt's sister Felicity in 2012, is Krasinski's brother-in-law.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• John Krasinski at the Internet Movie Database
• John Krasinski interview for License to Wed and The Office at TheCinemaSource.com
• John Krasinski Interview at AMCtv.com