John Krasinski On A Quiet Place & Working With Wife Emily Blunt
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- John Krasinski might best be known as Jim from the hit comedy TV series 'The Office,' but in recent years, he's shown his dramatic acting chops appearing in films like '13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi' and has directed movies as well.
In his new film, 'A Quiet Place,' he jumped into three roles. He stars in it, directs it and co-wrote the screenplay for the film described as a heart pounding roller coaster ride.
The tag line for this modern thriller is, "If they hear you they will hunt you."
It's set in a post-apocalyptic world where a family of four must live in total silence or be hunted by mysterious creatures.
But it's not only a sit on the edge of your seat thriller; it's also a love story.
"Yes, that's exactly why I signed on to the movie," said Krasinski to CBS4's Lisa Petrillo. "Everybody asked me why I did a horror movie and I'm scaredy cat. I can't watch horror movies, so for me, this story I read was as a metaphor for parenting. This is about parents doing everything they can to protect their kids. We had just had our second daughter three weeks after I read the script and I was wide open thinking, 'Can I keep this girl safe? Can I keep her alive I am I good enough to be her dad'?"
To stay alive, the family must communicate through sign language and whispers.
"The silence. Silence has never been so loud," said Petrillo.
Krasinski liked that!
"That's a cool line. I need to put it that the poster! Truth is, that's what I was most scared of, the silence. I realized this could be an amazing cool thing if I could pull it off. Within a day or two watching these performances and watching my wife was incredible, but watching those amazing kids and they're giving these looks which were so visceral so emotional, I said this might actually work."
Krasinski's real life wife is actress Emily Blunt with whom he has two young daughters. Blunt plays his wife in the film. It's a role she thought she'd tell a friend about until she read the script and wanted it.
"So when she said she wanted to do the movie, I needed her to ask me to do it. If she said no, that would've been an awkward dinner. Then if she said yes, I'll do it for you that would've felt weird for me and I wouldn't have been able to direct her in same way. So the fact she read it, and wanted to do it changed everything for me, truly it was the greatest compliment of my career."
A Quiet Place opens in theaters Friday. It's rated R.
