John Burke Krasinski (born October 20, 1979 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American actor, director, writer, producer, and voiceover artist.
Getting his start in show business interning at Late Night with Conan O'Brien, he's perhaps best known for playing Jim Halpert (the American counterpart to Martin Freeman's Tim Canterbury) on The Office for nine seasons.
While on The Office, Krasinski began making a name for himself in films like Leatherheads, Away We Go, and Aloha. He's also written and directed himself in movies, including an adaptation of David Foster Wallace's Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, Promised Land, and the horror film A Quiet Place.
Despite gaining a reputation for portraying the comic relief in projects for a large part of his professional career, Krasinski saw a noticeable transition towards serious drama and action roles during The New '10s, appearing in works like 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, the aforementioned A Quiet Place, and the Amazon series Jack Ryan, where he starred as the namesake Tom Clancy character. He also executive produced 2016's Manchester by the Sea, which was derived from a story by himself and frequent collaborator Matt Damon; he was originally attached to star in the film as well (presumably in the role eventually played by Casey Affleck), but pulled out before pre-production began.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic in early 2020, Krasinski hosted Some Good News, a home-made web news bulletin entirely dedicated to good news. It gathered a surprisingly large following.
Krasinski's voice is also fairly distinctive and recognizable, having done voiceover work in projects such as Monsters University and The Wind Rises. He's also done television ads for businesses like Esurance. Outside of acting, Krasinski has served as a producer for various film and television projects (many of which starring himself) as well as the game show Lip Sync Battle, which he co-created with Stephen Merchant. Adapting the recurring segment of the same name on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the format has since been translated to seventeen (and counting) regions outside the United States.
His personal life is pretty A-list. George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jimmy Kimmel, Jason Segel, and Matt Damon are just a few of his close friends, and have all worked with him in some capacity; he's been married to actress Emily Blunt since 2010, with whom he has two daughters; and actor Stanley Tucci is his brother-in-law (through marriage note ).
Selected filmography:
As actor
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Jace Gleesing
- The Office (US) (2005 — 2013) as Jim Halpert
- Without a Trace (2005) as Curtis Horne
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Lyle Davis
- The Holiday (2006) as Ben
- Dreamgirls (2006) as Sam Walsh
- Smiley Face (2007) as Brevin
- Shrek the Third (2007) as Sir Lancelot (voice)
- License to Wed (2007) as Ben Murphy
- Leatherheads (2008) as Carter Rutherford
- Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) as Cuthbert (voice)
- Away We Go (2009) as Burt Farlander
- It's Complicated (2009) as Harley
- Something Borrowed (2011) as Ethan
- The Muppets (2011) as himself
- Big Miracle (2012) Adam Carlson
- Monsters University (2013) as "Frightening" Frank McCay (voice)
- The Wind Rises (2013) as Honjo (English dub)
- Aloha (2015) as John "Woody" Woodside
- 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) as Jack Da Silva
- Animal Crackers (2017) as Owen Huntington (voice)
- Jack Ryan (2018 —) as Jack Ryan note
- Next Gen (2018) as Project 7723 (voice)
- Free Guy (2021) as Silhouetted Gamer (uncredited role)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) as Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic of Earth-838
- DC League of Super-Pets (2022) as Clark Kent / Superman (voice)
As actor and filmmaker
- Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2009) as Ryan/Subject #20 note
- Promised Land (2012) as Dustin Noble note
- The Hollars (2016) as John Hollar note
- A Quiet Place (2018) as Lee Abbott note
- A Quiet Place Part II (2021) note
- IF (2024) note as Bea's Dad & Marshmallow (voice)
As producer
- Lip Sync Battle (2015 — present)
- Manchester by the Sea (2016)
- Dream Corp LLC (2016 — present)
- A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
His work provides examples of:
- Aside Glance: His trademark move as Jim from The Office was to stare directly at the camera whenever something insane was happening at Dunder Mifflin.
- Ascended Fancast: He was a hugely popular fancast for the role of Reed Richards in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and eventually played the role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, albiet as a version of the character residing in a parallel universe to the main MCU. It is currently unknown if he will reprise the role in the proper upcoming Fantastic Four film.
- Deadpan Snarker: Most noteably as Jim but most of his characters thus far have been this.
- Mr. Fanservice: He got really ripped to play a Navy SEAL in 13 Hours and his roles since have been happy to call attention to his new physique.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Had a series of commercials for New Era where he and Alec Baldwin took their Red Sox—Yankees rivalry over the top.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: He's 6'3 and his characters tend to be very quick witted and deadpan.
- Tom Hanks Syndrome: His career went from comic relief to serious action hero in works like 13 Hours and Jack Ryan. While he has earned some success, a number of people have commented that his trademark Aside Glance is difficult to separate from any non-Jim character where the slightest hint of looking at the camera implies Breaking the Fourth Wall.
