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 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 and A Quiet Place. 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 Casey Affleck role) but pulled out before pre-production began.
In 2018, he became the latest actor to portray the popular Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan on his eponymous Amazon series of the same name.
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 as like 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 his brother-in-law (though marriage note ) is actor Stanley Tucci.
Selected filmography:
As actor
- The Office (2005 — 2013) as Jim Halpert
- The Holiday (2006) as Ben
- Dreamgirls (2006) as Sam Walsh
- Smiley Face (2007) as Brevin
- Shrek the Third (2007) as Sir Lancelot (voice)
- 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) (2017) as Owen Huntington (voice)
- Jack Ryan (2018 —) as Jack Ryan note
- Next Gen (2018) as Project 7723 (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 (2020)
As producer
- Lip Sync Battle (2015 — present)
- Manchester by the Sea (2016)
- Dream Corp LLC (2016 — present)
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.
- Mr. Fanservice: Krasinski's elevation from comic relief to action hero in works like 13 Hours and Jack Ryan have had a noticeable impact on his looks
◊. - Separated at Birth: He and Zachary Levi bear an uncanny resemblance to one another.
- 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.
