John Krasinski Biography

John Burke Krasinski (born October 20, 1979) is an American actor, film director, and writer. He is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office. He has appeared in many films, including Away We Go, Leatherheads, License to Wed, Big Miracle, Something Borrowed, It's Complicated, and Promised Land.

Early life

Krasinski was born in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of a Polish-American father, internist Dr. Ronald Krasinski, and an Irish-American mother, Mary Clare (née Doyle). He has two older brothers, Kevin and Paul, and was raised Roman Catholic.

Krasinski's first stage experience was starring as Daddy Warbucks in a 6th-grade school production of Annie. His next role was in a satirical play written and cast by his Office co-star B.J. Novak when they were high school seniors. The two graduated from Newton South High School in 1997.

Before entering college, Krasinski taught English 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 an honors thesis entitled "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. He then 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 spots 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 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. More recently, he had major roles in the films License to Wed, with Mandy Moore and Robin Williams, and Leatherheads with George Clooney and Renée Zellweger. From April to June 2008 he filmed Away We Go, directed by Sam Mendes and co-starring Maya Rudolph. He appeared with Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin in the Nancy Meyers romantic comedy It's Complicated, released in late 2009.

In 2006, Krasinski wrote and directed Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, an adaptation of David Foster Wallace's collection of short stories. It premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Krasinski's other television credits include Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Without A Trace, Ed, American Dad!, and an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. His feature film credits include Kinsey, Duane Hopwood, Jarhead, The Holiday and Shrek the Third. He also had minor roles in For Your Consideration and Dreamgirls.

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

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 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.

Personal life

In November 2008, Krasinski began dating British actress Emily Blunt. They became engaged in August 2009, and married on July 10, 2010 in Como, Italy.

Krasinski is a Democrat. On May 21, 2012, he, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon hosted a Democratic Party fundraiser in Santa Monica, California for Democratic Senate nominee Elizabeth Warren.

On September 11, 2013, a representative for Blunt confirmed that the couple were expecting their first child.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	State and Main	Judge's assistant	Uncredited
2002	Fighting Still Life	Tyler	Short film
2002	Alma Mater	Flea club candidate 1
2004	Kinsey	Ben
2004	Taxi	Messenger #3
2005	Duane Hopwood	Bob Flynn
2005	Jarhead	Corporal Harrigan
2006	Doogal	Additional voices
2006	'	Gideon
2006	For Your Consideration	Paper Badge Officer
2006	'	Ben
2006	Dreamgirls	Sam Walsh
2007	Smiley Face	Brevin
2007	Shrek the Third	Sir Lancelot	Voice only
2007	License to Wed	Ben Murphy
2008	Leatherheads	Carter Rutherford
2009	Brief Interviews with Hideous Men	Ryan/Subject #20	Also screenwriter, director, and producer Nominated " Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
2009	Monsters vs. Aliens	Cuthbert	Voice only
2009	Away We Go	Burt Farlander
2009	It's Complicated	Harley
2011	Something Borrowed	Ethan
2011	'	Himself	Cameo appearance
2012	Nobody Walks	Peter
2012	Big Miracle	Adam Carlson
2012	Promised Land	Dustin Noble	Also screenwriter and producer
2013	Monsters University	"Frightening" Frank McCay	Voice only
2014	'	Halim	Voice only Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Ed	Process server	Episode: "Good Advice"
2004	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Jace Gleesing	Episode: "Mad Hops"
2005	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Lyle Davis	Episode: "Who Shot Sherlock"
2005"2013	'	Jim Halpert	Main cast; 187 episodes
2005	Without a Trace	Curtis Horne	Episode: "The Bogie Man"
2006	American Dad!	Gilbert (voice)	Episode: "Irregarding Steve"
2013	Arrested Development	Spyder Foode	Episode: "The B. Team"

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2006	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	The Office
2007	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	The Office
2008	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	The Office
2009	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	The Office
2009	Sundance Film Festival	Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic	Brief Interviews with Hideous Men