John Krasinski May Have Given ‘The Office’s’ Jim and Pam a Shout Out in ‘A Quiet Place’
Fans of The Office hold a special place in their hearts for Jim and Pam Halpert, the now iconic couple portrayed by John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer on the infamous sitcom. Unfolding their romance from flirtation to marriage with children, the NBC comedy put Krasinski and Fischer on the map of stardom and created a relationship that will live in television history.
Both actors have sang each other’s praises over the years, where they clearly cherished their time on the show and the magic Jim and Pam brought to viewers. Now an established director, Krasinski may have paid homage to his former TV wife in a scene from his blockbuster film A Quiet Place.
John Krasinski doubles as dad and director
The Office alum released A Quiet Place in 2018, which he directed and starred in with his wife Emily Blunt. The couple had just welcomed their newborn baby Violet when Krasinski got the script in 2016.
“We just had our second daughter about three weeks before I read the script,” the actor explained. “And so I was already in the state of terror of keeping this girl safe, keeping this girl alive and whether or not I was a good enough father to be her father.”
The psycho-thriller’s premise chronicled a family of four’s quest to survive in a world where making any sound could literally get you killed.
“In comes this script about a family that relies on each other, about parents that would do absolutely anything for their kids,” Krasinski told The Lantern in 2018. “So when I asked to do the rewrite I really wanted to drill down on all that family stuff and make every single part of the movie come back to being a family.”
How ‘The Office’ influenced tone of ‘A Quiet Place’
Krasinski explained how sitcom creator Greg Daniels gave him advice that he found invaluable to his role on the show and used in his directing of the 2018 film.
“It’s funny, on The Office, I remember Greg Daniels — the creator of the show — telling me ‘your job is not to deliver these lines funny. Your job is to deliver these lines and if people think they’re funny that’s up to them,'” Krasinski recalled. “‘And if people think that what you say to Pam is emotional that’s up to them too.'”
The Jack Ryan star revealed that the guidance he received from Daniels helped him craft the narrative for A Quiet Place. “I’ve got to be really honest with you, I never would have done this movie if it wasn’t for that advice because I looked at this not as a horror movie but I looked at it just like Greg said,” Krasinski shared. “I said, ‘If I can make you fall in love with this family then you’ll be scared because you don’t want anything to happen to them.’ So I owe him a lot for that.”
Possible throwback to Season 2, ‘The Client’
Since the backdrop of A Quiet Place is complete silence, the characters had to interact without words. The film showcases a scene where Lee and Evelyn Abbott (portrayed by Krasinski and Blunt) listen to music via shared earbuds. Sound familiar?
Think back to The Office Season 2, Episode 7, entitled “The Client.” Central characters Jim and Pam were still in the will-they-or-won’t-they stage of romance, with each episode having fans hoping they will finally profess their feelings for each other.
At the end of the episode, Jim is listening to music from his iPod as he’s leaving Dunder Mifflin’s office building with Pam. Asking for Jim to share his music, Pam takes one of his earbuds and listens along with him. The simple interaction ended up becoming one of the trademark romantic scenes that helped launch the Jim-Pam coupling into sitcom infamy.
Though Krasinski hasn’t confirmed if his scene in A Quiet Place was an official tribute to The Office pair, fans of the legendary comedy heard the shout out loud and clear.
