John Krasinski Ran Into Another Superhero While Auditioning for ‘Captain America’
Though John Krasinski will always be thought of as the lovable Jim Halpert from NBC’s hit The Office, the actor is making quite a name for himself as a screenwriter and director. With his box office smash The Quiet Place in 2018 and the sequel hitting theaters in March, Krasinski also manages to keep busy by playing the title role in Amazon Prime’s Jack Ryan.
Now Krasinski is rumored to play Mr. Fantastic – aka Reed Richards – in Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Fantastic Four reboot. The Office alum has previously attempted to join the blockbuster franchise when he tried out for the role of Captain America. Krasinski recently recalled auditioning to play the superhero when he stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Previous rivalry
With the role of Captain America eventually going to Chris Evans, Krasinski revealed that he and the Marvel actor had both grown up in neighboring towns outside of Boston, Massachusetts, and may have even competed against each other on the field.
“We weirdly went to rival high schools at the same time. I think we might have played sports against each other but didn’t know,” Krasinski said.
Auditioning for Captain America before Evans was officially offered the part, Krasinski got so far in the process he was even given the opportunity to don the infamous superhero suit. “Yes, I put on the suit,” he told Men’s Health in 2018. “Yes, I did the screen test. But I knew they’d offered it to Chris [Evans] like four times.”
Getting the news
The actor specifically remembered getting the fateful news on losing out to Evans. “Eventually I got the call,” Krasinski said, according to Men’s Health. “‘Chris is engaging.’ And I was like, ‘Of course he is! Look at that dude. He is Captain America!’ It’s the way I was brought up—I’ve always been a realist and I respect the situation. You can’t fight against things you can’t control.”
Krasinski shared in the interview that despite losing the part to Evans, he chose to move forward and even kept his evening plans with wife Emily Blunt.
“I remember we were on our way to a party for Emily’s birthday when I found out,” he shared. “I hung up the phone and [told her], ‘Yeah, it’s not me.’ She was like, ‘Do you want to cancel?’ And I said, ‘No, let’s go.’”
Run in with Thor
In his recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Krasinski revealed that he happened to see a fellow actor from the Marvel franchise just as he was suiting up.
“I was putting the suit on and I was halfway up, not wearing any other clothes other than this,” Krasinski said, according to UPI. “I was halfway up and I was like, ‘I think…’ Right at that moment, Chris Hemsworth walked by. He was like, ‘You look good, mate.'”
Despite Hemsworth’s compliment, Krasinski felt a tad out of his league. “I was like, ‘Nope. You know what? It’s fine. We don’t have to do this. He was just like, jacked,” he told DeGeneres of Hemsworth.
“He was like, ‘You’re going to look great in that suit.’ I was like, ‘Don’t make fun of me, Hemsworth.’ I just walked away right there,” he said jokingly. “No, I didn’t. I acted my heart out that day, and it didn’t work out.”
Though he didn’t land the part of Captain America, Krasinski has truly achieved super celeb status with his many other major roles. Plus, he will always live in the hearts of Office fans.
