‘The Office:’ Why John Krasinski Calls Himself the ‘Least Professional Actor’ You’ll Meet
John Krasinski may always be best known as Jim Halpert from The Office. Playing the lovable Dunder Mifflin salesman since the show premiered in 2005, the actor’s career went into high gear thanks to his performance on the sitcom.
Now with several directing credits to his name as well as various movie roles, Krasinski still insists he wouldn’t consider himself a polished thespian.
John Krasinski gets foot-in-mouth syndrome
In a 2016 interview with NPR, Krasinski described auditioning for the part of Jim on The Office. After hearing five actors read before him, Krasinski waited as producers took a lunch break. The aspiring actor then had a brief conversation with another person who entered the room.
“One guy sat across from me and said, are you nervous? And I said, oh, no, you either get these things or you don’t,” The Office alum recalled. “What I’m really nervous about is them screwing up a perfect show. The Americans always have the ability to screw up these amazing British shows, and I’m afraid this is going to be another one of them. And he said, oh, great. I’m Greg Daniels. I’m the executive producer.”
Luckily for Krasinski, Daniels had a good sense of humor and appreciated the actor’s directness.
“He later said honesty is the best policy. It’s the reason you got the role, which I think he’s still just being nice,” Krasinski shared. “I won’t dare try it again by going into auditions now saying I think this movie is going to be horrible and then see if they give me the role.”
‘The Office’ star is ‘proud’ to be known as Jim
Portraying the lovable Dunder Mifflin paper salesman for nine seasons, Krasinski is still seen as synonymous with Jim Halpert. While some actors bristle at being pigeon-holed, Krasinski sees the continual association to his Office persona as a compliment.
“There’s worse things to be in life than known as the nice guy, so I appreciate that,” the Leatherheads star explained. “I’ve always been a realist, so I’ve never been frustrated by, you know, being the nice guy or certainly not being Jim. People ask me all the time, is it hard to get away from being known as Jim? And I always say being known as Jim is one of the best honors I’ll ever have.”
Acknowledging that his fame is due to loyal viewers tuning in to the NBC sitcom each week, Krasinski feels nothing but gratitude for being known as Jim.
“That means that I was led into your house and you cared so much about the show and actually cared enough about my character that you only know me as that person,” Krasinski remarked. “I find that a huge compliment and something I take very seriously and I’m very proud of.”
John Krasinski tends to ‘break’
While he’s been serving as director on films including The Hollars and A Quiet Place, Krasinski credits The Office for honing his skills as an actor.
“I learned so much from that show because it was groundbreaking in television, I think,” the 13 Hours star said. “But it was also groundbreaking for me. This was a type of acting that you very rarely will get to do again. It was so up to the actors to decide when you said things, how you said things… And so I was so proud of that… I’m definitely a nerd ’cause I still laugh at our show.”
Apparently, Krasinski also laughed while filming the show, where he often wasn’t able to get through his lines without cracking up. The actor also revealed he has a distinct laugh that’s gone viral.
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“I’m the least professional person. I am the least professional actor you can meet when it comes to breaking,” Krasinski admitted. “I laugh all the time. There are way too many outtakes of me laughing. And I believe as the Internet has confirmed… I laugh like a little princess when I laugh.”
