John Burke Krasinski (/krəˈzɪnski/; born October 20, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office. He also served as a producer and occasional director of the series throughout its nine-season run.
Educated in theatre arts at Brown University and the National Theater Institute, Krasinski is the recipient of a number of accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Award nominations and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018.
His film credits include License to Wed (2007), Leatherheads (2008), Away We Go (2009), It's Complicated (2009), Something Borrowed (2011), Big Miracle (2012), Promised Land (2012), Aloha (2015), The Hollars (2016), and 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016). Krasinski directed and starred in the drama Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2009) and the comedy-drama film The Hollars (2016). In 2018, Krasinski co-wrote, directed, and starred in the critically acclaimed horror film A Quiet Place. That year, he began portraying the title character in the Amazon thriller series Jack Ryan, which he also produces. He was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for his role.
In addition to acting in television series and films, Krasinski has performed voice-over work in both animated and documentary films such as Monsters University and a small role in Shrek the Third. He established a production company, Sunday Night Productions, in 2013. Krasinski is married to English actress Emily Blunt, with whom he has two daughters.
Early life
John Burke Krasinski was born on October 20, 1979, at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, the youngest of three boys of nurse Mary Clare (née Doyle; born 1949) and internist Ronald Krasinski (born 1946). His mother is of Irish ancestry, while his father is of Polish descent. He was raised Catholic in the Boston suburb of Newton, Massachusetts.
Krasinski made his stage debut as Daddy Warbucks in a sixth-grade school production of the musical Annie. Afterwards, he co-starred in a satirical play written and cast by his future The Office co-star B. J. Novak when they were high school seniors. Krasinski and Novak graduated from Newton South High School in 1997. Before entering college, Krasinski taught English as a foreign language in Costa Rica for six months. While there, he saved a woman from drowning after she was caught in a riptide at a beach in Manuel Antonio National Park. Following his time in Costa Rica, Krasinski attended Brown University, where he studied English and playwriting and wrote an honors thesis entitled "Contents Under Pressure". He graduated from Brown in 2001.
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. After college, he attended the National Theater Institute in Waterford, Connecticut. He also studied at the Royal Shakespeare Company in England and the Actors Center in New York.
