John Krasinski is riding a wave of critical and imminent commercial success in light of the release of his latest directorial effort, the futuristic horror film A Quiet Place, which he co-wrote and co-stars with his wife, actor Emily Blunt. The latest release through Paramount and courtesy of Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes production company, it is a tense and taut cinematic experience that has already wowed audiences at the South by South West Film Festival and is generating the same level of buzz as the award-winning Get Out. STARBURST had the pleasure of meeting John during his recent press tour in London…
STARBURST: You are directing your wife and co-star Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place. What are her creative strengths in a film like this?
John Krasinski: Everything. I know that this was always going to be my greatest collaboration. I knew she was extremely talented and funnily enough, I was in an editing bay where they were editing Mary Poppins and the director, Rob Marshall, said to me that I would see how talented she was when she was working on this film.
A Quiet Place is one of the latest films from the Platinum Dunes brand, which has been responsible for the likes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Hitcher remakes. How much influence and involvement does Michael Bay, one of the founders of the brand, have on a film like yours, given his reputation for directing big-budget spectacles like Pearl Harbor and Transformers?
Michael, though he is one of the producers of the film and one of the founders of the Platinum Dunes brand, was actually very supportive of me in terms of actually securing the directing gig on A Quiet Place. He also understood and appreciated that it would be my experience primarily.
We read an interview with Emily recently where she mentioned that you shot A Quiet Place in six weeks in New York State, which is one week longer than it took Clint Eastwood to shoot Pale Rider in 1985. Did working a TV schedule like your work on The Office shape the rapid completion of this film?
Absolutely, one of the biggest pieces of advice given to me was actually during my work on The Office and it was more about getting to the truth of the piece and say the lines honestly. In the case of The Office, if they laughed then fine, if not, equally so.
You recently mentioned that you weren’t a big fan of horror films. Now that you have done one, what have you learned from the experience?
A whole lot. It is an incredible storytelling medium and at times it is not as bound in reality than if it was if you were making a film about a divorce. I knew that I wanted to do a movie that was a metaphor about a family and the art of survival.
What other genres do you wish to focus on as a director in the future?
Anything that hits me emotionally. I would love to do another horror film if they let me, but I would like to do other things in the future.
A Quiet Place is in cinemas now. You can read our review here.
