John Krasinski Biography

Summary

"John Burke Krasinski" (born October 20, 1979) is an American actor, film director and writer. He has acted in several films, including "Shrek the Third", "Leatherheads" and "Away We Go", but is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom "The Office".

Early life

Krasinski was born in the Brighton area of Boston, Massachusetts, the son of a Polish-American father, internist Dr. Ronald Krasinski, and an Irish American mother, Mary Clare (née Doyle). He has two older brothers, Kevin and Paul, and was raised Roman Catholic in the suburb of Newton, Massachusetts.

He attended the same high school as B. J. Novak, who would later become Krasinski's co-star on "The Office", as well as a writer and co-producer of the series. Krasinski also performed in a play written by Novak. Krasinski graduated from Newton South High School in 1997.

Before entering college, Krasinski took a semester off to teach English in Costa Rica. From there, he went to Brown University, studying theater arts with Lowry Marshall and John Emigh and graduating in 2001 as a playwright with an honors thesis titled 'Contents Under Pressure'. During his time at Brown, he helped coach youth basketball at The Gordon School in East Providence, Rhode Island. He then attended the National Theater Institute in Waterford, Connecticut.

Career

Television and feature films

Krasinski's first stage experience was starring in a satirical play written and cast by B. J. Novak for Newton South High School. He decided to continue acting after doing a reading of David Foster Wallace's "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men". Besides training at the National Theater Institute, he also studied at The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon and The Actors Center in New York City. After graduating from Brown University, Krasinski went to New York City to pursue acting, appearing in commercials and guest spots on television shows, as well as doing readings of off-Broadway plays and working as a waiter. He starred in the play "What the Eunuch Saw", which was written and directed by a former college classmate. In 2000, Krasinski was a script intern on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien".

Krasinski filmed the footage of Scranton, Pennsylvania for "The Office", including the clips shown in the opening credits.

Krasinski starred as Gideon in "A New Wave", which was filmed before he was on "The Office" and released in 2007. He also starred as Brevin in the Gregg Araki film "Smiley Face", filmed in 2006. More recently, he had major supporting roles in the films "License to Wed", with Mandy Moore and Robin Williams, and "Leatherheads" with George Clooney and Renee Zellweger. From April to June 2008 he filmed "Away We Go", directed by Sam Mendes and co-starring Maya Rudolph. He is set to join Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin in the upcoming Nancy Meyers romantic comedy "It's Complicated", due for release in late 2009.

In 2006 Krasinski wrote and directed "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men", an adaptation of David Foster Wallace's collection of short stories. It premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

In addition to his role on "The Office", Krasinski's television credits include appearances on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent", "Without A Trace", "Ed", "American Dad!", and an episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation". His feature film credits include "Kinsey", "Duane Hopwood", "Jarhead", "The Holiday" and "Shrek the Third". He also had minor roles in "For Your Consideration" and "Dreamgirls".

Other work

Beginning in March 2006, Krasinski narrated a series of commercials for Ask.com. He has also appeared in commercials for Apple TV, BlackBerry Storm and My Coke Rewards, and has appeared in print advertisements for Gap.

Personal life

Krasinski was featured in "People" magazine's Sexiest Men Alive issue in 2006. He has been romantically linked with actress Emily Blunt, but they are no longer dating.