John Krasinski

John Burke Krasinski is an American actor and filmmaker born on October 20, 1979. He is widely recognized for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office, which ran from 2005 to 2013, and for which he also served as a producer and occasional director. He later directed, co-wrote, and co-starred in the 2018 post-apocalyptic horror film A Quiet Place, which led to Time magazine naming him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Krasinski has also starred as the title character in the Amazon Prime Video thriller series Jack Ryan from 2018 to 2023.

Krasinski was born in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, to Mary Claire, a nurse, and Ronald Krasinski, an internist. He is the youngest of three sons and grew up in a Catholic household with Irish and Polish heritage. He made his stage debut in a sixth-grade school production of Annie and later co-starred in a satirical play written by his classmate B. J. Novak. Before attending college, he taught English in Costa Rica for six months, during which he rescued a woman from drowning. He attended Brown University, studying English and playwriting, and graduated in 2001 before training at the National Theater Institute.

After graduating from Brown, Krasinski moved to New York City to pursue acting, working as a waiter while appearing in commercials, off-Broadway play readings, and television guest roles. His major breakthrough came in 2004 when he was cast as sales representative Jim Halpert in The Office. During his tenure on the series, Krasinski appeared in every episode, directed several installments, and saw his compensation increase to approximately $100,000 per episode by the third season.

In 2009, Krasinski made his directorial debut with the comedy-drama Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, which he adapted from David Foster Wallace short stories and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. During this period, he appeared in films such as Leatherheads, Away We Go, It's Complicated, Something Borrowed, Big Miracle, and Nobody Walks. In 2012, he co-wrote, co-produced, and starred alongside Matt Damon in Promised Land. The following year, Krasinski co-founded the production company Sunday Night Productions alongside Allyson Seeger.

In 2016, Krasinski undertook extensive physical training to portray a former U.S. Navy SEAL in Michael Bay's biographical war film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. That same year, he directed and starred in the comedy-drama The Hollars, originated the story concept for the Oscar-nominated film Manchester by the Sea, and made his Off-Broadway debut in the play Dry Powder, earning a Theatre World Award.

Following the success of A Quiet Place in 2018, Krasinski wrote and directed its sequel, A Quiet Place Part II, released in 2020. He also executive produced and starred in the series Jack Ryan from 2018 to 2023 and co-created the reality competition show Lip Sync Battle, earning three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Structured Reality Program. In 2024, he directed and starred in the comedy-drama film IF.