'The Office' star talked to 'Playboy' about teaming up with his wife for 'A Quiet Place,' which premieres on Apr. 6.
John Krasinski didn't think he'd ever make a horror movie.
During an interview in Playboy's March/April issue, The Office star admits he was "the complete opposite" of the genre growing up, going on to explain why he and wife Emily Blunt decided to team up for their upcoming film, A Quiet Place.
"We’d just had our second daughter and, you know, I’m a super sensitive, emotional person, so I think I was probably wide-open when I read the script," says the 38-year-old actor, who in addition to co-starring alongside his wife, co-wrote and directs the horror movie. "The idea really triggered something inside me about protection and parenting, and I just thought maybe I could make it a metaphor for parenthood: the fact that no matter what, there will come a time when you don’t have control over what your kids do, what they say, what they think, and you just hope that the preparation was enough to get them through and they survive."
In the movie, Krasinski and Blunt have their family of four hunted by a mysterious force that detects its victims by sound.
"There was something so beautiful about putting a family in a situation where, without giving too much away, this is the one family in the world that needs to talk and can't. They're going through something they should really be talking about with each other and a therapist, and they can't," he says. "We not only thought the story was so unique and different that there was no way our marriage could supersede it, but that, weirdly, our marriage fit right in."
Krasinski says films like Get Out, Jorden Peele's genre-film that's up for Best Picture at Sunday's 2018 Oscars, and Don't Breathe were part of what inspired him to take on a horror film that does more than scare.
“I saw all those movies when I was researching for A Quiet Place," he explains. "They’re much more elevated and say so much more than just 'Where do you put the camera to scare the person the most?'"
Krasinski also hopes that a film about silence in some way resonates in the current political climate of speaking out.
"I think in our political situation, that’s what’s going on now: You can close your eyes and stick your head in the sand, or you can try to participate in whatever's going on," he explains.
A Quiet Place premieres at South By Southwest on March 9 and hits theaters April 6.
Watch the spine-chilling trailer below.
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