145 Notable Quotes By John Krasinski On Fun, Comedy, Love & Marriage

People have a sense of humor, even if it's not a good one, and everybody has stakes.

  

The first time I ever cried in a movie was in Dead Poet's Society.

  

I am in that everything [ David Foster Wallace] writes is pretty much the best stuff I've read, so that makes me a fan I guess.

  

It's a big thing to feel like you're doing something that's actually affecting people.

  

Writing and directing just sort of fell into my lap.

  

James Cagney as a baby is not my ideal thing.

  

You should know the ins and outs [of the marriage]. So it was nice to see a little bit of background.

  

To me, television is one of the most exciting things going on right now, as far as content goes. Some of these shows that are on television are better than any of the movies out there.

  

I'm a sucker where I love shifting tides.

  

I don't want my kids to ever think that I am choosing my job over them.

  

For me, anything I do is totally up for conversation and it's not my right to be able to stop a person from writing whatever they want. What's harmful and hurtful is when people speculate.

  

I usually save these answers [on the institution of marriage] for my Barbara Walters Special, but she didn't call so I've never been engaged, despite popular belief.

  

I have people printing that I have. Never been engaged. As far as what I think of marriage, I think it's great. I think I'd like to be married some day, but I'll start with love.

  

Why don't we try falling in love first and then I'll see what happens after that?

Trying

  

When I look at my parents I'm like, 'This is easy. Staying together for 35 years? How hard is that?' They're like, 'Very hard.

Together

  

That was okay [ working with George Clooney]. One of these days I'll work with a good director.

  

All I've ever wanted to do was be a great dad, and yet there's no stopping this existential mirror that's held up to yourself when you're about to have a kid.

  

I'm happy to announce to the world that I'm a crier. It doesn't take a lot for me to cry at stuff.

  

I'm not going to pretend that bad things don't happen. I just hope my daughter has enough understanding that when they do, just give me a call.

  

I certainly went into losing my virginity terrified. Going on stage, I could only have imagined the worst possible outcomes. And then it went fine.

  

Richard Jenkins read the script [The Hollars] and really liked it, but he said, 'If you can get Margo Martindale, I'll do it. Otherwise, good luck.

  

The one-liner of this movie [ The Hollars], you've probably heard before: 'A guy goes home to his family and finds out about himself.

  

I love this script [The Hollars] because I'm lucky enough to come from a really tightknit family.

  

Let's be honest, there are a lot of family movies; I like some of them, I don't like other ones.

  

There's not swelling music and emotional scenes in life, and there's not long pauses when you tell a joke for everybody to laugh. That's not how it goes. Life just sort of happens to you.

  

Being [in] a show that you get to say good-bye instead of being asked to leave is a real honor.

  

I've always loved those movies where somebody thinks they want something, and then they realize that the thing they really want is right in front of them.

  

The only reason why I acted in school was because of the community, like I was in the chorus of every play, I was never really the lead.

  

I have the most incredible parents and they didn't put pressure on me. I grew up in a house and no matter what they thought of things, it was always about my choice.

  

I've always loved where my dad came from and the ideals that instilled in me.

  

I'm sure there's pieces of me in all the characters I play.

Character

  

Ninety percent of your job is done if you find the right cast.

  

Keeping it real is the key and I don't know how they've done that week after week. I think the key is that everybody can sort of empathize with [The Office].

  

We have the best writers in the business [on The Office].

  

After three takes, [George Clooney] is like, 'We got it,' and I'm still thinking, 'I'm just getting used to this. I shouldn't have done it in a Russian accent.' No, he's great. He's a good guy.

  

[George Clooney] knows exactly what he wants and so he knows that you've done a good job before you do.

  

To be that big of a star and that grounded and that classy, I'm mean [ George Clooney] was a true mentor for me and, as a director, he's incredible.

  

When you have two people that good in a movie, I think it adds a class and a feeling of importance for other actors that they want to be involved.

  

I think it's a big chance to take to make a movie that's about as something as pure and honest and something people can relate to everyday.

  

I'm a sap, I'll cry at anything. But I don't cry when I feel manipulated, or when there's a music cue telling me to.

  

I think we owe absolutely everything to the fans.

  

I didn't go to the special screening on a spaceship where everybody goes to have their special screenings...Everybody knows that's what happens in Hollywood.

  

All the cliches are true about parenting. All I've ever wanted to do is be a father, but there's this existential mirror that's held up when you have a kid.

  

I'm really not feeling one way or the other with comedy or drama, I'm just sort of doing projects that I've been finding really fun to be a part of.

  

Truly, when I say the show has given me everything, it's given me everything.

  

My favorite water cooler topic is fantasy football. I used to make fun of friends for doing it and now I'm obsessed.

  

I fell in love with the book [ Brief Interviews with Hideous Men] and always wanted to do something with and fought to get the rights, which was pretty fun and an incredible experience in itself.

  

It's not about celebrity or not. It's all about, do you have that 'girl in a cardigan' in you. You gotta have that.

  

We live in a very modern age and the dynamic of raising kids and being a professional are intersecting a lot more - especially for women.

  

I have no problem with people seeing me as the nice guy. I hope they don't see me as just the nice guy.

  

Imagination is the most powerful tool you have. You learn it from all the greats. The Star Wars films are secretive. Anything J.J. Abrams does is secretive. Those guys haven't done too poorly.

  

I think one of the coolest things for my daughters is that they'll get to see their mom being a working mom. It's one of the things I'll be most proud of.

  

I grew up with the Boston vibe and the Catholic vibe. I don't want to put anybody out.

  

My favorite scene on the show [The Office] is on the booze cruise when I finally get to talk to her and tell her, and I react exactly how I would react by saying nothing.

  

When everything gets turned upside down, it only leads to better quality stuff.

  

I've never been compared to Bugs Bunny and that's amazing, thank you.

  

Family comes first for me in every single way.

  

You can't do anything to be funny. That's cringeworthy. If your humor comes out of a place of love every time, you don't make the joke bigger than you. The funniest comedians are in touch with their emotional level.

  

You can make jokes but [ George Clooney] is everything that anyone's ever said about him.

  

One of the best lessons I've ever gotten in my life is to anticipate nothing because it's always worse in your head than it really is.

  

I planned on being an English teacher, but I don't know where that went.

  

I'm not looking to do 'Half Nelson' next, but to play anything that's a little more complex is really fun.

  

For me, there are worse things than being pigeonholed as the nice guy.

Me

  

Being from Boston, I think we have to get the 'Good Will Hunting' poster tattooed on our backs when we're like 16 or 17; it's just a rite of passage. That movie is so, so, so huge.

Think

  

I went to Dave Eggers with this idea of doing a movie about a guy going through some sort of Frank Capra-esque journey.

  

I had done one failed pilot. I remember, when it failed, I was like, 'Oh my God, how does someone survive this? That's it - that's the end of my career; it's over.'

  

It's tough to live in New York and be in the business.

  

I credit NTI, truthfully, with everything as far as where my head is and what my goals are and dreams are. I would say it was probably one of the most influential moments of my life, being there.

Life

  

I had never taken acting at Brown to be the beginnings of a career. I always did it just for fun.

Never

  

For me, 'Arrested Development' is the cornerstone of recent television comedy. It's so incredibly flawless and perfect.

Me

  

I always stay with my parents. When you come home, you gotta do that. It's weird to be like, 'Hey, I'm at a hotel. Drive 20 minutes to see me, and we'll have dinner.'

Me

  

This is the time for me to step out and show that I don't just want to play the nice guy roles, and I think I'll find out what my limits are.

Me , Think , Time

  

Bizarrely, on movie sets, they don't really dig it when you look in the camera, which is a bizarre fact.

  

I think we all have a responsibility to tell good stories.

Think

  

If there was ever someone to look up to, it's Tom Hanks.

  

Sadly, I'm one of those people who emotionally puts things off and then gets caught very blindsided at the end.

  

I was a waiter before 'The Office,' so to me, this was a winning lottery ticket. Everything about my life has changed.

Life , Me

  

I've always loved those movies where somebody really wants something, and then the thing they want is right in front of them.

  

I held down as many jobs as I could find, from being a waiter to working at a yoga studio and as a ticket-taker at a small theater company - anything that would allow me to go out and do auditions.

Me

  

I think we all get into situations where we don't know how to proceed, and those are really the scariest moments that we have, but that's also what makes us 'grow up' and learn a lot about each other.

Think

  

I love feeling strong. You pick up your daughter with ease while everyone else makes a little grunt when they pick up their kids.

  

I'm that sort of weird guy who will watch a movie almost every day if I can.

  

I was one of those kids who had never seen an indie film before I got to college. If it wasn't a big, huge tentpole movie, or if it wasn't on the radio, I hadn't experienced it.

Never

  

I've never been someone who dates all that much - I'm more of a serial monogamist.

Never

  

You can never perfect a relationship, and you can never perfect yourself to be in a relationship. You're always going to be changing, and you hope it's for the better.

Relationship , Yourself

  

A good part's a good part. You can play serious and funny moments with a well-written role.

  

I admire him so much; if I was ever going to have a dude-crush, it would be on George Clooney. I mean, I don't think you can avoid it. It's like a superpower - he just sucks anybody in around him.

Think

  

Luckily, I have two of the coolest parents around. They're so open about having any and all experiences, so they never hindered us in any way by categorizing or judging anything.

Never

  

People aren't throwing themselves at me, but I also don't go out very much. Like, when I do go out, it's for breakfast, so it's a little hard to throw yourself at me during breakfast.

Me , Yourself

  

My parents and my brothers and their wives are incredible and formed me as a person long before I got to Hollywood.

Me

  

Probably the biggest challenge for me as a director was to not show how scared I was. I was surrounded by some of the most talented people in the industry, and I had to pretend I knew what I was doing.

Me

  

I learned that the best way to work is to allow the scene to live on its own before making major adjustments, whether in rehearsal or on film.

  

There's a large oak tree in the Newton Centre park playground that is legendary because only a few humans have hit it with a baseball from home plate, and B.J. Novak is among them. And I was there that day.

  

I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. And I'm really sensitive, so I take even small mistakes as huge ones.

Life

  

I think that whether you're married or not, in any relationship, there's always the terror that you're going to screw something up.

Relationship , Think

  

I've fallen in love with shows like 'Homeland' and 'The Wire.' And I think 'The Office' is in a category like that.

Like , Think

  

The real drawback when you write with a partner is that where you want it to go and where they want it to go is similar, but not exactly lined up, and that's where it's going to lead you into trouble.

  

I've always loved where my dad came from and the ideals that he instilled in me.

Me

  

No matter what a guy says, if he shows up at all the places you're at, he's hooked.

  

There are always roles that seem enticing that you can't do because of scheduling.