Director John Krasinski gushes over wife Emily Blunt’s performance in thriller 'A Quiet Place'
John Krasinski's new horror flick, "A Quiet Place," hits theaters today, starring his wife Emily Blunt, and film critic Peter Travers says the movie will "scare the hell out of you."
Krasinski stopped by the ABC studios and talked with Travers about the thrill of having Blunt star in his first effort at directing a horror film.
"We've talked about working together for a long time, but we didn't want the story of our marriage to be bigger than any story that we could tell," Krasinski said on "Popcorn with Peter Travers." "This movie is pretty out there, so we are safe."
Krasinski said he was hesitant to ask Blunt to take on the starring role.
"She has such an incredible taste level and intelligence and a dedication to all the movies she does. I didn't want to be questioning every single day whether she was doing it for me or for her," he said.
But after Blunt read the script, she decided she wanted to take on the role and Krasinki said he was thrilled.
"She started recommending other friends to do the movie. And then one day she said, 'Can I read the script?' I said 'yes,'" Krasinski said. "She got to the end, we were on a plane and she turned to me and she looked sick. So I was reaching for a barf bag when she said, 'You can't let anyone else do this movie.' And it was almost like she was proposing to me."
He asked her to clarify and said he couldn't contain his response.
"I went, 'Are you saying what I think?' She said, 'I need to do this movie,'" Krasinski said. "And I think I screamed 'yes' on a plane, which didn't go over right. It was like a 'When Harry Met Sally' moment of me going, 'Yes!' and people going 'I'll have what he had.'"
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"A Quiet Place" is an almost silent thriller, focusing on the Abbott family living in a place where they can't make noise. They must keep quiet to avoid the blind, lurking creatures. Krasinski stars opposite Blunt.
The couple had frank chat the night before they started filming to make certain they were on the same page, Krasinski said.
"We just talked through every single scene. And what I said to her was, 'You need to be honest with me right from the beginning. Let's treat it like our marriage," he added. "Just be honest so that there's no big fights later. We'll just have these conversations now.'"
"Then I pitched her the entire movie, every frame that I wanted to shoot. And I said, 'Is there anything that you would think to do differently?' And what she said was, 'You can't treat me like your wife. You have to treat me like your lead actress. You have to give me input all along.'" It's truly the best collaboration I've ever had, I don't think it can get any better. She was not only the greatest actress on set, she was the greatest collaborator off set. She was such a thrill to be around."
"A Quiet Place" is in theaters everywhere.
Be sure to watch the full interview with Peter Travers and John Krasinski in the video above.
