Much like his character, who has allies he can rely on while on the run this season, John Krasinski, too, has someone he can count to have his back in a dire situation: his wife, Emily Blunt. “I wouldn’t be anywhere in my life without her,” The Office alum told Parade.com in an exclusive interview. “On a daily basis, but certainly in a career-wise, as a dad, she pushes me to be better every single day at everything I do. So I look forward to the next day cause I know it’ll be better than the one before.” Meanwhile, fans of the Jack Ryan star can look forward to Wednesday, Dec. 21, which is when the action-thriller series returns for its long-awaited third season. The epic new season sees Jack wanted by not only an international rogue faction that he’s uncovered, but also by the CIA. For Krasinski, showing that there are good people in this world and people who act on what’s right is something he loves about the series, and something he’s “always loved about the character.” “I remember being a kid and watching all those other actors play the role and loving every second of it. I mean, from Alec Baldwin to Harrison Ford when I was growing up. You know you hope that someone like Jack Ryan’s out there,” the filmmaker said. “That there’s someone with a moral compass fighting to do what’s right.” “And so he was sort of to me growing up always the superhero that didn’t have a cape,” Krasinski added. “He was someone that could actually live in your real world.” While Krasinski has been portraying Jack since the Prime Video series premiered in 2018, he had the chance to play a superhero in Marvel Studios’ 2022 flick Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Asked if his Jack Ryan character helped prepare him for his role in the MCU, Krasinski replied, “Probably because I was still in shape by the time I did the Marvel role, or I hoped to be. That was [an] amazingly wild experience.” The A Quiet Place star got the call asking if he would “jump in and play in that sandbox for a day” just as they were wrapping Season 3 of Jack Ryan. Krasinski recalled, “So I flew from Budapest all the way to L.A. just to play with them for a day and it was a really fun day.” As for whether he has a dream superhero role? Krasinski said, “I don’t know. I mean, all my favorites are spoken for and being done quite well.” Continue reading to find out what John Krasinski and his co-stars Wendell Pierce (James Greer) and Michael Kelly (Mike November) told Parade.com in a joint interview about Season 3 of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.
I think fans are going to think [Season 3] is well worth the wait. What do you think?
Pierce: Oh absolutely. Absolutely. Kelly: I think fans are gonna love this season. I think it is definitely worth the wait. It was difficult for us to wait that long to actually get back to filming. Obviously the pandemic halted things, but for us to get back as a group and to get to have such great material. I think the fans are gonna freak. Krasinski: I really hope they are excited. We definitely had them in mind. I mean, we genuinely when we were coming back realized how long it had been between Season 2 and how long it was going to be between season three. And so in what we formulated as the story for the show in how much action is in the show. The fact that Jack is literally running away from the CIA in the show. We wanted to make it something that was big and really exciting for the fans to come back to so it was something worth waiting for.
Season 2 came out before COVID in 2019. Was it easy slipping back into your characters after so much time, or did you find it, maybe, physically demanding coming out of quarantine?
Krasinski: For me, it was both. It was easy to slip into the role because I have these two guys on either side of me every day. I mean, getting to act with these guys is truly one of the greatest honors of my career. I’ve never worked with such high-level talent since The Office and had that much fun since The Office so we were really between takes, we probably laughed just as hard as we did on a comedy like that. So that was easy. I think getting in shape again after the pandemic, thank you for pointing that out [laughs]. Yeah, it was really hard to get back in shape, but it was also something that was worth it. It was very cleansing to get back in shape after the pandemic for me. Philippe Antonello/Prime Video Pierce: Slipping back into the role was very easy. And what I love about this season is the fact that it went even further. You know, the words that keep coming to mind are intrigue, espionage and action. You know, so it was just multifaceted. That’s what I loved about it. Kelly: And for me slipping back into the role, it was even easier this time because of the way my character changed leaving the CIA and getting to be a little bit more like myself. I found that to be a little bit easier. And jump on what John said there, you know, when you’re with these guys, you get to work with them and people who are so knowledgeable and so good at what they do, it just makes it pretty easy and a d-mn fun day at work. Jonny Cournoyer/Prime Video
Jack is very lucky to have friends and allies like James and Mike. I would love to hear from each of you, who is someone you can count on to have your back in a dire situation and why them?
Kelly: It’s funny because I would say, you know, these guys and I really mean that, genuinely. I know that I could call these guys any time and I know they’d have my back. My brother’s the same way. My wife’s the same way. You don’t have a ton of those people in your life, but I know that these two are two of those, you know, handful to 10 people you can count on [in your life]. Pierce: For me, my brother. My brother is a quiet man. Very reserved, but at anytime I can call on him. I can call on him. He went to West Point. He has sort of, you know, this officer’s bearing, an understanding of how important it is to be there for me. Then also, it’s a spiritual connection not just because we’re brothers. One of the last things my mother said to us, you know, before she passed, she said, “Stick together, stay together.” So my brother. And he worked at the Embassy in Belarus, so no matter where I am in the world, I know he’ll be there for me.
How about you, John?
Krasinski: Oh Emily, for sure. I wouldn’t be anywhere in my life without her. On a daily basis, but certainly career-wise, as a dad, she pushes me to be better every single day at everything I do. So I look forward to the next day cause I know it’ll be better than the one before.
Next season is [reported to be] the last season. How would you guys like to see the story end, and what mission would you like to see Jack take on next?
Krasinski: We actually already shot the fourth season, so we know the answer to all those things!
What can you tease about Season 4?
Kelly: Nothing! Krasinski: But we will, in six months from now… No, I think for me, I don’t know that it’ll be the last time I ever, you know, play with this role and do something with this role. I’m really excited. Again, it’s very hard to pass up working with these guys. But I know the fourth season for us was, I think, a celebration of that, a celebration of these characters and how much they rely on each other and how much they need each other to get through not only these great missions, but also to get through life. That is very taxing. You know the world of espionage and the world of being in the CIA as Wendell has said is extremely taxing on family, on friends, on the brain, on the mind and on the heart. So you need good people around you and I think Season 4 is a celebration of the team that you see here. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Next, The Office’s Steve Carell and John Krasinski Are Teaming Up For a New Movie! Everything We Know About Imaginary Friends
