Reality TV
Q&A: John Krasinski talks “A Quiet Place Part by Charlotte Walsh and Crystal Wall
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ou’ve seen him on your Facebook feed during quarantine for “Some Good News” and on Netflix during your latest binge of “The Office,” but John Krasinski doesn’t just do virtual proms and harmless pranks. The director, writer and star of award-winning horror movie “A Quiet Place” is back on board to write and direct the film’s sequel, but this time (spoiler alert!) without his own character. Originally set to premiere in the US on March 20, the film’s release was postponed until Sept. 4 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Krasinski sat down with The Daily to chat about the expectations of sequels, his view of parenting and why he wants to continue making horror films in the future. The interview, which 12 school publications participated in, has been edited for clarity. The Daily: Sequels have a reputation for not living up to the original films. Did this discourage you from making this film or affect
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the way you approached making it? Krasinski: It affected me by being the exact terrifying thing I needed. Basically, the studio asked to do a sequel and I very quickly said no. I know as an audience member I am very weary of sequels. Then basically they were starting to talk about (having) another director and writer and I had this small idea to have Millie [Simmonds] be the lead of our movie ... so I realized that I can make this a continuation and a further expansion of the metaphor I was going for in the first one, which was parenthood. The first movie is about that promise you make to your kids as a parent: as long as you stay close to me, I can protect you forever. Every parent knows that that’s a false promise, and one day that promise will be broken, and I think when that promise is broken, I believe that’s what growing up is. The Daily: In the sequel, how does the family maintain that same closeness and intimacy as they leave the farm and the scope of the story widens considerably?
Krasinski: When I decided the only way to get into the second one was to have Millie be the lead character, it wasn’t just because I thought Millie would pull off an amazing job — which she clearly does — it was more that her character has this amazing opportunity to relive and reuse and recycle all these beautiful things we were using in the first one. She really becomes my character and so much more. As a parent who cries at everything, I cried everyday writing the script because I just thought about that imprint you hope you leave on your kids that they will not only be everything you hope they will, but that they will actually exceed your expectations at every turn. So if the first movie was a love letter to my kids about what I see parenting being encapsulated as, I would say the second movie is a letter I wrote to them about all my hopes and dreams and what they could be. I hope ... in these dark, dark times that they would be the brave ones to light a candle in the middle of all that darkness. The Daily: A really big part of the first film is
