John Krasinski

John Burke Krasinski (born October 20, 1979) is an American actor, film director and writer. He has acted in several films, including Shrek the Third, Leatherheads, License to Wed, It's Complicated and Away We Go, but is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office.

Early life
Krasinski was born in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburban city just outside of Boston, the son of a Polish-American father, internist Dr. Ronald Krasinski, and an Irish American mother, Mary Clare (née Doyle). He has two older brothers, Kevin and Paul, and was raised Roman Catholic in Newton.

Before entering college, Krasinski taught English in Costa Rica. From there, he went to Brown University, studying theater arts with Lowry Marshall and John Emigh and graduating in 2001 as a playwright with an honors thesis titled "Contents Under Pressure". During his time at Brown, he helped coach youth basketball at The Gordon School in East Providence, Rhode Island. He then attended the National Theater Institute in Waterford, Connecticut.

Television and feature films
Besides training at the National Theater Institute, he also studied at The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England and The Actors Center in New York City. After graduating from Brown University, Krasinski went to New York City to pursue acting, appearing in commercials and guest spots on television shows, as well as doing readings of off-Broadway plays and working as a waiter. He starred in the play What the Eunuch Saw, which was written and directed by a former college classmate. In 2000, Krasinski was a script intern on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Krasinski filmed the footage of Scranton, Pennsylvania, for The Office, including the clips shown in the opening credits. Krasinski directed an episode of The Office, entitled Sabre, the fifteenth episode of The Office's sixth season.

Krasinski starred as Gideon in A New Wave, which was filmed before he was on The Office and released in 2007. He also starred as Brevin in the Gregg Araki film Smiley Face, filmed in 2006. More recently, he had major supporting roles in the films License to Wed, with Mandy Moore and Robin Williams, and Leatherheads with George Clooney and Renee Zellweger. From April to June 2008 he filmed Away We Go, directed by Sam Mendes and co-starring Maya Rudolph. He appeared with Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin in the Nancy Meyers romantic comedy It's Complicated, released in late 2009.

In 2006 Krasinski wrote and directed Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, an adaptation of David Foster Wallace's collection of short stories. It premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

In addition to his role on The Office, Krasinski's television credits include appearances on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Without A Trace, Ed, American Dad!, and an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. His feature film credits include Kinsey, Duane Hopwood, Jarhead, The Holiday and Shrek the Third. He also had minor roles in For Your Consideration, Dreamgirls, and It's Complicated.

Krasinski will play the role of Ethan in a film adaptation of the novel Something Borrowed. He has also signed on to star with Drew Barrymore in Whales, a film based on the 1988 rescue of a trio of California gray whales.

Other work
Beginning in March 2006, Krasinski narrated a series of commercials for Ask.com. He has also narrated commercials for Apple TV, Verizon Wireless, BlackBerry Storm, My Coke Rewards, and Carnival Cruise Lines, and has appeared in print advertisements for Gap.

Personal life
Krasinski and his co-star on The Office, B.J. Novak, have been friends since childhood, as they attended elementary school, middle school, and high school together. They also played on the same Little League team, the Newton East Orioles. Krasinski's first stage experience was starring as Daddy Warbucks in a 6th-grade school production of Annie. His next role was in a satirical play written and cast by Novak when they were high school seniors. The two graduated from Newton South High School in 1997.

In November 2008, Krasinski began dating English actress Emily Blunt, after they were set up by Blunt's The Devil Wears Prada co-star Anne Hathaway. On August 28, 2009, Blunt and Krasinski announced their engagement. The couple married on July 10, 2010 in Italy.