Heeb

Office star John Krasinski really is that freaking nice in real life. But for his directorial debut Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Krasinski dives deep down the rabbit hole of the male psyche. The film, which he adapted himself from the David Foster Wallace book, is a long-time passion project for Krasinski, going back to a staged reading in college that he credits for his wanting to become an actor. He talked to Heeb shortly after its Sundance premiere.

How long did it take you to find the dramatic structure for the material?

It took a while. David Foster Wallace is without a doubt one of the greatest writers to have ever written. Cutting down his work to something an actor could really take on was just bad news. I always knew that character of the woman interviewer would be the key. You can’t emotionally attach to these guys unless you have someone bringing you through it. As soon as I knew what she was doing and why, that opened things up for me.

After that, the characters leant themselves to a tonal shift. In the beginning it’s sort of embarrassing interviews, slightly more funny. And then you graduate into guys who are pseudo-intellectual and then into the darker material. That really felt good on the page, but none of it made any impact until you got a cast. These actors brought every single moment of my script to another place. So I owe everything to them.

How rare is it to get a script that’s honest about the relationship between men and women?

It’s really difficult. Unfortunately people aren’t making honest movies now, because they don’t make as much money. People want to be removed from the world that they’re in, rather than be confronted with it. So I find it incredibly brave when great material comes out. Sundance is one of those places where you’re constantly reminded that big chances and bold moves can be rewarded so highly. It’s very rare to get that material, and I’m glad we got to play with it.

At what point did you decide to direct it yourself?

I never really wanted to direct or write. When you’re on a show like The Office, it’s not a place that you start saying, “I want to spread my wings.” It’s something you hold on to very tightly.

I really wanted to get this project out there because it meant so much to me. We went to a couple of directors and it wasn’t for them. I was sitting with Rainn Wilson at a Sharky’s and he said, “Why don’t you just direct it.” And I said, “Because I’m not a director.” And he said, “So, who cares? As long as you just adhere to what you believe in the book, just do it.” That day I called my manager, and I was like, “Can I direct it?” I think he was like, let’s see what other people say first.

Did being a first-time director hurt or help?

It helped a great deal, because ignorance truly is bliss. I was just a glorified cheerleader, trying to go with whatever was inspiring people to do great stuff. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought, only because of the team around me. When you have actors like this doing their job and blowing you away, you can’t give notes. Everyone in the crew was protecting me so much. I consider it like bowling. All these people put down the bumpers so I could never get a gutter ball, but in my eyes, I’m an incredible bowler now.

What was your original pitch to get the literary rights?

I started pursuing them before we shot The Office. I hadn’t really thought that through. So again, ignorance is bliss. I was running around like, “Let’s make this movie, it can be incredible!” People were like, “We should go get the rights.” And I was like, “That’s a bummer! Why would we do that?”

I give so much credit to David’s agent. Really, I was 23 and I’d just stopped waiting tables. So I don’t know why I’d be a good candidate. But instead she heard me out and really took the time to understand how much the book impacted me in that time of life when everyone’s trying to figure out who they are. She was very, very nice letting me do this.

You get to play a role that’s almost the opposite of your character on The Office.

The role of Jim Halpert is not one that I’m trying to run away from. It’s given me everything. But to do other things is very exciting. This was the farthest I’ve stepped out, and it’s the most nervous I’ve been to do a role. Someone dropped out, and because we didn’t have the time or budget to cast someone else, I did it. And it was the stupidest thing I could have done, because I shot my scene last after directing three weeks of all these incredible performances. They set the bar so high that I basically thought I was destined to fail, so I had nothing left to lose.

Would you ever direct an episode of The Office?

That would be sort of like directing your family at the dinner table. It just doesn’t feel right. It would be like, “Mom, pass the salt now.” She’d be like, “Stop talking to me like that!” I’d feel really weird telling Steve, Rainn, Jenna and everybody else what to do, because they’re so good at it. I’m so proud of this movie, and it came out way better than I ever expected, but acting is my true love.

When can we expect your adaptation of Infinite Jest?

I’m working on it. Good luck to anybody who goes and does that.

Check out more Sundance coverage from Michael Liss.