John Krasinski and Emily Blunt’s children seemed to have their favorite in the duo. While talking to PEOPLE magazine about his new film IF, Krasinski revealed his daughters: Hazel and Violet seem more impressed by Blunt’s filmography than his own.
John Krasinski says his kids thought he was an accountant
While speaking to the outlet about IF, he revealed that much of the premise of his new directorial venture is based on his kid’s playtime. The live-action fantasy film, which showcases the journey of a girl who discovers that her imaginary friends are real, was written and directed by Krasinski himself after he was inspired by the play activities of his daughters, which involved certain imaginary friends.
While The Office alum involved the two in the making of the film, he revealed that they were already too biased towards Blunt, who has starred in films like Mary Poppins as the titular character. “I was pretty sure that they thought I was an accountant before this because their mom was Mary Poppins and in Jungle Cruise,” Krasinski told People.
The actor took the primary responsibility of drawing the scenes at the start, but being a “terrible artist” was of no help. “So then once I started interfacing with real artists and talking about how it would really look, they got really excited,” he said, adding that their imaginary friends were also made a part of this film. For example, the character of a pink alligator called Ally, voiced by fellow actress Maya Rudolph, is his younger daughter Violet’s imaginary friend. While for Hazel, whom Krasinski described as an empathetic soul, the character of Marshmallow was based on the incident when the father-daughter duo was making s’mores. “Her marshmallow burst into flames as they tend to do, and she was so destroyed that she had hurt some sort of creature,” Krasinski recalled, adding that this served as a primary inspiration for marshmallow’s character in the film.
How did John Krasinki’s children react to IF
Blunt also features in the film, and the two noted that their daughters did love the film. “For our kids to have their mom in the movie too was so massive. It was a family affair,” Krasinski told Extra.
IF features an ensemble cast of Cailey Fleming, Ryan Reynolds, Fiona Shaw, Alan Kim, and Liza Colón-Zayas while Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr., and The Office costar Steve Carell have voiced certain characters in the film. The film was released in the US on May 17, 2024.