Why wouldn’t Blake Lively want to be in a movie with Ryan Reynolds?
While on the Friday, May 10, episode of The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, John Krasinski, 44, joked about how he got the Gossip Girl alum, 36, to be a part of his upcoming movie, IF.
The Office star claimed he used “emotional blackmail” to get Lively in the film, which also stars her hubby, whom she tied the knot with in 2012.
“I was like, ‘Everybody’s doing it,’” Krasinski, who has been married to actress Emily Blunt since 2010, quipped.
In the film about the world of imaginary friends, Lively starred alongside Steve Carell,Bradley Cooper and George Clooney. The mother-of-three played Octopuss, a cat that dresses up like an octopus to will herself past her fear of water.
As for how Krasinski got the idea for the movie, he spilled, “I used to just stand in the doorway and watch my kids disappear into this magical world that we as parents aren’t allowed in.”
“It actually wasn’t until the pandemic when genuinely I saw their lights starting to go out … I went, ‘That’s it, I’m writing this movie right now to prove to you that magical world is always there. You can always go back,’” he explained to host Jimmy Fallon.
The father-of-two added how the project got him “the most ‘yeses’ of my career,” noting how Clooney’s decision to be a part of the movie particularly touched him.
“He was the first person who ever thought I would direct. He would take me to dinner while we were shooting Leatherheads, and he would show me a drawing. ‘This is what I’m going to shoot tomorrow. This is where I’m going to place the cameras,’” Krasinski shared. “I said, ‘That’s amazing. Why are you telling me this?’ He said, ‘Well, you’re not just going to be an actor, are you?’”
Krasinski teased that the 63-year-old only “takes 10 percent” for pushing him to follow his dream to direct.
In addition to Clooney joining the movie, Krasinski confessed he got emotional reuniting with The Office costar for the first time in years.
In an interview with Total Film Magazine, Krasinski said Carell’s speech to him brought on the waterworks.
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“As much fun as it was to work with him, the most powerful part about it was he came in with the most heartfelt speech about how proud he is of me to be making movies. He said in reading the script, ‘I’m just so honored to be a part of it. I’ll do whatever,” Krasinski spilled.