John Krasinski says he wouldn't have gotten A Quiet Place without Jack Ryan

John Krasinski is having a great year. The Boston native is not only about to take on the iconic role of Jack Ryan in the new Amazon series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, but he recently directed and starred in the critically acclaimed box office hit A Quiet Place, which also starred his wife, Emily Blunt. “I don’t think I would have gotten A Quiet Place without Jack Ryan,” Krasinski says, reflecting on his recent success.

It was during preproduction on the new series that producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form asked if the father of two would be interested in starring in A Quiet Place, but Krasinski says he was too scared of genre movies. “They’re like, ‘It’s about a family that can’t talk, and you have to figure out why.’ And I was like, ‘Dammit, that’s the best one-liner I’ve ever heard,'” he says with a laugh. Krasinski then agreed to read the script, the idea of which he says “was so perfect” that it inspired him. “I just truly spent the next 24 hours obsessing over the idea.”

Krasinski then persuaded them to let him rewrite, direct, and star in the film, which he began working on just five days after he wrapped season 1 of Jack Ryan. Now, three months after A Quiet Place hit theaters, the world’s about to meet his version of the beloved Tom Clancy character, who has previously been played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine. Like we said, it’s been a big year.