John Krasinski Says He'll Face ISIS In 'Jack Ryan' Series, Talks 'Captain America' Audition

I think it’s okay if we stop referring to John Krasinski as “Jim from ‘The Office.’ ” While his role on the sitcom remains his most defining performance, he’s been busy expanding his career into others avenues, directing pictures like “Brief Interviews With Hideous Men” and this month’s “The Hollars,” and taking on brawnier roles in films like Michael Bay‘s “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi,” and the lead role in Amazon‘s upcoming “Jack Ryan” series. Indeed, his casting in the latter has particularly turned some heads, with some folks not quite envisioning Krasinski playing the iconic character created by author Tom Clancy, and previously portrayed by actors like Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. But it’s a chance for the actor to truly come into his own and he promises that even though it’ll be on the small screen, it won’t be lacking in scope and scale.

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“…they’re not even really considering it a TV show, they’re calling it a movie that’s being told in 10 parts; and that’s not just an argument of semantics, it’s actually true. [Producer] Carlton Cuse’s whole plan is we’re gonna shoot it on a movie budget, we’re gonna have the same stunts as movies, it’s gonna feel like a movie but you’re gonna watch it every week,” Krasinski told Collider. “His whole idea was he just felt that two hours wasn’t enough time to tell a Jack Ryan story because Tom Clancy’s books are so detailed and rich, and the character of Jack Ryan if he has a superpower is his intelligence, so there’s a lot of problem solving and things that take time, and that’s the beauty of the spy genre. That’s what I found was the best pitch to me is it’s really just what’s the best format to tell this story?”

It sounds promising, and as for the story, this iteration of “Jack Ryan” will feel particularly of the moment, with the agent facing down a very real threat.

“Every year they’re gonna be different. They’re sort of more ripped-from-the-headlines type stuff, so the first year the villain or I don’t know what you want to call it is it’s taking on ISIS for sure,” Krasinski shared.

Even if this is the first time the actor will be saving the world on screen, there was a moment quite a few years ago, where he had the chance to suit up as Captain America for Marvel. He didn’t get the part, and as he told “Conan” recently (via Heroic Hollywood), there was a very simple reason why.

“It was a big deal for me because first of all, I love those Marvel movies, I love superheroes, I love imagination. So when they asked me to test, they actually allowed me to put on the suit, I was on a set, it was all very interesting,” he explained. “…but the only bummer of it was as I was putting on the suit and thinking this is so amazing; I got about right to my waist, I was still shirtless and feeling pretty good about myself – [keep in mind] I wasn’t ’13 Hours’ [John Krasinski] yet.  I felt pretty good.  And all of a sudden, Chris Hemsworth walks by in his Thor suit and went, ‘Hey, mate.’ And I went, ‘I’m good. This is stupid [mimes taking off pants].  I’m not Captain America, it’s fine.”

To be honest, Chris Evans is pretty great as Captain America, but given that the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to grow, maybe there will be another role for Krasinski to tackle down the line. Until then, his schedule his pretty full. Check out his chat with Conan O’ Brien below.