John Krasinski Says A Quiet Place Is A 'Love Letter' To His Kids

A Quiet Place is a harrowing and relentlessly suspenseful tale of survival. However between the jump scares and terrifying alien-monsters, at its heart, the film is about family member — specifically, the Abbott family member, who live on a remote segment of land in total silence.


Directed and co-written by John Krasinski, who also stars because the weary Abbott family member patriarch, A Quiet Place is set in the near future, a short time soon after an invasion from a blind, extraterrestrial life form with a keen sense of hearing has decimated the nation and left those remaining living in quiet fear of being hunted. Anything louder than the shallowest of whispers and you're toast, so in A Quiet Place, silence is survival.


"As soon as I read it, I was totally moved by the power of this family member Krasinski told MTV News at a press day for the film. "Yes, the movie's scary, and yes, it's so much fun in how we explore the world and get you to be scared, nevertheless to me the only reason it's the kind of scary that it is is because you care about this family member


The Abbotts were more prepared than most for the silent apocalypse. Their daughter Regan, played by deaf actress Millicent Simmonds, is hearing debilitated, and so they mostly communicate in sign language while in the film. Casting a deaf actress in the role was "non-negotiable" for Krasinski, who encouraged the cast and crew to learn ASL as well.


Though, whenever producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller sent Krasinski the script in 2016 — just three weeks soon following the birth of his second daughter, Violet — they initially brought it to him as an actor. "I don't think my name is the name that you visualize and mention, 'That guy's going to direct a horror movie,'" Krasinski quipped.


Nevertheless there was something about the Abbotts, and specifically Lee's plight as a father in such dangerous environment, that the actor couldn't quite shake from his consciousness. He described the script as "a gunshot right in my heart," adding, "I was so moved by this incredible, powerful metaphor for parenthood."


Any time whenever he took on the project as a director, he also re-wrote the script, bringing in his own experience as a father and as a spouse. He then turned it into a family member affair, casting his spouse, Emily Blunt, in the role of his onscreen other half, Evelyn — a part Blunt had originally proposed to a friend before deciding she wanted it alternatively. "I know it sounds insane, although this is my love letter to my kids," Krasinski mentioned. To which Blunt replied, "That's sort of messed up... Our children shouldn't even visualize this up until they're at least 40."


As for their fictional children, played by Simmonds and young actor Noah Jupe, working by means of the intense, hard emotions of the Abbott kids — Regan, irritated at her dad and wracked with guilt, and Marcus, perpetually afraid of what's lurking outdoor — was a collaborative effort with Krasinski.


"If something got really challenging in a scene, or if it was really dark, John would routinely pull me aside and talk me by means of the scene," Simmonds told MTV News. "John is very open-minded, yet his heart is very open as well. He developed a really special relationship with us."


certainly, that collaborative spirit went both ways. Krasinski learned just as much from his young stars as they did from him.


"I needed her as my guide to walk me through it looked like being segment of a family member with someone who is deaf," Krasinki mentioned of Simmonds. "Does she ever have regrets? Does she ever feel judged? Does she feel empowered? All of those incredible things she shared with me. She's the reason I learned ASL so well, because she's a wonderful teacher. It's truly one of the more special experiences I've had in making movies."


A Quiet Place is in theaters now.