This year has been an amazing one for one of my absolute favorite celebrity couples, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski. They kicked off the year with their epic collaboration in one of, if not the best, horror films of the year, A Quiet Place, which Krasinski also wrote and directed. If you haven't seen it, it's all about a family trying to survive in a world where the smallest sound equals death, and besides being terrifying, its emotional core of love, grief, and family will leave you wrecked, in the most amazing way. Add to that Emily Blunt's quotes about John Krasinski in The Hollywood Reporter, where she talked about the experience of working together and why their love is so enduring, and it's clear why 2018 belonged to these two.
But that's not all these this couple has been up to this year. Krasinski followed A Quiet Place with his turn as Jack Ryan for the Amazon series of the same name, and Blunt’s Mary Poppins Returns hit theaters this December. And there is no shortage of Oscar buzz for both Mary Poppins Returns and A Quiet Place. Amazing as all that is, more important is the fact that, through it all, this duo remains a solid team in a town that can make long-term relationships seem impossible. That's because Blunt and Krasinski have the kind of love most everyone can admire: love born of mutual respect and admiration. But don't take my word for it, read what Blunt had to say about Krasinski in a rare joint interview for The Hollywood Reporter — and swoon.
"I went sort of gray," she says. "I couldn't imagine the thought of letting someone else play the part."
Despite Krasinski’s secret hope that Blunt would play the role of his wife, Evelyn, in A Quiet Place, it was initially intended to be played by another actress, since the two had agreed to keep their work and personal lives separate. This all changed when Blunt read the script and knew she just had to play the role.
"I have a minimum of a five-month rule between projects, other than A Quiet Place," she says. "I broke the rule for him and him alone."
Starring in a film with him wasn’t the only rule she broke for Krasinski. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is break a rule, like in this case. Seriously, folks, how adorable are these two? They are singlehandedly making me believe in true love again.
“I didn't want it to be like, 'Oh, how adorable. They're working together,'" Blunt says. "It was the only idea that had come our way that seemed bigger than our marriage. The narrative of our marriage was not going to overwhelm this movie and this amazing opportunity for him as a director, as a filmmaker, as a writer. I knew this was a big swing for him."
The level of respect here is totally revealing about why they work so well together as a couple. In an industry not short on ego, the way Blunt considers her husband’s needs is really humble and beautiful.
As for who asked whom out, "Probably me, I think," Blunt says. At this, Krasinski pivots from his wife to me, affecting the look of Jim deadpanning to the camera in the offices of Dunder Mifflin after someone has said something stupid. "Yeah, right," he counters. She insists: "I think it was me." "No," he fires back. "It was me asking for a while and you took some time, and then we finally had a date." Their first evening together involved pizza and his apartment in West Hollywood, and, based on the amount of time Krasinski is taking to answer this question, something else that he isn't sure if he's allowed to share. During his long pause, Blunt pulls a strand of her blond hair off Krasinski's sweater, calls him "Kras," and declares, "It's so precious, I don't want to talk about it. Is that all right?"
Their love story is so sweet and relatable. And it all started like the great love stories do — with pizza.
“We've always allowed and rejoiced in each other having a very full life outside of the other one," she says.
This is probably the best takeaway lesson from these two. If you want a healthy and lasting love, it should be a balance between being a team, respecting one another as individuals, and always cheering on the other’s successes.
Blunt and Krasinski are the kind of love story we need more of, and the kind that will renew your belief in love. Here’s to an even better 2019 for this duo and an A Quiet Place sequel. Seriously folks, I need to know what happened next!
