$80M Rich John Krasinski Almost Quit Acting Before The Office Fame, Wanted to Be an English Teacher Instead
John Krasinski gained recognition for portraying Jim Halpert, an employee of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, in the NBC sitcom The Office which ran for nine seasons from 2005 to 2013. He has starred in and directed several projects such as the 2009 drama Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and the 2016 comedy The Hollars.
John Krasinski produced and starred as the titular character in the action thriller Jack Ryan which was released to a lot of critical acclaim and concluded with the fourth and final season earlier this year. The actor has achieved great heights in his career; however, he did not always want to be in the show business. He had actually aspired to be an English teacher.
Acting Was Not John Krasinski’s First Career Choice
Many people have a single goal set in their minds and they work to achieve that since they are young children. Others switch their goals subject to circumstances or changes of interest. John Krasinski falls in the latter category. Before embarking on his journey to become an actor, he wanted to become an English teacher and once, he revealed why he wanted to do so.
While promoting the 2009 comedy-drama Away We Go, John Krasinski appeared in an interview with Time. When he was asked what prompted him to give a shot at acting, he said:
I wanted to be an English teacher. I wanted to do it for the corduroy jackets with patches on the side. When I got to college, as I was walking across campus one day, I ripped off a little flyer for this sketch-comedy group. It ended up being one of the greatest things I’ve ever done.
Read More: John Krasinski Couldn’t Believe Matt Damon Rejected a $5.2B Zoe Saldana Franchise
Considering he decided to actually invest himself into acting, doing the sketch comedy indeed was the greatest thing Krasinski had ever done. However, before he got into mainstream acting, he had interned as a screenwriter at the show Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
John Krasinski Was Doubtful About The Office Being Successful
John Krasinski did not get his big break in Hollywood until 2004 when he was cast in The Office. In fact, he was planning to quit acting altogether as he wanted to do a more practical job which would certainly not be waiting tables. What’s surprising is that he continued to wait tables even after he was cast in the sitcom.
On the first episode of his chatshow Some Good News, the Leatherheads actor celebrated the 15th anniversary of The Office with none other than Steve Carell who portrayed Michael Scott in the show. During the show, Krasinski revealed:
“I was a waiter when I got that job, I was 23 years old. After the pilot, I went back to waiting tables because I was sure nothing was going to happen with it. We all kind of came into it with that vibe. I remember none of us had done anything huge.”
John Krasinski probably made the right choice by continuing to wait tables until the show’s success was confirmed. The show became a major hit after running for two seasons.
