As one of the few sane employees in the workplace asylum known as Dunder-Mifflin, Krasinski's Halpert was often forced to deal with such day-to-day challenges as the boredom of his hum-drum existence, the demands of an annoyingly needy boss (Steve Carell) and lastly, a crush on co-worker Pam (Jenna Fisher) that captured the public's attention until the characters actually dated and later married. Prior to his "Office" stardom, Krasinski had a handful of minor feature roles while logging episodes of popular shows like "Without a Trace" (CBS, 2002-09) and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (NBC, 2001-2011). Because of his success, he landed higher profile roles in features "Leatherheads" (2008), "Monsters vs. Aliens" (2009) and "Something Borrowed" (2011), which allowed the actor to bring his Everyman charm to a wider audience.
Born Oct. 20, 1979, Krasinski hailed from Newton, MA. His first experience in performing came in high school in a play written by a classmate, B.J. Novak - who would eventually go on to become a writer and co-star on "The Office," as well. After graduating from Newton High School in 1997, Krasinski cultivated his interest in the dramatic arts, enrolling at Brown University in Providence, RI. There, he graduated as an honors playwright in 2002, before going on to study at the National Theater Institute. Krasinski's first foray into television was as an intern on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (NBC, 1993-2009). From there, he went on to a handful of entry-level acting gigs, landing guest parts on "CSI" (CBS, 2000- ), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (NBC, 2001- ), as well as the fondly remembered dramedy, "Ed" (NBC, 2000-04). Around the same period, Krasinski also landed a few small roles in such movies as "Kinsey" (2004) and the Queen Latifah comedy vehicle, "Taxi" (2004). The next year, Krasinski landed a memorable role opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, as the wayward young grunt, Cpl. Harrigan, in director Sam Mendes' Gulf War drama, "Jarhead" (2005).
But it was as Jim Halpert on "The Office" that Krasinski shone brightest. Much like Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman) - Jim's counterpart from the original Ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant BBC series - Krasinski's character served as the show's voice of reason. Taking another cue from the original Ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant classic, the show was set in the drearily mundane world of photocopiers, spreadsheets and endless meetings. As seen through Jim's ever-objective point of view, however, the frustrating absurdities of the workplace at least became tolerable and often hysterical. What's more, audiences were encouraged to be in on the joke, thanks to Jim's subversive pranks and frequent attempts to enliven a soul-deadening environment. Last, but certainly not least, the matter of Jim's not-so-secret infatuation with co-worker Pam Beasley provided the show with much of its heart.
In early 2006, Krasinski branched out from the Dunder-Mifflin world of TV comedy to land a small role in the Oscar-buzzed film version of Broadway's "Dreamgirls" (2006), starring Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx. Coupled with the successful fall premiere of the third season of "The Office," Krasinski's wrapped up the year 2006 on a high note. Krasinski's good fortune would continue well into the next year. Riding high atop the crest of his sitcom success, the year 2007 proved to be an extremely busy one for the actor. Cast in no less than six separate features released that year, Krasinski kicked off his prolific run with the reefer-themed comedy "Smiley Face" (2007) before following up with "A New Wave," a romantic comedy he originally filmed in 2004, but which was never released. Krasinski also scored roles in two of the summer's most highly anticipated blockbusters: "Shrek the Third," the second sequel to the runaway animated hit of 2002, as well as "License to Wed," a romantic comedy starring Robin Williams and Mandy Moore.
The following year, Krasinski had a supporting role in the critically mauled "Leatherheads" (2008), a comedy starring George Clooney and Renee Zellweger set in the world of 1920s-era football that also failed to impress audiences. The following year, Krasinski turned up in a starring role in the wickedly dark satire, "Interviews with Hideous Men," an adaptation of David Foster Wallace's award-winning 1997 collection of short stories. A project of obvious personal importance to the actor, Krasinski not only co-wrote the screenplay for "Interview," the movie also marked his feature directorial debut. Meanwhile, his personal life picked up steam alongside his career after he began dating British actress Emily Blunt - the two were set up by friend Anne Hathaway. After dating for a couple of years in relative privacy, they would marry in Italy on July 10, 2010. After co-starring with Maya Rudolph in the Sam Mendes-directed dramedy "Away We Go" (2009), he appeared opposite Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin in the well-received adult romantic comedy "It's Complicated" (2009), voiced Cuthbert in the animated "Monsters vs. Aliens" (2009), and starred alongside Ginnifer Goodwin and Kate Hudson in the critically maligned romantic comedy "Something Borrowed" (2011).
