John Krasinski is currently starring in an action-adventure movie called Fountain of Youth on Apple TV+. Natalie Portman and Eiza Gonzalez co-star. I watched the movie over the weekend and it is ridiculous. It’s basically National Treasure meets Indiana Jones meets The Da Vinci Code. I have some stuff to say about that movie, but more on that in a minute.
Domhnall Gleeson also stars as the rich guy who hires Krasinski’s character to find the Fountain of Youth. This is a fun coincidence because Gleeson is now starring in the sister show of The Office, titled, The Paper. Obviously, this connection has not been lost on reporters. While doing press for the movie, Extra asked Krasinski if he’d be down with appearing on The Paper. His answer? Abso-f-cking-lutely.
“Extra” chatted with John Krasinski at the “Fountain of Youth” NYC premiere at the Museum of Natural History. In the movie, John and Natalie Portman play siblings on a mission to find immortality.
John, who shares daughters Violet and Hazel with wife Emily Blunt, revealed the children got to come to set! He confessed, “They came on the Vienna set in the library, so they got to see Eiza [González] beat the living hell out of me — and I think they like that a little too much!”
Krasinski also praised director Guy Ritchie, saying, “I think Guy changed the way we make movies. I think that the way he shoots, the way he looks at the world, is so unbelievably unique, and I would have done absolutely anything. I would have played a waiter. So, the fact that he asked me to be the lead in a movie with Natalie Portman, that was the easiest yes I’ve ever had.”
Stanley Tucci, who is married to Emily’s sister Felicity, is also in the movie, and John revealed, “I took Stanley as my date when we went and had dinner at Guy’s house the first night, and then they fell in love and then [Guy] told me, ‘Yeah, so Stanley’s coming in to shoot tomorrow.’ And I went, ‘What? In this movie?’ And he went, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ No one told me anything.”
Plus, John reacted to “The Paper,” a spin-off of “The Office” starring his “Fountain of Youth” co-star Domhnall Gleeson, saying he’s down for a cameo!
“I’m excited to see what they do with it. It’s such an amazing idea, and listen if Greg [Daniels] is behind it, we’re all in. And you can’t get a better actor than [Domhnall] to take on the mantle. He’s so, so great. He’s going to be so perfect for it, and we’ll probably start doing watch parties again just to watch them.”
When asked if he would consider a cameo, John insisted, “Done! If they ask me, I’m in.”
It’s nice that John didn’t play coy or deflect from answering the question! I like that it was straight forward and possibly a callout to producers, daring them to do it. While doing his own press for Fountain of Youth, Gleeson talked about how he spoke with both John and Steve Carell, whom he worked with on Hulu’s The Patient. Both basically said, ”If Greg Daniels asks you to star in his series, you say yes!” That sounds like an offer you cannot refuse. I bet if you polled Office fans, Jim, Pam, and Michael would probably be the top three characters viewers would want to see back. What kind of cameo would we like Jim to make? One where he’s in the newsroom in person or one where Oscar is on the phone with him and Pam, giving us an update?
As for Fountain of Youth, I f-cking love those types of movies/plots, so I went into it with high hopes. This movie has all of the classic reasons to suspend your disbelief, for better or for worse. It’s a super hot mess, but it’s fun at times. That said, there is one scene in which a minor is given alcohol (off-screen) and it just put me off the entire rest of the movie. I would have liked it a lot more if that one scene was cut out.
Photos credit: Marion Curtis/Starpix for Apple Original Films/INSTARimages, Roger Wong/INSTARimages, Getty
Yes, the movie was a mess, and I couldn’t finish it. Maybe that’s why I missed the part where they gave alcohol to a child. That’s very disappointing. I’m really surprised that Guy Richie, who has children himself, allowed that.
Have you watched any of Richie’s other movies ? I’m not really surprised that something like that would end up in a film of his.
I respect John for not going the expected rom-com route and, yet – I wish he’d do more comedy. Maybe it’s me, but I can’t quite believe him as Action Man.
PS – petty pet-peeve: I HATE the expression “shares” when it comes to having kids. I understand – it’s a way to handle blended-families, etc. But, yeesh – I’m old and HATE it.
I just rewatched Away We Go, with him and Maya Rudolph and I wish he’d do more of that sort of indie dramedy. He was charming in it, a goofy, loving father to be, and that suits him so much more than action.
We watched it last weekend as an at home movie night with friends with kids. The criteria was “suitable for the kids, and new enough that [that guy in our group who watches everything] hasn’t seen it yet.” It was an unserious bit of fun.