Not the bad guy! John Krasinski recently learned about the popular theory that claims his character Jim Halpert was The Office’s secret villain — and he was less than thrilled.
“Wait, what? Did you make that up?” Krasinski, 42, asked on the Tuesday, July 26, episode of The Tonight Show after host Jimmy Fallon broached the topic, stating that fans believe Jim “manipulated” his wife Pam (Jenna Fischer).
“When you ask it like that, it makes me uncomfortable,” the Something Borrowed star said. “Can you imagine if that’s what it was? … Well, they’re on to me, because I played it as a supervillain. That’s why I did Fantastic Four, to balance it out, I had already done the villain.”
Krasinski made his debut as Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four earlier this year with a surprise cameo in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Earlier in the interview, the Massachusetts native told Fallon, 47, how honored he was to take on the iconic role.
“It was a big moment for me,” he explained. When asked if he might return for a Fantastic Four movie with real-life wife Emily Blunt costarring as Susan Storm Reid, the actor quickly replied that “they don’t tell you anything,” before pretending to get shot in the neck with a “Marvel dart.”
Krasinski has long since been vocal about his appreciation for the opportunities he’s been given in the industry. In May, he appeared on an episode of “The Office Ladies” podcast with former costars Fischer, 48, and Angela Kinsey where he praised the NBC sitcom for changing his life. “This show was my film school,” he said. “I mean, I was a waiter before I got the show. I had zero experience in this business in anything — acting, writing, directing, producing, any of that stuff. And there it was, right in front of me.”
He continued, “I was somehow lucky enough to drop right into the most immense pool of talent that I could ever ask for. So I guess what I’m trying to say is: I owe absolutely everything to this show. Directing this episode [‘Sabre’] was so very special, and I will truly never forget it.”
In February 2020, the Jake Ryan alum spoke about his willingness to participate in a reboot of the comedy if the idea was ever pitched his way.
“The Office was absolutely everything to me. I mean it is my beginning and my end,” the Quiet Place star gushed during an interview with Esquire in February 2020. “I’m pretty sure at the end of my career I’ll still be known for [playing] Jim. That was my first experience with Hollywood. It was the first creative family I’ve ever had. In many ways, they will always be the most important people in that most important experience in my career. So yeah, if they did a reunion, I would absolutely love to do it.”
The Officepremiered in March 2005, chronicling Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) and his fellow Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. employees’ day-to-day work experiences. The series — which aired its finale in May 2013 — also starred Rainn Wilson, Mindy Ealing, B.J. Novak, Brian Baumaartner, Ed Helms and Kate Flannery.
Getting proper closure. Ariel Frenkel reunited with Zach Shallcross during the live finale of The Bachelor on Monday, March 27 — and didn’t hold back when it came to her feelings about fantasy suites.
Ariel, 28, first told Jesse Palmer that she was “really hurt” to learn Zach, 26, had sex with Gabi Elnicki. after telling the New Yorker that he planned not to sleep with her, Kaity Biggar or Gabi. When Zach joined her on stage, Ariel noted it was “really difficult” to be “left in the dark” in Thailand.
“It was really difficult to see that you weren’t honest with me. I committed to being in an open relationship — that’s what it is, that’s what I want to call it,” she said. “And when the parameters of an open relationship change, I should be the first to know. I should have not been left in the dark, standing up there in Thailand at the rose ceremony when you had ample time to tell me about everything before I left. So, I just really want to know why the other women were given grace and honesty — and that is something you really pride yourself on — and why I wasn’t given that same respect?”
Zach said he has a lot of regrets about how he handled that week. “I was going through a lot mentally and I didn’t know the right way to handle everything,” he said. “You’re right. I should have told you — probably first. … There’s no excuse for it.”
While she appreciated his apology, Ariel accused Zach of taking away her “agency” in the relationship.
“You took away my agency and you took away my ability to even have a conversation. If you had waited, you would have found out that I was on the same page as you,” she added. “And I think by putting sex off the table, you made the entire week about sex, and it didn’t need to be like that.”
Fans will recall Ariel was eliminated by Zach at the rose ceremony during the March 20 episode of the ABC show after she had the first overnight date.
“What feels right to me is not to explore sexual connections with three different women before falling in love,” he explained before their date. “When sex is involved, it can cause so many additional hurdles and real feelings are at stake. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s difficult because I have a physical connection with [Ariel, Kaity and Gabi].”
Following their date, Zach confirmed that he and Ariel did not sleep together.
“My relationship with Ariel is so much stronger and I have so much more clarity. This was a very important night for us,” he said in a confessional. “I came into this week not wanting to involve sex and with Ariel, it was more difficult than I could have ever imagined. But we both agreed on it and it was very important to just have conversations and not have sex involved. I think it was the right decision.”
During his subsequent date with Gabi, however, Zach broke his own rule.
“It was very special, it was important and it was what we both wanted and needed for the relationship,” Zach told the audience. “I feel terrible because, obviously, I’ve gone against my word and I have fears with how Kaity would feel, how would Ariel feel. I have a guilt about the whole week now.”
While Kaity was informed during the third overnight date about what happened, Ariel went home without learning Zach had sex with Gabi.
“This was easily the hardest thing I’ve had to do,” Zach told Ariel after she didn’t receive a rose. “And I want you to know that I appreciate you more than you know. And you are one of the most interesting, intriguing, beautiful, respectful, mature, intelligent women I’ve ever met and I’m blessed to know you.”
After thanking Zach for “making it easy” for her to open up, Ariel admitted it “hurt a lot” to say goodbye to the lead. “I’m hurt because I know, like, how great of a person he is,” she said in the limo. “And I know that I felt this way for the first time in a while for a reason. It’s like that future and that life that you envision is just, like, gone in a cloud, in a way.”
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The Bachelor finale continues live on ABC until 11 p.m. ET.
Sticking by her man — but not condoning his behavior. Vanessa Lachey (née Minnillo) is supporting husband Nick Lachey amid his legal drama, but that doesn’t mean she approves of it all.
“Vanessa likes to look at the bright side of things. She stands by Nick, but she agrees that he didn’t handle the situation correctly,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly, referring to the 98 Degrees singer’s March 2022 altercation with a celebrity photographer.
“He behaved inappropriately,” the insider continues. “She says this whole ordeal has been a wake up call and that we can all learn from it, especially Nick.”
The “Hardest Thing” crooner, 49 — who has been married to his Love Is Blind cohost since 2011 — is currently facing the consequences of the incident, which occurred last year in Beverly Hills. Nick, who allegedly attempted to break paparazzo Jody Santos’ car window and grab her phone at the time, is “participating in LADA’s Prefiling Diversion program” a spokesperson for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office told Us in a statement on Wednesday, March 22.
“As part of these conditions he must participate in anger management classes and attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings,” the spokesperson continued. “Successful completion of the Prefiling Diversion Program will result in no criminal charges being filed.”
Nick, for his part, acknowledged his wrongdoings in a tweet one day after the March 2022 altercation.
“Last night, after enjoying a great dinner with my wife and our dear friend, the paparazzi harassed us as we walked back to our hotel,” he tweeted at the time. “I clearly overreacted. I’ve been in this game long enough to know that their antics are sadly part of the deal. Stupid of me. Done.”
Santos, for her part, recalled the incident in an interview with the Daily Mail on Tuesday, March 21.
“In all my years of photographing celebrities, no one has ever tried to hit me,” she claimed. “I am just relieved that I rolled up my window as fast as I did, otherwise he would have knocked me out. No doubt about it.”
Days after the news of his mandatory AA and anger management classes broke last week, Vanessa, 42, showed her love for her husband and their three children via Instagram.
Taking to Instagram on Friday, March 24, Nick shared a series of photos with their kids — sons Camden, 10, and Phoenix, 6, and daughter Brooklyn, 8 — while on “daddy duty” in Hawaii, where the family lives.
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“Holdin down the fort!” the former TRL VJ, who films NCIS: Hawai’i in the tropical locale, replied. “Mama’s almost done!!!!”
From the script to a textbook. In the new mystery The Tutor, Garrett Hedlund plays a well-sought-after educator named Ethan who travels to New York once he’s hired to guide a billionaire’s son (Noah Schnapp). Although at first hesitant, after a few read throughs, Hedlund knew he had to sign on.
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“I haven’t done many psychological thrillers. When I read this, I got to a certain point in the script and I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know,’” he exclusively told Us Weekly, laughing. “And then I read it again, and then something clicked, and it really reminded me of something that I loved tremendously in films like Primal Fear or Mystic River. And it wasn’t only because of the twist in them, but it was also what was put into the dramatic performances that really swayed audiences that I really admired, and I respected. It inspired me. And that was the work I was hoping to be able to put into this film. From that moment on, when that light switched, I couldn’t have been more excited.”
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Hedlund stars opposite Victoria Justice, who plays his onscreen wife Anne. “I always want to be able to challenge myself as an actor and to try new things. And it all comes down to the script. Is the script good? And the script was really good. It was a page-turner. It kept me on the edge of my seat,” the actress, 30, told Us in the joint interview. “I didn’t see the twists and turns coming. And I love the genre.”
Getting to work with Hedlund and the Stranger Things star, 18, was also a bonus. “Finding out that Garrett and Noah were attached, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. Amazing cast. Would love to have the opportunity to be able to work with both of them,’” she explained. “And then meeting our director, Jordan Ross, who had such a great energy when I first met him. He was super warm and friendly. He was very collaborative and had such a clear vision for this project.”
The Nickelodeon alum is best known for her role on Victorious, while Hedlund’s experience on the small screen came a bit later in his career.
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“I’m recently new to the TV world, and so I’d just kind of say, like, there’s a certain consistency. For my history with film, you’re kind of in a different place. You call a different part of the States or a part of the world home for an extended period of time. You call other crew members family for an extended period of time, and then you’re off to sort of a new location and what have you. And so there’s a little bit of a stability with the series,” he told Us. “And the one I’m on, Tulsa King, we have the benefit of going into its second season and revealing more of the story and getting to know some of these characters more. And so there’s that consistency and stability within it and being able to add on to and expose other things of a character that’s hopefully interesting to audiences.”
Earlier this month, it was revealed that the Four Brothers actor will join Taylor Sheridan’sYellowstone spinoff, 1883: The Bass Reeves Story, on Paramount+. (Hedlund plays Mitch Keller on Sheridan’s Tulsa King, which premiered in November 2022.)
Justice agreed with Hedlund, noting that it’s beneficial to “sit with the character for longer” when working in TV.
Hedlund and Justice are both musicians off screen too; he plays the guitar and has sung in 2010’s Country Strong and 2014’s Lullaby while Justice released her debut single, “Gold,” in 2013. The costars, however, never jammed out on set of The Tutor.
“If we went back when we were shooting it, I probably would’ve said, ‘A little more jamming on this,’” Hedlund teased.
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“We didn’t jam it up! We should have jammed,” Justice replied. “There wasn’t maybe a ton of time to jam when we were on set. But we need to jam in the future.”
Hedlund chimed in: “There might have been some square dancing.”
Despite not duetting together, the On the Road star emphasized that “the wonderful thing about films is being open to new experiences.”
“Just the travels and the journeys and the adventures you’re able to be granted from films,” he told Us. “I’ve had the benefit of being able to travel the world since I was 18, fresh out of high school. … And my first film, [Troy], I was often in London, the island of Malta, and in Mexico for the better part of nine months working with a wonderful cast who I called family. And then it becomes a certain bit where you get on the next film and it’s somewhere else wonderful, or perhaps not wonderful, and you just wish your old friends would knock on your new doors. But more importantly, there’s never a dull [moment]. And for us, getting to do this and being actors and the artists and the creative wheels always turning and continuing to be inspired and to be able to make you smile by saying, like, ‘This film helped me through what I was going through.’ And if it gets over to the terrain of where it helps somebody heal, that’s always been for me, first and foremost, what I’d love to call a success.”
