John Krasinski shares how 'The Office' inspired his directing career

The Office may have ended, but John Krasinski's career is still going strong.

Since the series finale of the beloved workplace comedy aired in 2013, Krasinski has starred in a number of popular TV shows and films while sharpening his off-camera skills as a writer, producer, and director.

On the latest episode of Stitcher's Office Ladies podcast, former co-stars Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey chatted all about the Season 6 episode "Sabre," written by Jen Celotta and directed by Krasinski himself. Everybody's favorite look-to-camera guy caught up with his two former co-stars to reminisce on his first time directing the show. He shared memories from set and reflected on how The Office inspired his film career.

Krasinski's journey from actor to director on The Office

While reminiscing on "Sabre," both Fischer and Kinsey described Krasinski as a "natural" director who balanced acting and directing with ease. As for John, he said directing this episode was "a dream."

"What was it like directing 'Sabre'? It was a dream. It was absolutely everything you would wish directing a show like this would be," he explained in a voice recording. "I personally was terrified, because I had to direct all of you. I remember being really, really nervous about that — that you were my coworkers, but you were my closest friends. You were my family. And here I was thinking I had the audacity to tell you what to do. Which incidentally, I don't think I did once. I'm not sure I gave one acting note to any of you because I was just in awe watching — sitting back and watching — which really was one of the most special parts about directing the show...getting to see, through a totally unique lens of being behind these monitors, the magic that every single one of you brought to each and every moment, whether it was a joke or whether it was an emotional beat. Everyone was just so good at what they did."

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While "Sabre" was the first episode of The Office that Krasinski directed, it wasn't officially his directorial debut. "He had written, produced, and directed the film Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, based on the short story collection by David Foster Wallace [in 2009]," Fischer explained. "I remember this from the time we did the pilot. John loved this book, and I guess he purchased the rights to the book with his first paycheck from The Office. He had always wanted to adapt it. 

"He's so smart like that," Kinsey said. "He's such a forward thinker."

After purchasing the rights, Krasinski — who Fischer says majored in screenwriting, not acting, at Brown University — had trouble finding a director. Finally, Rainn Wilson said to him, "Why don't you just direct it yourself?" And he did.

"So I guess Rainn Wilson kind of kickstarted John's directing career," Fischer said. "The next thing he directed was this episode of The Office. Then he directed two more episodes of The Office, so three total. Then, when The Office was over, he directed a movie called The Hollars and of course, A Quiet Place."

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The challenge of introducing new characters in "Sabre"

Both Fischer and Kinsey noted that "Sabre" wasn't just any regular old episode of The Office. Krasinski was tasked with introducing several new characters to the show and establishing all the chaos and unease that came with Sabre acquiring Dunder Mifflin.

"We need to point out what a very big deal it was for John to direct this particular episode, because he had to establish two new major characters in the show: Kathy Bates as Jo Bennett and Zach Woods as Gabe Lewis. And he directed Christian Slater. So this was not just a regular episode of The Office," Fischer said.

"It was a big episode to make your directorial [Office] debut. My lord," Kinsey said. Krasinski agreed.

"Introducing Kathy Bates, which was so mind-blowing — that Kathy Bates was not only on our show, but that I was her first experience [on the show] as a director, and for that, I will always be apologetic to her," Krasinski said. "But I remember introducing that character and knowing that, I don't know, feeling a big responsibility that that character was going to be a big part of the show. And along with her was Zach Woods, who I remember from the moment we shot his first stuff — the whole water bottle storyline — he was just so unbelievably funny. He was so reserved and this brand new instrument that we had to play with on the show. A totally different character than anybody else. And yet, whenever he spoke, you couldn't take your eyes off of him. He was always so, so funny."

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When Krasinski looks back on directing the episode now, he feels joyful and accomplished. But there were definitely some nerves involved at the time.

"I just remember with the big story changes that were happening in the show, I was so nervous to be the one to introduce those two characters," he said. "And then in the end, I don't know, feel somewhat honored to have been to have been a part of it."

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How directing on The Office boosted the rest of Krasinski's career

As noted above, Krasinski went on to direct other TV episodes and films after "Sabre," but he's not sure if he would have gone down that career path without this phenomenal experience.

"At the end of the day, I think that directing that episode was a much bigger deal than I even understood or imagined than in that moment, because the truth is, directing is terrifying," he said. "As I told you, I was very nervous to do it on this show. And honestly, if it hadn't been for this episode being such an amazing experience, surrounded by such hugely supportive crew members, cast members, producers, everyone, I don't know that I ever would have done it again. Truly. I mean, I think it was something that I was really excited to experiment with on our show, but never thought that I'd go much further than that in trying to direct anything else."

"Could you imagine if he didn't keep directing? He's so good," Fischer said. She and Kinsey also shared that The Office helped launch a number of other directing careers — from editor Claire Scanlon and camera operator Matt Sohn to cinematographer Randall Einhorn and writer Jen Celotta.

Krasinski ended his time on the podcast by echoing a previously shared sentiment. He feels he owes everything to The Office and he learned so much about writing, directing, and cinematography on set.

"This show was my film school. 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. I was somehow lucky enough to drop right into the most immense pool of talent that I could ever ask for," he said.

"Writing-wise, there I was, front row seat in the greatest room I could be. Visually, I had no idea what even a camera was. I didn't know what the difference between lenses were. I didn't know what type of cameras did what...The Office was shot single camera. It was one of the first shows to be done like that in a long time. And so we were shooting the show like a movie. So I got to pick the brain of Randall [Einhorn] and Matt [Sohn] and all these hugely talented people who would explain to me everything from lenses to aesthetic and lighting and all these different things that I had absolutely no idea about," Krasinski explained. "After directing 'Sabre,' I used to hang out with Dave Rogers [editor and director] and watch him cut all these different episodes. I'd pop in and see how he was making all these scenes work, how he was rearranging story, how he was taking air out of a moment to make it work so much stronger. So really, at the end of the day, I certainly would not be writing and directing at all if it wasn't for this show. I just I wouldn't have had the confidence to do it."

"So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I owe absolutely everything to this show," he said. "Directing this episode was so very special, and I will truly never forget it."

Be sure to check out the full podcast episode to hear more behind-the-scenes stories about filming the episode, "Sabre."

You can stream episodes of The Office on Peacock and follow along with the podcast every week on Earwolf, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.