Clicky

WAMG Talks PROMISED LAND With JOHN KRASINSKI – We Are Movie Geeks

Featured Articles

WAMG Talks PROMISED LAND With JOHN KRASINSKI

By  | 

PROMISED LAND, the new film directed by Gus Van Sant, takes a hard, unbiased look at hydraulic fracking, and the effects it has on a small community. Written by Matt Damon and John Krasinski, the film sets out to unite communities, and show a real glimpse of life in a rural setting. WAMG recently got the chance to sit down with John Krasinski (in a round table) to discuss his experience writing his first screenplay, collaborating with Matt Damon, and his karaoke go-to jam!

Steve has been dispatched to the rural town of McKinley with his sales partner, Sue Thomason (Academy Award winner Frances McDormand). The town has been hit hard by the economic decline of recent years, and the two consummate sales executives see McKinley’s citizens as likely to accept their company’s offer – for drilling rights to their properties – as much-needed relief. What seems like an easy job and a short stay for the duo becomes complicated – professionally by calls for community-wide consideration of the offer by respected schoolteacher Frank Yates (Academy Award nominee Hal Holbrook) and personally by Steve’s encounter with Alice (Rosemarie DeWitt). When Dustin Noble (John Krasinski), a slick environmental activist, arrives, suddenly the stakes, both personal and professional, rise to the boiling point.

Check out the round table discussion below:

Does Fracking keep you up at night?

JK: Does Fracking keep me up at night? You know, what’s funny is I really started out the idea… I had the idea for the script about two years ago, and my dad grew up in a small town outside of Pittsburg, in Natrona Heights which was a steel mill town, and his dad worked three jobs, and they didn’t have very much. I remember when he was telling us when I was a little kid… I was an ignorant eight year old… and I said “So, was your childhood awful?” (Laughs) and he said “No, it was amazing! We had friends and family, and there was this sense of community, and the faith that tomorrow would be a better day.” That really stuck with me my whole life, and then I think the older I got, the more I realized the country was moving away from that sort of pure ideal of community. So, that’s where the idea came from, and that’s where I really started.

Natural gas came in as an issue later on in the project. Once we had started coming up with these characters, and this town, and these groups of people who were going to interact, it turned out to be the best backdrop for the story because it was basically, you know, like high stakes poker. There was so much to potentially gain, and so much potentially to lose. The really moving part was when we actually went to shoot in the town, they were so generous, and so open to have us… but at the same time people weren’t against coming up and telling you how they really felt, and there were people who came up and said “You know, you really shouldn’t be making this movie. This is really good for us.” and then five minutes later someone would come up and say “Thank you for making this movie!”. We never expected it to be the movie that deals with this issue. Our whole thing was, at the end, to start a conversation. Whether it’s fracking, or something else, these issues are something that should bring communities together, and (they should be) making decisions for themselves. Being together on this stuff is really the most important thing. Especially this day and age. Otherwise, our idea’s that if you don’t step up to it someone will step up and make the decision for you, as was evidence by this last election. We made so much noise about who was getting elected, and I feel like we really forgot about the people who were actually being affected by all of this. That was our idea, so we never set out to be like “This is it! We wanna do the biggest political movie of the year.”

How connected to that “small town” world were you guys, and how much did you discover as a part of making this movie? Coming from that kind of background, I found it to be very authentic.

JK: That’s awesome, by the way, and that’s a huge compliment. When we were writing it, the big things that we wanted to do, a couple of things… One is we needed humor, because I think anything that’s just dramatic is really boring. The other thing is that we wanted depth from the characters, and we wanted them to be multifaceted because any character, any one story, or one side of an issue was really, really boring. So, for us, the whole thing was to make these people , like when my dad spoke about his upbringing, to make them really intelligent people… really proud people who have opinions about things rather than, I think sometimes in movies just do this “small town America” as the people who just get bowled over by anyone who has an idea and then in comes innovators and creators who just push these people aside. That’s not the truth, at all. These people are very dedicated to their opinions, and very proud of where they’re from. That was the thing about getting there, and first of all seeing how gorgeous it was. I mean, it was beautiful. Weirdly, we shot ten miles away from where my dad grew up so, when he came to visit I had this existential moment where he was like “Oh, we use to apple pick over there.” and “I knew this area. You know, we came up here…” and I was like “Oh my god!” so I was having a father-son moment, this big moment, and I think everyone on the crew that day was like “What’s up with Krasinski?” because it felt like I was ready to cry at any moment, because I was going through something.

The truth is that you see what these people are fighting for… and when I say “what they’re fighting for” I don’t mean either side of the issue. What I am saying is they are fighting for what everybody else is fighting for… Their family, their friends, where they’re from, and where they’re going. It’s a self-protective survival mode, and that’s what’s so admirable about these people really digging in on these issues, and it’s happening all over the country.

One of the really great things that you do visually, and with the story and with the performance is that you simplify. You make it very easy. Especially your classroom sequence. You could lift that out and turn it into a short film for schools to educate kids. 

JK: On one side of the issue, you could. (Laughs) The other side wouldn’t be super psyched about that!

That also goes hand in hand with your character of Dustin, and your performance. What did you draw on to create him, because, for me, I felt this really wonderful Elmer Gantry like, environmental evangelism. 

JK: Yes! Exactly! You know what’s funny, is my whole idea for it was sort of the snake oil salesman, you know what I mean? I remember watching all of those great movies, or even Looney Tunes kind of cartoons. There’s always the guy who just rolls into town, gets everybody to buy this stuff, and then rolls out in that amazing carriage with the clinking bottles as it goes away. I just thought that that’s sort of what, really, everybody is doing on either side of the issue, or any type of corporation is doing. Everybody is just selling their wares, and trying to get these people to invest, but the thing I love, not just with this issue, but overall, is, I feel like the country is turning, especially with this fiscal eclipse stuff that’s happening. I remember the last time we were anywhere near a fiscal eclipse people were like “What is a fiscal eclipse?” and now you’re hearing people having really strong opinions. People are getting more and more educated, and have an idea of what they want from the situation. I think that’s what our movie is trying to do. That’s where we need to go. The days of just saying “Our elected people are angels.” and “They’re gonna take care of us.” and “Everything is going to be great.”… those days are over. We really need to, sort of, steer the ship with them, and for them. It’s really gotta be that old Lincoln quote of “For the people, by the people.”

How did you end up becoming writing partners with Matt Damon on this particular project?

JK: I met Matt when he was doing a movie with my wife, ADJUSTMENT BUREAU, and we became friendly right away… which is really nice because being from Boston, the guy from GOOD WILL HUNTING is pretty much the mayor of some fictitious town (Laughs), and so that was really awesome to meet him. One day we were on a double date, and he said “I’m actually thinking of directing. Is there anything you have in the works that you’d be willing to share with me?” and I said “Yeah.”. So, I brought him this idea, and he jumped on it right away… and we were writing within a week or two. It worked really, really well. He actually was shooting WE BOUGHT A ZOO in California at the time, and I was shooting my show, so we were kind of moonlighting. During the weekends I would show up around breakfast time on Saturday, and work all the way through dinner, both Saturday and Sunday. I don’t know how we got work done, because he has four beautiful girls. That’s why we always went to his house. He wins by default. Between throwing in THE LITTLE MERMAID seventeen times, lunch, and bath time, I don’t know how we got any work done, but we did.

We worked really well together. We worked really fast. We have similar sensibilities, and similar sense of humors, but, at the end of the day, I think we’re both eternal optimists, so we wanted the same thing. We wanted this to be an uplifting, kind of Frank Capra, kind of Kazan movie. Where we were headed was always the same, so getting there was a lot quicker.

Do you double date a lot?

JK: Yes we do. They are really fun double dating… You know, ironically, one of the things we’ve done a whole lot is karaoke. (Laughs) You wouldn’t know, because I didn’t get any better for the movie, but… That’s the best part about writing the script, or writing the stage directions is like “Dustin is horrible at karaoke.” and I was like “Now that that’s in there, I’m safe! I can do whatever I want”.

What’s your go-to? 

JK: My go-to is Enrique Iglesias’ “Hero”. (Laughs) You’re welcome America! Get ready to not be excited!

What about Emily (Blunt) and Matt (Damon)? 

 JK: Matt hits some Springstein… a lot of the time. Matt and I have also duetted with “The Gambler”. (Laughs) Yeah, Kenny Rogers “The Gambler”. Bet you didn’t know it was a duet? But we made it into a duet, and it was one of those things where it was like “Oh, you’re getting that? Ok, fine. You can have that verse and I’ll have the other one.” It’s like, you’re fighting for the better verse. Again, it’s so exciting because in the moment it’s like ” We sound amazing!”. Thank god those are tiny rooms in the basements of buildings in the East Village, otherwise it would be really embarrassing.

You know, you could take this on the road and make money… and finance your next film with it…

JK: I don’t think we could finance a lunch with it! (Laughs) But hell, I’d give it a shot!

What was Dave Eggers involvement in this?

JK: When I had the idea I brought the basic structure… what I was saying about how I felt about small town life, and sort of that pride. I brought it to Dave because a lot of those issues are obviously big for him too, and really important. I had worked with him on AWAY WE GO, and I had known him through a bunch of 826 events that I had done. He’s one of the smartest guys any of us will ever meet. I just went to him, kind of as  a guru in the oracle. He was writing his novel that summer, so he didn’t have so much time, but we had enough time to sit around and kick around ideas, and structure, and sort of the basic outlying ideas of what it would be, and that’s what I took to Matt.

How important is the writing aspect of your career to you? Are you trying to cultivate it further, or are you just going to write when passion hits you on a certain idea? 

JK: No, I’m definitely going to cultivate it further. This was an incredible learning experience for me, on every level, but I think if I’m honest… The truth is, this is really a big moment for me. This is a transition from the show that is meaning, to me, more than anyone knows. I think to have this show end is going to be an incredibly emotional moment for me, not only because of the show, and the cast, and the crew, and that family aspect, but it’s an era of my life that’s gonna be gone. It is my twenties, basically. It’s one of the most important decades of my life. It was spent with this show, and I owe it absolutely everything. No one would know my name if it wasn’t for this show, and I wouldn’t have any opportunity if it wasn’t for this show. To sort of grow up, and to have that show support, this is just sort of my… After a while if someone asked me “What would you do if we gave you the keys?” This is the movie that I’d do if you gave me the keys. To me, this is the sort of thing that I’ve always been interested in. These are the characters that I’ve always been interested in watching, or interested in playing. I really want to so it more. To have this team surrounding me… To write with Matt, and to have Gus onboard… it was so surreal, and so inspiring, but it also probably spoiled me because now I’m just like “All I have to do is write some sort of document. Then all of a sudden Matt Damon and Gus Van Sant will sign on! How hard is this folks?”. (Laughs) I don’t know how the next ones are going to turn out, but also at home my wife was hugely supportive. I had always heard that story that a blank white page is a pretty scary thing, and I was like “Come on! There are bigger things to be scared of.” Then you sit down and you realize “Wow! That is pretty scary!” so, she was the one who kept saying “You can do it!” and “Just go up there and give it a couple more hours.” and sure enough, it just clicked, and I really, really loved it. So, I’m going to give it a shot, and hopefully keep going as long as there are stories that I can tell well. Until then, I’ll at least give it a shot.

For More Info:

www.PromisedLandTheFilm.com

www.Facebook.com/PromisedLandMovie

PROMISED LAND opens in select theaters Friday, December 28 and opens everywhere January 4

Nerdy, snarky horror lover with a campy undertone. Goonies never say die.