Interview with Michael Kelly and Wendell Pierce
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00:00John Krasinski is the longest running actor to play Jack Ryan, and besides that personal record,
00:05I was wondering what both of you will think his character will be most remembered for,
00:09or his portrayal specifically. And Mike, I'll start with you.
00:13I think he will be remembered as the guy who did it the best. I think,
00:19maybe I'm biased, you know, I love what those other guys did. I think they were great. But I
00:25given John had a slight advantage in that we were able to do his story in long format,
00:31all the other guys had to do it in an hour and a half, we were able to tell the story
00:35over four seasons of eight episodes a season or six a season, whatever it is.
00:41But to me, John, I felt brought not just the humanity of Jack Ryan and the intelligence,
00:49and he's an incredibly gifted action star as well. But the humor, right? Like he brings that
00:58little extra thing that I think that he does so well, the ability to blend all three of those
01:03things and action star, funny, and very connected to humanity and the righteous way. I think that
01:15he was able to blend those three perfectly. And that's my that's my opinion is he is and
01:21sure I might be biased, but I think he's the best one.
01:24And John had the vision for the show. Yeah, I mean, he's a producer on the show. And he was
01:29able to pull together all the departments and pull together all the actors and directors and
01:35the scripts. And really, everyone shared the vision of of Jack Ryan and be able to do that
01:42in the long form. So you can take advantage of it. So you don't have to sell any elements short,
01:48really develop it in a way like a visual novel, knowing that the audience is going to stick with
01:53you. And he'll be remembered for that pulling together the vision.
01:58Oh, I think he'll be best remembered for his height. No.
02:07He's, you know, you can see them from across the country.
02:10I think he's just got this way of bringing levity to quite severe, serious situations.
02:22I think the the newer generations have had the luxury of content and news and being in that sort
02:32of being filtered through a humorous lens, if that's makes sense. You know, the Jon Stewart
02:38shows and I'm trying to think of who else, Trevor Noah. And, you know, you have a lot of comedic
02:44news shows and you have a lot of information coming at you that I think he's he's he's able
02:51to, like, operate on that wavelength that's quite lightning quick and slightly funny.
02:57Yeah. I mean, what like what a great character for him to play and embody. And, you know, he's
03:03even later on in the seasons, you know, Jon was so integrated in terms of the story and writing and
03:11co-creating, producing all of this kind of stuff. So it really is an empire. And I think he's a
03:17great Jack Ryan. I think his cerebral nature, you know, he's a smart dude. I first met Jon
03:2420 years ago at Brown University, you know, and he's he's a smart guy, witty, super sharp,
03:30as we all know, hard worker and a hard worker. And I think that that's I think that's what people
03:36take from it. He there's always a little bit of a little sense of humor, even in the most
03:42dire situations. And that's great. Super charming. Well, I think it's the I mean, it's the fact of
03:48like maybe it has a little bit something to do with his history, like he was on The Office.
03:53You know what I mean? He was that guy. And then he transitioned into the Jack Ryan of it all.
03:58And it's still like, you know, maybe it's the perception of who he is and also who he is as a
04:04person that I think he just fits this character perfectly. Like when you when you see the first
04:10the first season and you see him in the boardroom and he's coming up with these ideas like it's
04:15like you buy it. You know what I mean? That he's I buy that he's the smartest guy in the room. Yeah.
04:20That he's thinking outside the box and that he's getting, you know, different. Everyone's looking
04:26at the same image, but he's getting something different out of it. Like, I love that. And
04:30that's something that you still, you know, you still see even in this season is that it's hidden
04:37in plain sight, you know, and it's and that's what's great about the show is that like you
04:41can solve it along with Jack if you can think like Jack.