Did the fans seem to like this season’s finale of The Office?
John Krasinski: “Yeah. They’ve all been great, which is really awesome. We were really nervous about it because last year was a pretty huge moment, really fun to shoot. Then this year was very circumstantial. So, if you were a fan of the show, I think this finale would make more sense to you and you would love it more because you know that that moment’s been coming for a while. The sort of anti-ending was really brave to do, for the writers, not for us. It was pretty easy to just get the script and do it. But, yeah it was really nice. We’re extremely lucky.”
Have you had a chance to check in with Jenna Fischer after her accident?
John Krasinski: “I have, yeah. I was shooting the movie when it happened so I was unfortunately busy, but we talked a little bit. Then when I got to New York as soon as we wrapped, I went to visit her at the hotel. It’s kind of crazy how well she’s doing for what happened. When I was sitting talking to her I forgot that she broke her back. You hear those words and you’re like, ‘Oh, man. She won’t walk for years,’ and here she is up and walking around with a huge smile on her face. I definitely wouldn’t take it a well.”
Mandy, you started out as a singer and John, you were a writer. How do you feel about acting versus what you originally intended to do?
Mandy Moore: "For me, I feel like they go hand-in-hand. I feel lucky to do a little bit of both and that people have been accepting of me in both roles. I don’t ever feel overwhelmed by it. I feel like anybody else who has a lot on their plate. It’s about prioritizing. I feel like they are such different creative entities and being on stage and getting to perform in front of an audience and that rush of adrenalin and that connection with an audience is very, very different from making a film and the teamwork aspect of everything. So, I just feel lucky and fulfilled differently by doing a little bit of both."
John Krasinski: "I think it’s about doing things that you are excited about. I don’t think I ever planned on being an actor and I definitely didn’t plan on being a writer, either. I planned on being an English teacher and I don’t know where that is but I think that it’s really fun to have an outlet. For me, it’s really just an outlet, writing and putting together this movie was a passion project for sure, but really nothing more than that because I’m not trying to be the triple threat guy. I’m still working on this one threat: acting. But it’s easy to be intimidated by somebody who does music, to me, because working with Mandy and having her developing the album as we went was incredible to watch. I was very envious because doing that and doing music that is very different from what you [Mandy] did before. I wish I could do something as cool as that. So, we’ll see if it happens in the movies but I doubt it."
You were working on your album during filming?
Mandy Moore: "I was writing, yeah. I was writing definitely while we were doing it."
John Krasinski: "I was playing guitar."
Mandy Moore: "We were collaborating."
John Krasinski: "I was on the keys sometimes, but the trailer doesn’t fit a whole piano."
Mandy, can you compare and contrast doing music and acting? Do you flex the same muscles?
Mandy Moore: "I think you’re flexing the same muscles doing the music and the film stuff. You are trying to convey your emotions in lyrics across to an audience if you’ve written a song a few years ago and it doesn’t really hit you the same anymore. There’s a little acting in that and obviously, when you’re relaxing or trying to get in character, sometimes you listen to music. They do go hand-in-hand."
