‘Office’ star John Krasinski has to defend himself from the worst accusation in modern Hollywood — being a conservative

Only in today’s divisive culture would a filmmaker like John Krasinski need to defend himself against accusations of being a “red state hero” for choosing military and alpha roles.

‘The Office’ star Krasinski has been on the defensive while making the promotional rounds for his latest film, ‘A Quiet Place Part II’, which he both starred in and directed.

With the comedic actor turning his attention in recent years to more leading roles as military operatives — a US soldier in ‘13 Hours’ — and government agents — CIA agent Jack Ryan in a show heading into its third season on Amazon — Krasinski has been labeled by some on the left as a possible closet conservative — the absolute worst thing you can be in modern Hollywood.

Buzzfeed claimed the actor in 2018 wanted to play “red state heroes” without specifically getting political — the actor is an Elizabeth Warren supporter in real life — and accusations of playing to a conservative audience have been dogging him ever since. 

In an interview with Esquire, Krasinski was asked about the possibility of being a closeted conservative and questioned about why his recent output appeals to a more right-leaning crowd, and the actor was forced into a corner and had to talk himself out.

“That narrative is certainly not the narrative I intended to put out there,” the 40-year-old star said, adding that he can’t help what “subjective belief” an audience member brings with them to his work.

Krasinski went on to say that family connections to the military made it important for him to take on projects that present the US military in a positive light. 

“I’ll always respect people who put their lives on the line for people like me, who they’ve never met,” the actor explained, saying he’s even “nerded” out when he’s researched his roles by talking to real CIA agents and military personnel. 

Seems reasonable, right? An actor takes on roles he feels a certain connection to and responsibility to play. What’s wrong here is the fact that Krasinski needs to be in a position to defend those choices in the first place. 

And his motivation in taking on certain roles is not the only thing he’s been defending. Krasinski was also asked about accusations that his 2018 film ‘A Quiet Place’ was “conspicuously regressive” as a review for the New Yorker claimed because it depicted a white family — almost the only cast in the entire movie — with a gun-toting father leading the way.

The actor said the decision to focus on the specific family wasn’t “political” and he only wanted to tell a story about “parenthood.”

Again, reasonable, but why is this artist being put through this woke trial by fire of sorts?

In today’s Hollywood, being a conservative or being connected in any way to right-leaning audiences has taken the place of Joseph McCarthy putting on public hearings in the 50s to weed out suspected communists. 

Directors like Spike Lee openly brag about dropping performers connected to Trump, and actors such as James Woods find work offers slow the second they begin speaking out about ideas that oppose the woke liberal standards typically found in the modern entertainment industry. Meanwhile some stars make no effort to hide their hatred for everyday folks who vote differently from them, such as ‘Will & Grace’ stars Debra Messing and Eric McCormack demanding the name of Trump entertainment industry donors so they knew who not to work with, or ‘Stand By Me’ director Rob Reiner telling MSNBC “a lot” of Trump supporters are simply racist. 

John Schneider, Dean Cain, Nick Searcy, and many others have spoken extensively about the roadblocks one faces as an artist if you’re conservative or even made out to be conservative by critics today.

Instead of a senator now calling people out in public hearings, social justice warriors and elitist journalists dig and dig until they find someone to put on the chopping block. The man of the moment appears to be Krasinski and he’ll likely survive the same cancel culture axe that took out Roseanne Barr because he’s feeding people the right answers, but imagine him saying he does want to play to red state audiences and, hey, he might even be a little red-blooded himself. Things would be going very differently.

Leaving no blood in the water for the sharks, Krasinski will walk away from the whole thing unscathed, but it’s only a matter of time before the easily offended find their next target and start asking the right questions in the hopes of discovering someone who doesn’t believe everything they believe, and recent history in Hollywood shows us that person will not be so lucky.