From paperboy to Mr. Fantastic: The story of Krasinski’s body transformation
By Valery Perez and Rodrigo Verney, July 11 2022—
Softboy Jim “Big Tuna” Halpert is a beloved character from the popular television sitcom The Office, a show that ran from 2005 to 2013. Known as intelligent, mild-mannered, and a goofy prankster, this character became synonymous with the actor John Krasinski. It’s hard to picture such a soft and friendly character becoming an absolutely ripped hunk who eats bad guys for breakfast, shoots guns like a maniac, and … stretches his body into any shape or form like a really good and tasty piece of taffy.
However, this is exactly what Krasinski did. After landing the role of CIA contractor and former Navy Seal in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Krasinki underwent an insane transformation to get his body from 26% to 9% body fat. According to Australia’s Men’s Health Magazine, the initial shred required that he do physical conditioning twice a day, five times a week with the remaining two days being active recovery. Krasinski’s preferred forms of active recovery being yoga or physiotherapy.
His training was overseen by Simon Waterson, the same trainer that helped his wife, Emily Blunt, go through a physique transformation for her role in Edge of Tomorrow. After attaining this physique, Krasinski admitted that this interval of training became a constant in his life. His trainer recommended that, if needed, Krasinki take periods off that were no longer than three weeks. This ensures that Krasnikis is no longer than thee weeks away from getting back to this new and improved “best” shape.
Simon insists that this “best” shape is not only an aesthetic choice, stating that “aesthetic is solely a byproduct of good performance.” Krasinski was put through intense physical conditioning inspired by Simon’s former position as a commando in the British Navy. According to the Men’s Journal for the role of Jack Ryan, Simon ensured that his training routine was “dialed in” physically to every scene that required Krasinski to perform some sort of physical sequence. It was important to Simon that what was seen on screen was also done during their training routines.
This consistent lifestyle has led Krasinski down a path of badass, tough guy roles. Starting at 13 Hours (2016), then moving on to A Quiet Place (2018) and Jack Ryan (2018- Present). Krasinski was also a top contender for the role of Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), which ultimately went to Chris Evans. In the end, we got a surprise cameo of the actor as Mr. Fantastic during Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
Krasinski’s transformation was ultimately seen as a positive. Many tabloids online and on YouTube often would write praise to the actor’s new and improved physique. Often finishing their pieces with “Wanna copy his routine? Here’s how to do it,” then providing the reader some sort of routine to follow. Fit Mole even called Krasinski “manly as fuck.” One negative comment that circulated after his transformation came directly from his wife. During an interview in The Late Show, Krasinski stated that his wife hated his transformation and that “she would prefer to have a doughy guy back” referring to the sweet face he sported during his The Office days.
Krasinski denied any future involvement with the Marvel franchise but remained enthusiastic for any possible calls he might receive from Kevin Fiege as per usual with Marvel actors. However, his top shape remains as his other roles remain the safety net he needed to keep the body transformation without having people linking it back to possible MCU ties.
Krasinski’s transformation didn’t come without any online critics as some Twitter users and blogs compared his physique to that of Christian Bale in the Dark Knight series. This toxic comparison judged Bale as a “better” transformation taking into account his muscle gain to fat ratio. Although, this comparison didn’t take into account the incredible height difference between the two actors which complicates the whole process a lot more for the 6’2 tall Krasinski than for the 5’9 tall Bale. Regardless of who had it harder, this type of comparison does nothing more than generating unnecessary drama for quick clicks.
Body transformations in Hollywood are a complicated matter to talk about. It is inherently fat phobic and always leaves a great part of the sacrifice behind the cameras while claiming to be reproducible. It is nice to hear of a positive transformation. Who else, but the guy who had a worse body than Gumby not a very long time ago. Micheal would be proud.