Spotlight on John Krasinski & Emily Blunt
The couple team up again in the spine-chilling A Quiet Place 2
SHHH!
The silent-but-deadly nightmare world of A Quiet Place (2018) sees the surviving members of the Abbott family – mom Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and her children, Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus ( Noah Jupe), and a newborn – travelling through a post-apocalyptic America, hoping to find refuge from the blind, bloodthirsty aliens who’ve taken over the planet.
The aliens hunt by sound, and even the tiniest noise can attract their attention.
NEW FACES
The first chapter’s writer-director-star John Krasinski, who plays dad and husband Lee Abbott, is back for Chapter II – but only behind the scenes, having been chomped by the space beasties in part one. It’s been hinted that John, who’s also Emily’s real-life husband, will appear in flashbacks.
The sequel’s cast adds new faces, including Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou.
A WORLD OF SILENCE
Emi ly has revealed that she almost wasn’t cast as Evelyn. As John was gearing up to make the film, she’d just completed Mary Poppins and had given birth to their second child, Violet, and wasn’t too keen on jumping into another movie.
John said he was nervous about asking Emily to be in the film, and she began suggesting actresses he should cast – until she read the script.
“When I read the script, I really wanted to do it. John had already approached another actress – a good friend of mine – so I told him he had to ring her and sack her,” Emily said on The Graham Norton Show.
SIGN HERE
The characters use sign language to avoid attracting the attention of the alien predators. Emily said it “was challenging, quite hard . . . it took me forever [to learn sign language]”. But thanks to her co-star Millicent, who’s deaf, the process was made easier, and fun. “Millie is amazing. She taught me some fun words, like awesome and bulls**t.”
FAMILY AFFAIR
Following the critical and commercial success of the first film Emily didn’t hesitate to sign up for the second chapter.
“I was just really excited to see what John could do with this second one because he had all the wings of confidence from the first one. It’s a much bigger film, the world expands, and I just can’t wait for people to see what he can do as a filmmaker.”
A MASTERCLASS
The film’s release was delayed by the coronavirus, but screenings for critics, before cinemas were closed in the US, produced rave reviews.
“It’s a worthy, world-expanding follow-up that builds on the original and finds its own thrills, chills and emotions in the process,” wrote IndieWire’s Kate Erbland. “Audiences should still be banned from eating crunchy snacks during any and all screenings.”
Fandango’s Erik Davis said, “The film is just as tense and terrifying as the first one. There are some sequences in this film that are a masterclass in suspense.”
A HAPPY PLACE
Emily and John, who married in 2010, have two children, Hazel (7) and Violet (4). The couple met in 2008 after being introduced by a mutual friend, and tied the knot two years later at the home of their pal, George Clooney, in Lake Como, Italy.
“Having John’s support is everything because we are each other’s confidant,” Emily said about being in lockdown with her husband. “That shared understanding has really been a very vital anchor for me.”