As the character Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office, actor John Krasinski has a complete and total lack of passion for his job as a paper salesman. Krasinski’s latest endeavor, though, is all about passion. He will make his directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival with a film adaptation of Brief Interviews With Hideous Men (Little, Brown 1999) by the late David Foster Wallace.
"This is the definition of a passion project," Krasinski recently told Wired.com. “Whether it was with some of my friends in my basement or onstage in a restaurant in New York, I was going to do it somehow, and I was lucky enough to get it done as a feature film.”
The film follows an anthropology doctoral candidate as she interviews men in an effort to understand their behavior and to heal after her boyfriend leaves her without explanation. In addition to directing, Krasinski stars in the film, which also features Julianne Nicholson, Timothy Hutton, Will Fort, and Ben Gibbard. The 2009 Sundance Festival will run from January 15 to January 25 in Park City, Utah.
Krasinsky was at Brown University, where he graduated as a playwright, when he first came across Wallace’s story collection. “The only thing I'm terrified of now is David Foster Wallace fans," Krasinsky told Wired.com. "I hope I do him justice."
This is the first film to be adapted from the works by Wallace, who committed suicide in September after suffering from depression for more than twenty years. Krasinski was editing the film when he heard about the author’s death.
More of Wallace’s work is expected to hit the screen soon. Producer Jason Kliot (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) and screenplay writer Keith Benin are currently developing a film version of Infinite Jest (Little, Brown, 1996).
