A Quiet Place star Lupita Nyong'o on how John Krasinski persuaded her to join franchise
The Oscar winner leads the cast of the new spin-off – alongside Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn and adorable cats Nico and Schnitzel.
John Krasinski might have handed over the reins to Pig director Michael Sarnoski for the latest entry in the Quiet Place franchise, but he still had a major part to play in bringing the new film to the screen.
The former star of The Office dreamed up the story for the film alongside Sarnoski, and it seems he was also vital in helping to secure the Oscar-winning talents of Lupita Nyong'o for the lead role of Sam.
"He was the first point of contact about this movie. We had a Zoom and he walked me through why he wanted to make another film in this franchise," she explained during an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com.
"And what he said to me was that he wasn't really interested in carrying on with the franchise unless he was able to find a new way in. He's interested in expanding what the franchise can do, but also what the genre of horror can do in and of itself.
"So that's why he teamed up with someone like Michael, who is a young director, you know, having done just one feature film before this.
More like this
"And I liked that he was taking risks with the franchise. The first one was a risk, you know, pitching that story could not have been easy. And he did such a wonderful job with it and with the second one, and so I liked his his outlook, his mission."
By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Nyong'o is joined in the cast by rising star Joseph Quinn – but the Stranger Things breakout had far less contact with Krasinski before signing on.
In fact, he revealed that he actually only met him for the first time at this year's Oscars ceremony, where he had a "manic" conversation with both Krasinski and his wife – and original A Quiet Place star – Emily Blunt.
As for what excited him about joining the franchise, Quinn revealed that there were many aspects of the film that appealed to him.
"Probably the most obvious one was the fact that Lupita was involved," he said. "I was very excited about the prospect of working with her... and obviously, we had Michael Sarnoski directing it.
"But I think it was a really interesting opportunity to bring a world that audiences are already very familiar with, and very fond of, to a larger scale, to kind of really blow it up and take it to New York City, which is famously a very... it's not really very quiet. And to see how that would unfold and see how we could land that plane was quite exciting."
Read more:
- A Quiet Place: Day One review – a slight but poignant addition to the franchise
- Anthony Michael Hall says Jessica Alba was like an “extra stunt coordinator” on Trigger Warning
Nyong'o and Quinn are joined in the cast by two other very important co-stars – a pair of cats called Schnitzel and Nico, who share the role of Frodo (and the latter of whom RadioTimes.com was lucky enough to interview).
And Nyong'o said that although both cats were "absolutely brilliant", they also required a little patience to work with on set.
"Cats are very individualistic and very independent," she explained. "And so, what they were able to teach these cats to do was astounding. But we also put those cats... I mean, we were in heightened circumstances, and so they had to adjust.
"Cats like to be around fewer people, generally speaking, and they did a really good job of adjusting to the craziness on set.
"I will say that they were really the stars of the show. Because I remember thinking, I'm number one on the call sheet but that doesn't mean anything because nothing is as orderly as when the cats are on set.
"It was like, 'Quiet on set. Schnitzel is here!' And then everybody gets quiet – because you have to make it comfortable for a cat. So they were the real bosses!”
A Quiet Place: Day One is showing in UK cinemas from Thursday 27th June 2024.
Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
