IF Movie: John Krasinski and Ryan Reynolds Compare Steve Carell To His “Vulnerable” Character

John Krasinski’s IF is now playing in theaters, and the new movie features a star-studded voice cast. Many famous names showed up to play the movie’s various IFs AKA imaginary friends, including Krasinski’s former The Office co-star, Steve Carell. Krasinski and IF star, Ryan Reynolds, recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly, and they compared Carell to his IF, Blue. 

“I think Steve Carell,” Reynolds said when asked which IF voice actor is most like their character. “He is so close to Blue. Everyone kind of equates him with funny, but the man has also done some dark, deep, beautiful, emotional work. I think he’s so, I don’t know, just even sitting next to him in interviews, I feel lucky. I just adore this guy.”

“It’s true,” Krasinski agreed. “When I was writing Blue, I was writing it for Steve as Steve, and Steve had no idea if he was going to say yes. And I wrote it because, yes, he’s very funny, but it is true, he’s so heartfelt and sweet and very vulnerable. He’s willing to open himself up, and that’s why I think the whole Blue scene might be my favorite scene in the movie.”

“For a character that is so large and so purple, he has so much humanity,” Reynolds explained of Blue. “I mean, it’s so much humanity. And also, Steve is genuinely – I don’t think voice acting gets enough credit because he’s creating micro facial expressions with his voice and it’s pretty amazing. It’s a pretty wild sight to see.”

“[Carell] was laughing, and he just kept laughing as Blue, and he was like, ‘Yeah, lemme do another one,’ and he just started laughing [again],” Krasinski recalled. “And I was crying laughing, having him just laugh on a microphone.”

“Well, I haven’t started working on the film with him yet, but I can’t wait,” Carell told ET Online before IF went into production. “I’m anticipating just joy and fun. I mean, he’s the best, and he’s a great director.” Carell joked, “I’ll put him through his paces, you know? I’ll make him work for it. I might be one of those persnickety actors that doesn’t always agree, or won’t come out of my trailer … You think you hired somebody that is a friend, but you got that wrong!”

Who Stars in IF?

In IF, Krasinski directs a cast that includes Reynolds, Cailey Fleming, Fiona Shaw, and himself as the film’s human characters.  In addition to Carell, the star-studded ensemble of IFs features the voices of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr., Emily Blunt, Blake Lively, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Maya Rudolph, Bradley Cooper, Jon Stewart, Sam Rockwell, Sebastian Maniscalco, Awkwafina, Richard Jenkins, Keegan Michael Key, Matthew Rhys, and Christopher Meloni.

IF is now playing in theaters.