A well-made globetrotting, car-chasing, myth-busting, logic-defying popcorn flick is the perfect (and perhaps the only) antidote to the algorithm serving globetrotting, car-chasing, myth-busting, logic-defying popcorn flicks one is used to seeing. Jack Ryan: Ghost War serves as the exact film one hopes for it to be.
Returning to the titular role after the series finale in 2023 is John Krasinski along with Wendell Pierce as James Greer and Michael Kelly as Mike November among others with Sienna Miller making her franchise debut as Emma Marlow.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Krasinski and Miller reflect on the importance of writing strong female characters in a male dominated genre, the joy and stress of shooting in real locations, and reinventing oneself as an action star.
John, when Jack Ryan premiered in 2018, The Office was at its peak— Jim Halpert was everywhere. Although Jack is witty, the stakes couldn't be more different. How difficult was it to reshape your image as an action hero when the entire world still had Jim's fourth wall-breaking smirk saved in their hearts?
Krasinski: The only answer I have is that ignorance is bliss. I didn't pay attention to what people were thinking of me as actor or my character other than as a person who is trying to do new things. I just knew that this was going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity and to do Jack Ryan and so when it came to me, I just wanted to give it my all. I think if I had thought, “Are people going to see and believe me in this role?" I'd have failed miserably, so I’m very glad that I wasn’t aware of anything.
Sienna, women in most spy thrillers are under-written; Emma Marlow, however, is far from that. What drew you to this role, and how much of what makes her work is on the page versus what you brought to her yourself?
Miller: That was one of the draws, that she was a real, worthy adversary for everyone. I loved how mysterious, clever, and unapologetic she was. She smokes cigarettes and is basically a great version of what I wanted to play in this genre and John wrote an amazing script. I would love to take credit for how cool she appears but that was all down to this amazing guy.
In an era where entire cities are being built on LED volumes and AI is generating skylines, you two along with the rest of the team were on the ground — in Dubai, in London, in real environments. What are the joys and stresses of shooting on ground, out in the open?
Krasinski: The joy comes with an equal amount of stress because (they say) 'You only have this location for a day' or 'You can have this location, but you can’t touch it or jump off the roof.' The world is changing and there’s many new tools that will be coming as they always have. But to me there's something different about shooting practically not only for the look of the film but also for the crew and the cast.
There is absolutely no substitute for having the real thing right in front of you so I’m very proud that we got to do it and do things that have never been done before. The car chase scene in London, I believe, is the first car chase scene filmed there in 23 years and I don’t think they’ve ever allowed a car to go that fast! Even on days where we weren’t working, we were thrilled to be on set to watch all this fun stuff unfold.