John Krasinski Hosts MGH Cancer Center’s One Hundred Gala, Talks Life After The Office

Photo by Lisa Richov

Newton homeboy John Krasinski hosted the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center’s annual fundraiser—the One Hundred Gala—on Wednesday night (other bold-facers in attendance included his wife Emily Blunt; actor and Kingston resident Chris Cooper; Aerosmith rocker Tom Hamilton; and Pats owner Jonathan Kraft). The Office star chatted with us before the red carpet.

On visiting Boston: “I always stay with my parents. When you come home, you gotta do that. It’s weird to be like, ‘Hey, I’m at a hotel. Drive 20 minutes to see me and we’ll have dinner.’ I’m going to be here for a couple of days…I usually just want to spend time with Mom and Dad. My brother’s here and he has two boys now, so I love playing uncle. That’s usually the most exciting thing to do. We’ve talked about maybe hitting the Cape for a day, or maybe Martha’s Vineyard for a day. We’ll see how it goes. We’re just improv-ing as we go.”

On how he got involved with the One Hundred event: “Well, Matt Damon’s been hogging the spotlight and he hosts this every year. Finally, he let someone else do it. They just needed an upgrade this year, I think—I can’t even say that with a straight face. Matt is shooting this year—he’s shooting with some guy named George Clooney—and so he wasn’t available and Mass General reached out to me… It’s such an honor to be part of something that is so Boston-oriented, but at the same time, this hospital and especially the Cancer Center is the gold standard of treatment and care and is also on the cutting edge of research and development.”

On his remarks for the evening: “Oh my god, I’m terrified—weirdly terrified—about live events like this. I can do anything on camera if you give me a couple takes, but speaking in front of these people, in front of these incredibly inspiring people, is bizarre. I get so nervous. Everybody’s like, that can’t be true. And I say, watch me out there—I’ll turn red and sweat, I’m sure.”

On how he’s feeling post-Office: “It’s tough. It’s super tough. For me, it’s not just saying goodbye to a show or saying goodbye to a character. It’s saying goodbye to an era of my life. I mean, I got the show when I was 23… 23 to 33, those are some pretty important years to be living your life, let alone be on a television show. This show has given me absolutely everything and to say anything other than that would be a gross understatement… I wouldn’t have met my wife [Emily Blunt] if I wasn’t an actor living in L.A. You can get as existential as you want, and sort of have an existential crisis about how much I owe to this show, and I am so, so proud of it every single moment of the day.”

On his guest appearance on the new season of Arrested Development: “I would have done anything. I would have made sandwiches for those guys. For me, Arrested Development is the cornerstone of recent television comedy. It’s so incredibly flawless and perfect.”