Pop Culture Moms · Good Morning America, ABC Audio

John Krasinski on 'IF,' fatherhood, and his favorite movie moms

·32 min

The hosts open with a loose personal check in before turning to Father's Day. The conversation is about pop culture dads, and one host has, naturally, made a list. Eugene Levy as Jim's dad in American Pie gets the first pick. That choice leads into a playful recap of the character's place in the 1999 teen comedy. The guest joins the show and starts talking about the kid imagination that shaped the movie. He describes children making trees talk, and says that when adults try to step in, the kids push back. For him, the movie came from watching that light start to fade during the pandemic. He wanted to make a film that protects that magical world instead of rushing kids out of it. He describes that world as full of hopes, dreams, ambitions, joy, and love. He also says life has bad days, but the point is to look at it through something a little less fearful. The hosts turn the conversation to his own parenting. He says his kids are the ones who keep him young and youthful. For him, the biggest thing in parenting is time. It is not just what you do, but the quality of the time you spend. He names the small stuff that matters, like tea parties, card games, asking them about their day, and walking them to school. Those moments work because they let him into his kids' world. He likes being part of it more than being the parent hovering outside it. The conversation keeps circling back to how play and attention shape family life, and it closes as the hosts shift from what dad life looks like for him.

As heard by us

A warm fatherhood interview that turns imagination into a conversation about keeping childhood alive.

Pop Culture Moms uses a Father's Day frame to move from pop-culture dad chatter into a wider look at imagination, parenting, and the work of keeping kids feeling like kids.

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Why you'd press play

John Krasinski talks fatherhood and how IF grew out of his kids' imaginary play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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