Steve Carrell made John Krasinski cry on IF set: 'I'm so proud of you'

John Krasinski and Steve Carrell's reunion for their new movie IF was much less funny than you might expect.

"When he came in, I thought I would have the best time ever, and I did," Krasinski told People while promoting the tale that both star in and that Krasinski wrote and directed. "But the first thing he did was make me cry, which sounds sad but it was amazing." 

The Office stars worked together for seven seasons of the NBC sitcom, until Carrell's Michael Scott finally left the Dunder Mifflin workspace. Their first time in the same space in years was when Carrell met Krasinski to do his voiceover work for the film, in which he plays the animated character of Blue. Both animated and live-action, the movie is about a little girl who can suddenly see people's imaginary friends.

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"He said, 'I knew you'd go on to be a writer-director,'" Krasinski recalled. "I said, 'I didn't even know that.’ He just said, 'I'm so proud of you and keep going, and I've watched everything and [I'm] cheering you on from the sidelines.' So I wept at the beginning of our VO session, and then luckily he jumped into being Blue and cheered me up. It was great."

In fact, Krasinski had always imagined his former onscreen boss as the character.

"I wrote the part for him," Krasinski said, "and had no idea that he could do it, whether scheduling-wise or whatever."

The former Jim Halpert said Carrell actually doing the movie was a big deal.

“For him to sign on was a huge boost," Krasinski said. "It felt [like] that stamp of approval from family."

Since their days in Scranton, Carrell has gone on to serious roles, including an abusive coach in the 2014 movie Foxcatcher, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, and therapist Alan Strauss in FX on Hulu's The Patient, where he was held hostage by a serial killer.

Krasinski went on to write, direct, and star in A Quiet Place and its sequel. (Prequel film A Quiet Place: Day One, based on his first two films, will be released in the U.S. on June 28.)

In addition to Carrell, Krasinski's latest movie features big names such as Ryan Reynolds and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, as well as the voices of Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, and Krasinski's wife, Emily Blunt.

While Krasinski and Carrell have moved on from The Office, there are plans to bring new episodes of the series back to televisions. Carrell has said that he won't be a part of it, because it wouldn't make sense for his Michael Scott to be part of the action, which will take place in the same universe as that sitcom.

"I will be watching but I will not be showing up," he told The Hollywood Reporter, adding that he's excited about it.