Jim Halpert might not be the lovable character we know today if it wasn’t for NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth.
Actor John Krasinski, who played the role for nine seasons on the popular NBC sitcom The Office, reportedly landed the show after getting noticed in a commercial with Kenseth in 2002, according to NASCAR.com. The commercial ended up being watched by The Office‘s Greg Daniels, who brought Krasinski in for an audition.
The actor admitted Kenseth was shy about doing the spot.
“I haven’t seen or heard that since the time I did it. That is a real send back to memory lane,” Krasinski said. ” … That was a huge performance and I remember we had a little bit of script and Matt Kenseth had said he doesn’t want to have a line in the script. He was very shy and he didn’t want … he just wanted to walk through the commercial.”
Krasinski eventually started improvising on the advice of the commercials director, which inspired Kenseth to up his game and read some lines as well. The rest is history.
The 36-year-old had an unorthodox career beginning, but because of his commercial with the NASCAR star, it allowed him to make a star-turning performance in The Office. Since then, Krasinski’s become an action star, almost landing the lead in Captain America: The First Avenger, starring in Michael Bay’s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi and nabbing the lead role on Amazon’s upcoming Jack Ryan TV show. It’s all thanks to a commercial with the Nascar driver.
Krasinski may have inadvertently helped Kenseth as well. Kenseth became a breakout driver and won five races that season he did the commercial en route to winning his first and so far only NASCAR championship the following season. Kenseth also won the Daytona 500 in 2009 and 2012.
If Daniels wasn’t watching TV at the time, who knows where Krasinski would be now. I’d bet it’s the best commercial gig he’s ever done, bar none.
[NASCAR]
