John Krasinski Cooks Emily Blunt One Meal a Week...and It's All Leonardo DiCaprio's Fault

The Hollars' director and star talks to Jimmy Kimmel about his happy home life

By Zach Johnson Aug 23, 2016 12:25 PMTags

To say John Krasinski has been busy this summer is an understatement.

The director appeared on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! Monday to promote The Hollars (in which he also stars) and opened up about the arrival of his second daughter, Violet Krasinski, born June 20. The newborn joined sister Hazel Krasinski, 2, whose mother is actress Emily Blunt, 33. "I can't believe you actually remembered their names," he joked after his friend, host Jimmy Kimmel, congratulated him on welcoming Baby No. 2. "He lives in space, guys. He's that famous. He gets it from his assistant. 'They're what now? Got it. Yup, Veebop and Hazeboo.'"

John then explained why Hazel "absolutely" loves her role as Violet's big sister. "She's just young enough to know that, 'That's adorable and I get a lot of attention when I do things like hug her, because it looks like a Hallmark card. But as long as she doesn't mess with my stuff, we're good.' That's kind of the relationship they have right now," he said. Like all new fathers, John can't get over how cute his girls are together. "I just looked today, and they were actually holding each other in a picture that Emily sent—just so that I would feel ultra bad about not there. She loves to make me sad," he joked. "No, she was just celebrating how sweet it was to have two girls. And I truly—every single night—say, 'I can't believe these two girls are mine.'"

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Emily is enjoying some time off before she begins promoting The Girl on the Train, so John has been helping her out more at home. "I actually just started cooking," he said as the audience cheered. Jimmy politely old them to quiet down, but John appreciated the encouragement. "Absolutely clap for that!" he said. "It only took me 36 years to learn how to cook for myself."

Jimmy, who used to live near the famous couple, couldn't believe it. "I would be less shocked if you told me you had a boyfriend," he said. John guffawed, saying, "Wait 'til the next segment!"

"Cooking started as a Mother's Day gift to Emily. It's pretty sad that that's what impresses her. That just goes to show you how unimpressive I am at home that I was like, 'I'm going to cook you a meal,' and she was like, 'Oh, my God!' So, that was my Mother's Day gift to her," he said. John was ambitious, selecting one of Emily's favorite dishes. "Because she's from England—they do a lot of roasts over there—I said, 'I'm going to do a roast.' It was really sweet because my wife said, 'What are you going to cook?' and I said, 'A roast.' I saw her [scowl] and I said, 'Why? What's wrong?'" John recalled. "She goes, 'It's really difficult. You should do something else.'"

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To his own surprise, John boasted, "I made one mean roast!"

Jimmy was even more surprised to learn that John is now cooking for his wife once a week—though not just because he wants to be nice. "We made a stupid bet and I lost," the actor said. "The bet was Emily said something about Leonardo DiCaprio being 41. And I said, 'How dare you! That cherub of a man—that cherub of a talent—can't be more than 28.' He's not over 40, was my thing. She said, 'If I'm right, you have to cook for me every Sunday. And if you're right, you get play Call of Duty one a week.' So I thought, 'Here we go! This is the good stuff.' He's 41."

"He really should be cooking dinner at your house," Jimmy proposed, to which his guest agreed.

John doesn't always honor his bet, though. "By the way, I was at your house on Sunday, and Emily did all the cooking while you and I looked at your new record player," Jimmy said, happy to expose his friend on TV. John smiled and replied, "I told you, I'm an impressive dude at home. You know, with the new Star Wars trailer out, I was like, 'I'm not going to cook tonight.'"

Jokes aside, John loves being a family man. So much so, in fact, that he couldn't refuse the chance to direct The Hollars. "Let's be honest: There are a lot of family movies out there. I think everybody has seen family movies. I had no intention of directing a family movie, and then I read this script by Jim Strouse, which is so unbelievably specific and real and honest. It's the best take on family I've seen," he said of the movie (in theaters Friday). "I was so honored to do it because I think in a crazy world it's nice to go back to things as simple and strong as family."

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