John Krasinski Met With Real CIA Agents To Prepare For Jack Ryan

The final season of "Jack Ryan" is upon us, having successfully introduced a whole new generation to the late Tom Clancy's dynamic CIA agent while taking a few liberties with the source material. The Jack Reacher of "Reacher" was extra familiar to fans as showrunner Nick Santora stuck closely to author Lee Child's original novel "Killing Floor" when writing the first season of the hit show. But "Jack Ryan" strayed somewhat from Clancy's original vision, putting its protagonist in the middle of the action rather than relying solely on his intelligence and analytical skills to propel its stories.

And that's not a bad thing. Star John Krasinski actually turned out to be a perfectly good action hero capable of projecting both brawn and brilliance. Having physically transformed himself since his days on "The Office," the "A Quiet Place" star/director capably lead Amazon's action thriller series, which he also executive produces, across four seasons. And in the course of the show, we've seen his CIA analyst deal with all manner of nefarious threat, working his way up from analyst in the Terror Finance and Arms Division (T-FAD) to acting deputy director of the agency by the fourth and final season.

But it took more than a physical transformation to carry Krasinski and his former Marine character across that story arc. In order to convincingly play the talented CIA analyst, Krasinski made sure to do the prep work, which, as it turns out, instilled in him a new-found reverence for the intelligence services.

The "Jack Ryan" season 4 trailer promised an explosive final six episodes to wrap up Amazon's streaming series. But the threat of Michael Peña's Domingo Chavez and his terrorist-meets-cartel group also forces John Krasinski's hero to once again rely on his intelligence as much as his physicality this time around. It's a good thing, then, that Krasinksi came into the series prepared in that respect.

Speaking at the series premiere all the way back in 2018, the actor revealed that he'd met with real CIA agents in preparation for his debut as Jack Ryan. He explained:

"I have to say, I completely nerded out when I went to see them. I will say I also thought that it would be the most uneventful interview I've ever had in my life because I thought every answer would be 'We can't talk about that,' and instead they were the most unbelievably diverse, intelligent, giving and generous group and we are so lucky to have them."

Krasinski went on to explain how he went into the meeting with a "Hollywood" idea of what to expect, but came away with a completely different sense of what constitutes an intelligence officer. He continued:

"I went in there wanting to meet spies and wanting to meet officers, and instead I met incredibly dedicated people and very honorable people and people who are putting their lives on the line in a whole different way. And, if chosen to do that selfishly — I don't know, there's nothing more heroic than that for me."

"The Hunt for Red October" might be the best Jack Ryan adaptation, but there's an argument to be made that John Krasinski is one of the best on-screen versions of the character. Chris Pine did an admirable job in "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit," but was hampered by the sub-par movie around him. And aside from Harrison Ford, who played the character in 1992's "Patriot Games" and 1994's "Clear and Present Danger," Krasinski is the only actor to return to the role multiple times, carrying Jack Ryan across four seasons. And his prep for the role speaks to his commitment to making his turn as Tom Clancy's hero count.

While "Jack Ryan" has often departed from Clancy's books by ratcheting up the action, you do get the sense that Krasinski's version of the character maintains a book-accurate sense of duty and honor throughout, which simultaneously recalls the humbling experience the actor had when meeting real-life agents. Unfortunately, that's the end of the road for this iteration of the character, with a planned spin-off featuring Michael Peña's character yet to be officially confirmed. But Jack Ryan has been consistently reinvented for the screen since the early 90s, so it's likely we'll see some form of him again in the near future.