- Do ya think you're more prepared for this pandemic
because you've spent so much time with those
sound hating creatures from A Quiet Place?
Hey There, Human.
With me, Rainn Wilson.
Welcome, welcome.
Nice to see you all.
Hey there, human beings.
Uh, my name is Rainn Wilson. I'm also a human being.
And uh, really excited to be here.
Uh it's gonna be an amazing show today.
Because of this guy, John Krasinski,
is my very special guest.
Very, very exciting
Some other exciting news, last week I did an interview
with a woman doctor, Laurie Santos.
And she is the teacher of Happiness at Yale University.
The popular class in the history of Yale University.
But some of the statistics she was throwing around
were really mind-blowing.
It was about three blessings.
That if you are grateful everyday and you just jot down
three things that you're grateful for,
that your happiness levels go up uh, drastically.
So what Dr. Laurie Santos was talking about was,
if our happiness levels go up by fifteen percent
by simply making this list everyday,
simply writing down three things you're grateful for,
that if you express that gratitude to someone on that list.
if you call up that person and express your gratitude
to that person, your happiness levels can -
studies have shown scientifically, stay up for over a month.
She said and I quote Dr. Laurie Santos, who's a specialist
in this, the statistics around gratitude and happiness
are just...they're unbelievable.
Like if you just sit down and you look at the
just the raw, hard data. Or day-at?
Is it dah-ta or is it day-ta?
I still don't know how to pronounce it.
I'm in my fifties.
It is mind-blowing how gratitude works in correlation
to happiness.
So, remember writing this down, fifteen percent increase
in happiness. By writing down three gratitudes a day.
Sharing it with someone, giving a call, saying
"Hey, I'm super grateful for you."
Grandma, dad, John Krasinski, whoever it is.
If you're able to do that, your happiness levels
will stay up for over a month.
It's really unbelievable.
So, um, that's what I wanted to share with you.
Uh, I'm grateful for my dear, old friend and office mate,
John Krasinski, who's coming on the show.
- How are you?
- John, I'm good man. How are you?
- Doing great, it's good to see you.
- It's good to see you, man. I'm just drinking you in.
- What a great way to start our day, week, everything.
- You know, I'm gonna be honest with you.
Yesterday, I had a, just had a shitty day.
And just had a shitty day. I don't even know why.
There's no good reason for it.
And today it kinda lasted this morning.
So I was like, you know, Rainn, you gotta
practice what you preach.
I did a little meditation, I did a gratitude exercise.
And I won't say like I'm all better but
just that little, that incremental-ness
of those exercises that ten to twenty percent better-ness
that you can get, really made a big difference.
And had helped.
- Dude, that's amazing.
Hey, everybody's allowed to have one bad day, right?
- Apparently.
I personally feel like I can't really have a bad day,
I don't know what that is.
That's just my own, I don't know.
I have therapy on Thursday. I'll dig into that with him.
- Nice. Maybe your character on The Office
had so many bad days that you burned them up.
- Maybe so. Maybe that's what it is.
- You burnt up all your bad days and fictitious bad days.
- So how have you been doing, personally?
You've got um, I don't want to give your whereabouts there.
- You're making it out like I'm at a CIA black site
so thank you.
- Well, you know.
I had someone on the show and they're like,
"You can't mention what city I'm in 'cause".
- Oh
- Yeah, 'cause it gets, it gets tricky.
But listen, um, how has it been for you?
How has it been with your kids in all this?
In the homeschooling and all that?
How have you been surviving, personally?
- Well we've been surviving. I mean, we're very lucky
and very blessed that we have each other and that um,
you know, everybody's happy and healthy and uh,
my parents and my family and Emily's parents and family,
everybody is happy and healthy.
So that's the thing that matters most, and then
you know, but, it's a weird thing to wrap your head around.
So I think that for me, it's been about, most of my focus
when it wasn't on the show, it was really on my kids.
And making sure they understood it because I think that
some of these big things that my kids were talking about
were really heavy and hard to sort of,
one of those things you didn't think was going to be
in the parent manual was,
"Am I ever going to see my friends again?" Full stop.
And you're like "whoa, right", 'cause of course
as a small person, you think this is it.
- Right. - It's over.
- You know? So, I think that I, you know
both my girls, I think are still working through that idea
of "yeah, yeah". We keep telling them that you're going
to see your friends at some point and they're like "yeah..."
And so they're just, they're still trying to figure it out.
And I think that, you know, again it just shows
the superpower of human interaction.
And like direct communication. And
- [Rainn] Yeah
hugs, hugs man. I mean hugs have become something
that my girl talk about a lot.
They keep saying, "I can't wait to hug my friend"
and that just, to me, that's just mind-blowingly sweet.
And again, you, you, as everybody knows, you, you look for
these golden nuggets of truth. And they'll always
come from your kids 'cause they're the purest, sort of
life force out there.
- Right, right.
- How are you doing?
- I'm okay. I'm good. I mean I'm like you.
My family is all healthy and I'm lucky I've got
a nice house and there's trees and I've got enough food.
I've got work, you know. I don't have to worry about
being laid off or where my rent is coming from in August.
So I'm super super grateful in these really difficult times.
But, yeah, doing well. And it's been, my son is a teenager,
Walter is fifteen. And it's been rough on him too
because all a teenager wants to do is get away
from their parents and connect with their friends.
And uh, and he's not able.
He went on a bike raid yesterday with a buddy of his.
Just staying six feet apart, biking around the neighborhood,
so that was very good for him, for his mental health.
- It's interesting too because I think that part of me
feels lucky sometimes to have a six-year-old
and a three-year-old who yes, feel like this is the end
of their world because their world is so small
and their timeline is so small.
But I really do, it's funny, I was just talking to
my brother about this, that I really think about the kids
especially in highschool, you know, Walter's age.
Who have lived enough life experience to know
that this is very weird. - Yeah
- And very um, you know, that this is a new program
and that we're bearing down and having to pull from
somewhere deeper and, that's a pretty massive thing,
you know, it's uh, once in a few generations
that the entire world is called upon
to do something together. So, I'm thinking of him.
And I hope that he sees that there is something,
and I'm sure all kids in high school and college
are like "whatever" but it's like, there is something
that will define this generation,
hopefully in a way that makes them feel like
they were resilient and powerful and strong enough
to get through to the next level which is gonna be great.
- Listen, I said I was talking to Steve the other day,
I said to him, "if someone went into a coma
like five years ago and woke up and they were asking
questions about what's going on in the world.
And they would say, "what's the most popular television
show in the world right now?"
You would say, "The Office" and they'd be like
"What? No. That show went off the air like six years ago.
What are you talking about? It was popular in 2009 - 10."
Isn't this crazy that uh, we're belatedly part of
this kind of international television sensation?
- It's - Crazy
- I mean it's astounding. And to me, what's astounding
about it is, you know, especially you and I,
but anybody who was a fan of the show
right from the beginning, knows that we were making
four episodes at a time, six episodes at a time.
We weren't even sure. I mean, I know you remember this
but like the folks from NBC weren't sure
we were coming back ever.
- Yep
- It was one of those things where I legitimately have
I know I've told the story before but I have a DVD
that one of the guys from NBC very sweetly made me,
Jeff Engel, back then was an executive
who came down every Friday.
- Yeah.
- "This show is my favorite show,
this is the last episode you're shooting."
And I was like "oh my god" and he, and I said,
"Can I just the first six episodes on DVD
so I can prove to my mom that I did it?"
- [John] So I remember you and I thinking,
we're on the best show that nobody will ever see.
And now we're on a show that I, you know, before all this,
I was at an airport and a four-year-old came up to me.
And was like, "it's my favorite show."
And I was like "What?! What are you talking about?"
- Wow
- It's so amazing that a four-year-old said it was their
favorite show and that he watches it
with his whole family. And that, again, that, that idea
that everybody can watch the show.
I'm, I'm blown away. Personally, I think it's the best thing
I'll ever do in my career.
I think that - I agree
- You know that everybody always says, you know, you know
at the end of the day, what if you're only known for
Jim Halpert. I was like, "Are you kidding me? That would
be the greatest thing ever."
I remember - That would be amazing
I remember Steve, do you remember that?
He was like, "You guys know that no matter what we go on
to do, we could go to space and this will always be
the thing we're known for. And how lucky we are
that that's the case."
- Yeah, yeah. He said that in the first season
when we went out to lunch.
That always stuck in my head. I think that stuck in
all of our heads. And the reason I'm bringing all this up
is not to just throw plaudits at our old show
but also that the fact that the show is giving
people so much happiness and comfort during these times
and uh, it's a really anxious world
and The Office is like this family that people are able
to come back to, makes me feel really happy in my heart.
Like, oh, we had a blast, you know, it was a really fun
run. It was "Fun Run", uh, but most of all,
the fact that it had, it has so much heart to it that um,
I remember Greg Daniels always saying like,
we just want like ninety percent funny
and like ten percent heart.
But that ten percent heart is what I think
keeps people coming back to see the show
over and over again.
- I totally agree.
I also remember, I don't know if Greg told you this,
but I remember Greg telling me, "Your job on this show
is not to play the lines funny.
Your job on this show is to play the lines truthfully.
And if people think that something that Jim does is funny,
then that's up to them. And if they think there's a moment
with you and Jenna that's emotional, that's up to them too.
We're a documentary. So just play it for real
and allow people to put their own lives on you
and see what they need to see through you."
And I remember thinking that was like,
that was some like zen koan kinda thing.
That was just like so epically, so smart on his part.
- He were so lucky to have such a great leader.
But I have one last question for you,
before you go and that is,
do you think that you're more prepared for this pandemic
because you've spent so much time with those
sound-hating creatures from A Quiet Place?
- I definitely have a more in tune version
of apocalyptic worlds ever since A Quiet Place.
Luckily the creatures haven't shown up yet.
Although I am being pretty loud so give it time.
- Well, it's good, good preparation.
John, thanks so much for your time.
Thanks for stopping by Hey There, Human, today.
- You have an awesome thing going here, man.
And I'm so proud of you about everything
but Soulpancake in particular.
You've done an amazing thing, dude.
You are a, you are a wonderfully, beautiful human.
And I'm sorry that Dwight didn't show that to people
more often, because the truth is, I love ya.
- Aw, I love you too man.
Thanks so much. That's very kind and sweet.
- Here's to you and all your people out there,
this is uh, this is a weird time but we will get through it
like you said.
- Appreciate that, thanks man.
How 'bout that. So nice, uh, what a great guy.
Wish him all the best.
He's doing such great stuff out there.
Putting such great stuff into the world,
was a sincere pleasure working with him for nine years.
I always said like he, in my head, I was like,
"Oh my god, this guy is going to be a brilliant
writer-director because he would always have ideas on scenes
and he would always kind of lean over and whisper like
"Hey, what if you did... and then like this and like."
And he would give me these notes and they,
they helped make Dwight so much better.
The notes I got from John Krasinski made Dwight,
at least fourteen percent better and funnier.
through the years. And now, he's writing and directing,
which is awesome.
Um, thanks guys. Thanks for tuning into Hey There, Human.
Thank you to John Krasinski.
Stay human, you guys.
♪ Hey there, human. Hey there, human. ♪