John Krasinski Reveals How He Became a Benghazi Action Hero in '13 Hours'

John Krasinski tackles his first leading action role in Michael Bay’s upcoming 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Based on the 2012 incident at the U.S. consulate in Libya that left a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans dead in 2012, Krasinski tells Yahoo Movies the film focuses on the attack itself — and not the resulting political firestorm that swirled around former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In what is the biggest departure yet from the affable cube dweller he portrayed on the long-running NBC series The Office, the 36-year-old Krasinski plays a former Navy SEAL who stormed the compound along with five other security workers. Here, the actor opens up about the demanding transformation he went through to play the part and discusses the film’s potential controversy:

How was your preparation for this role different from previous ones?
Basically everything. I come from a big military family so even to explore a glimmer of the heroism and sacrifice they go through every day — I was really excited to portray that for them and for me. I’m proud to be from a military family. As far as an actor, I really connected to the character. All politics and action movie aside, I really did connect to what this guy was going through. He was in this turmoil in deciding whether or not he wanted to keep going back [to Libya] for this contracting work and having a family. It really moved me. Aside from that I certainly won’t deny that I was really excited to take on something new. As an actor you’re always looking to do new things, explore new things. For me it wasn’t so much about being a drama versus a comedy but rather what’s the best story you can tell. This is certainly, in my opinion, the epitome of true heroism. So I was excited to dive in.

Since action is something we don’t typically see from you, did you need to change your workout regimen?
It’s all based on the part. When you’re playing Jim from The Office, you’re not really supposed to be in superb shape. That would be a little odd playing an everyman. I do whatever the part calls for. For this, I put in an enormous amount of hours to get in shape. It’s a lot of hard work and I was really excited to do it. Being in an action movie is something I’ve always wanted to do and I’d love to do more of. This was a really great first experience for me.

Briefly describe your training…
We all went through rigorous gun training with Navy SEALS. We learned how to fire a whole variety of different weapons and learned how to maneuver through rooms with lights, without lights. We learned how to maneuver through buildings on fire… we did all that sort of training. Physically, it was an extremely intense workout. We did two-a-day workouts with my trainer, Jason Walsh, who trained Bradley Cooper for American Sniper. He takes it as seriously as you’re trying to take the part, which I really appreciate. Staying in shape like that — it takes work. But bizarrely, by the end, I really liked it. I really liked the science of the whole thing, learning how everything is making you stronger and better.

Michael Bay is best known for blockbusters like Armageddon and the Transformers series. Did he seek to strike a balance between the details of the story and its entertainment value?
Sure. I think Michael understands the pact with the audience that you need to have: Moviemaking, in any way, shape, or form has to be entertaining on some level. On this one, it wasn’t the blockbuster budget or design that he normally has. He wanted this to feel more real, and yet bring all the commercial tools and nuances that he can bring to it. It really is this interesting hybrid between a smaller, more gritty version of a war movie brought to a much more commercial level by him. You have to applaud that he’s doing something that he’s never done before, which I think is really exciting.

Watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes video of Michael Bay on set:

Big-screen gunplay is not new territory for your wife Emily Blunt, who’s played the action heroine in titles like Looper, Edge of Tomorrow, and Sicario. Did she have any advice for you?
No. She was just really supportive from ground zero, so it was really good.

What was the most challenging part of making this movie?
For me it was just about getting it right. The most difficult thing is feeling that immense responsibility both to the story, but more importantly to the people we were playing. I think we all got a chance, for those of us who were able, to meet guys who we were playing and understand them. Really, when I met the guy I was playing, seeing how unassuming, kind, and what a great guy he was. You would never think he was an ex-Navy SEAL. He was very open. He said, “I want you to ask me any question. I want this to be done right. So anything I can do to help you get this story out there.” It was really important to him. I thought that was really admirable.

How much time did you spend with the man (who goes by the name Jack Silva)?
I was in constant communication with him. He didn’t go on set, but the other guys did. “Jack” is not his real name. He’s remaining confidential, as he was in the book [on which the movie is based]. So he didn’t come on set in order to remain private. But I did spend time with him and met him on his home turf. The other guys did come on set, and we had real Navy SEALs consulting at all times. The whole time, from holding a gun, to how you enter a room, to how far away the enemies were when we were taking fire, it was all done to whatever detail we could get out of them, which was awesome.

What was the most eye-opening thing you learned from the real security team that defended the compound?
This pull to go back and to be in combat is ever-present with these guys, which is hard for any normal person, like me, to understand. It’s this idea that if they could go back, they would at the drop of a hat. It’s not because of this need to be in an action-packed situation, but rather they feel that with the training that they have and the experience that they have, they feel they can make a difference. Any time they hear about some sort of conflict there’s an urge to go back rather than stay at home with their families. That inner struggle must be incredibly difficult.

When it comes to the 2012 Benghazi attack, there are multiple accounts — some conflicting. This seems like a project where one could get lost in the details, simply because there is so much information. Was there such a thing as too much research for this?
We had the luxury of focusing in on what actually happened that night. I think that, in the years since the attack, the information that has been put out there — yes, there are volumes of potential research, but none of that had to do with what we had to tell, which was the actual moments of that particular night. We got to avoid the political storm and who said what to who when. It’s all speculation and has nothing to do with what we were telling in the movie. It was really about what these guys were going through from a strategic sense on how to survive that night.

Some people have said this is a movie that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton should be worried about. [She was U.S. secretary of state when the attack occurred and subsequently took responsibility for the security lapses that led to the deaths of four Americans, including a U.S. ambassador.] What do you think?
I don’t think anybody knows what’s going to happen or what impact this will have on the presidential race. I feel, politically, this issue has been talked about left, right, and center. What’s really interesting about this movie is that people will get a chance to put away the political ramifications of what happened that night and deal with the human story that hasn’t really been told yet. I think a lot of people think they know about Benghazi through watching the news, but they don’t actually know what really happened. I think what these guys went through, these six heroes — what they sacrificed and laid on the line — got lost in the shuffle with all the politics. I think it’s really important to bring to the forefront what these six guys did that night and see how heroic it was.

Did you get a sense of what Silva and the other five men thought about all the political division around Benghazi?
They certainly have their political beliefs, but the exciting thing for us was the prologue of book, which they wrote. They say in the prologue they’re fully aware of how political the situation has become, but that’s not the story they’re telling. By writing that in the book, it allowed us to deal with the truth of what happened that night.

What is one memory during filming that stands out to you?
Getting to have dinner with the real guys. Whenever you think you’ve had a bad day or that your life is tough, then hearing about what they’d been through and what they’re willing to go through again for their country, it puts it all in perspective. I was honored to have that humbling experience.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi opens in theaters Jan. 15.

(Photos: Paramount)