Why Ryan Reynolds' New IF Commercial Replaces John Krasinski With Randall Park
John Krasinski has written and directed a new movie called "IF" about a girl who starts seeing people's imaginary friends. He also stars in the movie alongside Ryan Reynolds, but in a promotion for a new behind-the-scenes look at the project, Reynolds sits beside Randall Park, who insists he's Krasinski. So what's going on?
The switch will likely earn a chuckle from fans of "The Office." Krasinski's character, Jim, often pranks Dwight (Rainn Wilson), and in Season 9, Episode 3, "Andy's Ancestry," Jim convinces Dwight that he's been Asian all along by having someone else take his place at Dunder Mifflin. "Asian Jim," as he's become known, is played by Park, and the character goes the extra mile to convince Dwight he's really Jim, such as kissing Pam (Jenna Fischer). Pam explains to the audience that Park's character is an actor friend who agreed to do this while Jim was at the dentist. It's one of the best pranks Jim pulls on Dwight on "The Office," and as a testament to that, it's getting a new lease on life with "IF."
The difference now is that Reynolds is the one to point out that Krasinski isn't Asian. To cap it all off, Park is also the one included within the featurette discussing how he had the idea for "IF" years ago. It may only be a teaser for what will be shown from the film during Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, but it's a great gag that's got everyone in the YouTube comments making "The Office" references, like @user-pd2sr7jz6v, who wrote, "I can see John Krasinski is at the dentist again."
The Asian Jim meme goes deep
Randall Park taking John Krasinski's spot in the "IF" ad is a fun bit to direct some extra attention toward the film, and that "Office" prank may just have the greatest longevity out of any from the sitcom. It's intriguing because Park himself completely forgot about his bit part on "The Office," but it seems he can't escape it now. It comes up all the time, including in a 2023 interview he had with The Movie Dweeb on TikTok, where the interviewer mentioned how he and Krasinski are pretty identical, down to the fact they both got into directing.
While Krasinski actually helmed "IF" as well as both "A Quiet Place" movies, Park made his feature-length directorial debut with 2023's "Shortcomings." The latter explained in the interview that he didn't ask Krasinski for any tips on his film even though he's worked with him before, as an actor in Krasinski's film "The Hollars."
The "IF" teaser keeps the gag going, and it's sure to earn some attention from "The Office" fans. "IF" represents another kind of reunion, as Steve Carell, who plays Michael Scott on "The Office," voices the imaginary friend Blue. It's effective marketing to tie "IF" to a show as popular as "The Office." We'll see if it pays off when the film comes to theaters on May 17.