A Quiet Place’s John Krasinski also played a secret, far more terrifying role in the movie

It may have been all that anyone could talk about earlier this year, but the secrets of A Quiet Place are still relatively under wraps – at least until now. The star (and director) John Krasinski took to the Jimmy Kimmel show to reveal that not only was he the face that ran the place, he also played the movie’s terrifying sound-driven creature.

“Nobody knows it, because I’ve kept it...,” Krasinski reveals on the talk show, before motioning he had everything under lock and key. In fact, he looks pretty embarrassed about what is a pretty cool dual role. It’s probably because he’s done everything in this movie: director, producer, star, and whatever the hell that was that haunted my nightmares for months.

“The amazing people at [special effects company] ILM said ‘How does the creature move?’ and I said ‘This is how I think he’s gonna crawl,” Krasinski says of the process behind going from leading man to horrifying mo-capped monster. “They said ‘Why don’t you throw on the suit?’ and I was like, ‘Totally!”

Kimmel, hilariously, even dug up a behind-the-scenes shot of Krasinski in a motion-capture suit, his body contorted in agony and, frankly, resembling a massive T-Rex with tiny arms, to which the actor quipped, “They took that picture and I thought I was auditioning for The Lion King.” Well, circle of life and all that – one day you’re the man and the next you’re the… thing that eats the man.

With A Quiet Place 2 on the horizon, it remains to be seen whether Krasinski will reprise his role, especially as his human character (spoiler alert!) was killed off in the original.

Keep it between you and me, but there's plenty more amazing upcoming movies just around the corner. Which ones are you looking forward to?

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.