And 'Away' he goes

Now Krasinski stars in "Away We Go," an indie tale written by Dave Eggers and his wife, Vendela Vida, about a young couple expecting a baby and searching for a place to live. "Revolutionary Road" director Sam Mendes handpicked Krasinski to play the bearded, earnest Burt Farlander, a 30-something insurance salesman who pretends to be older when he speaks to clients on the phone.

Krasinski's costars include former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Maya Rudolph, who plays Burt's wife; Maggie Gyllenhaal, who's a scene-stealer as a judgmental hippie mom; and Allison Janney, as a foul-mouthed mother of two obsessed with her breasts. For Krasinski, who is used to sharing the spotlight with some of the best character actors in the game, "Away We Go" is the sweetest of gigs.

On a recent Sunday morning at the Liberty Hotel downtown, Krasinski - who in real life is almost as sarcastic, rubbery-faced, and lovable as Jim Halpert, his character on "The Office" - told us he's loving every minute of what he's humbly deemed to be a series of lucky breaks.

Q. You've managed to make a movie that's about 30-somethings who aren't shiny, urban city people trying to find love.

A. One of my favorite things about the movie is that it celebrates a real love, you know, that there's not some infidelity or some other horrible pitfall. . . . Sometimes at the end of a movie when someone's cheated and come back, you're like, but he still cheated, right? So to have these characters so in love and rely on each other in such a real way, it's nice to celebrate the people who have done it right and have a good relationship.

Q. Your transition to films has been pretty easy. You've done a mainstream romantic comedy ("License to Wed"), you hung out with George Clooney in "Leatherheads" . . .

A. My transition to film has been very similar to everything I've been able to do in this business, which is completely a lucky existence, I think. There's something about all these movies, from "License to Wed" - that was the director from "The Office," who brought me with him. [For] "Leatherheads," I auditioned on tape in New York and George chose me. Sam [Mendes] called me and said he didn't want anybody else to do ["Away We Go"] but me. All those things have nothing to do with me saying, this is the type of movie I want. This is what I'm going to go after.

Q. That also means people don't think you're a jerk. They want to work with you.

A. Maybe. Either that, or I'm secretly a jerk and no one knows it.

Q. I'd ask what it was like to work with an ensemble cast in "Away We Go," but you're used to letting other people be funny on "The Office."

A. You always hear that thing, that acting is reacting and listening and all that stuff. Maybe that's a rule for good acting, but for me, it's just been the norm because I'm around such incredible actors. You don't really want to interrupt someone like Allison Janney or Maggie Gyllenhaal when they're doing their thing. You basically become an audience member when you're acting when them, and you're just like, you're so good.

Q. Had you read much of Dave Eggers before making the movie? Were you into "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius"?

A. "Heartbreaking" is obviously just phenomenal. I was also taken with his short stories . . . and by the way, Vendela's book that I read was, "Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name." They're such phenomenal writers because they can create a world unlike anybody else. . . . They almost write fantastical worlds, just without dragons and things like that. This movie is a perfect example of that. I think that there's just enough that you can see yourself in, and then there's just enough that allows it to be a movie.

Q. Your "Office" costar Ed Helms was just in town. He said he had to film "The Office" and his comedy "The Hangover" at the same time. He looked exhausted. How did you balance the show and the movie?

A. A project like this, you'll do anything to be a part of. The only flip side of that is that "The Office" is one of those projects, too. I was asked a bunch of times doing press for this, "Are you really excited to break away from 'The Office' and be in movies?" And I'm like, you don't break away from "The Office." It's one of those things where you beg for your job back every day, if not every season. It's also really the source of everything. . . . What I mean by that is that it has opened every single door. Steve Carell once said, no matter what any of us does, if any of us goes on to direct or win an Oscar, you'll still be known as that guy from "The Office," and I think that's a tremendous honor.

Q. Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapoor on "The Office") once told me that you filmed those scenes of Scranton that play during the opening credits of "The Office," including the "Welcome to Scranton" sign. Is that true?

A. I was like a little kid when I got this job, and I still am. I was so excited that I drove to Scranton with some friends and we shot, driving, outside of the window of our car. . . . Yes, ["Office" executive producer] Greg [Daniels] saw all that stuff and thought, it's such a great opening to the show, and I was just blown away.

Q. How well did you know Maya Rudolph before making the movie? The whole thing sort of rests on your chemistry.

A. We didn't know each other well. I had known of Maya, and to be honest, there are few people in my life that I've ever enjoyed watching perform more, and this is even before I got to know her. Everything she does on "Saturday Night Live" I thought was cutting-edge, funny, and like, nose-bleed funny. . . . The moment we actually hung out for the first time and went out to lunch, I knew instantly that she'd be one of the most special people I'd ever meet in my life. She really is. She's so nice, she's so funny, but she's so special. The way she thinks, the way she acts . . .

Q. What help were you able to offer her? You probably knew more about making movies than she did.

A. The one thing that's really annoying about Maya is that she's like that girl in junior high school where when you were getting your tests back, she was like, "Oh my God, I totally failed," and then she got a 97 on her test and you wanted to kill her. Because I was the type of kid who was like, I got a C-minus, and I did. Every single day pretty much I remember her saying, "I'm not an actress" . . . and then she'd turn in these incredibly layered, controlled, special performances.

Q. That's a solid beard you have in the movie. No beard extensions?

A. I thought there would be. Trust me. Sam has this incredible full, bushy beard. He's such a manly man. I remember he said, totally confident, "I'm going to need you to grow a beard." And I was like, Hey man, you can't just challenge a dude like that. That's challenging my manhood. Lucky for me, I had fully completed puberty days before growing the beard. . . . It's one of those defining moments in a guy's life where you're like, I can grow a beard. I'd never tried, so I didn't know if I'd be a patchy guy.

Q. Was it uncomfortable?

A. It was itchy, for sure. . . . As soon as we wrapped I had an electric shaver attacking my face.

Q. Everybody's making movies in Boston. What are the odds you'll be next?

A. Oh my God, I'm dying to do a movie in Boston. Not only are you around family and friends and all that, but I love this city. I remember as a kid taking the T in here and spending the whole day doing pretty much nothing but walking around and bumping into things. There's something about this city that's so phenomenal. And I think the greatest thing about what Ben [Affleck] has been able to do, is, you know, whether it's "Good Will Hunting" or "Gone Baby Gone," is that he uses Boston not only as a setting but as a character. And I think there's tremendous strength in doing that if you do it right. I'm hoping to come back to Boston and shoot anytime. And hopefully it will be one of Ben's movies. Come on Ben, let's do this. Jeez. I have to secretly get to you through the Globe.

Meredith Goldstein can be reached at mgoldstein@globe.com.