John Krasinski And Emily Blunt Talk Their First Date And How They’ve Made Their Marriage Work

There’s a small batch of Hollywood couples that have actually made it work and have not allowed the business or the media to get in the way of their relationship. One of those couples? Emily Blunt and John Krasinski. John, 39, and Emily, 35, have been married for eight years and have had two children, four-year-old Hazel and two-year-old Violet. And while they don’t talk about their private life a lot, John and Emily recently decided to sit down with The Hollywood Reporter to reveal how they’ve made their marriage work and even discussed how their first date went.

John and Emily were introduced by a mutual friend at a restaurant in 2008 while John was eating with fellow actor and Jennifer Aniston‘s ex, Justin Theroux. Emily admits she made the first move, although John doesn’t agree. “No. It was me asking for a while and you took some time, and then we finally had a date,” John recalls. The pair reveals that their first date involved pizza at John’s apartment in West Hollywood, but that’s all John wants to say. “It’s so precious, I don’t want to talk about it. Is that all right?” While both are successful actors (John also directs), the couple has found a way to keep their relationship on the right path.

“I have a minimum of a five-month rule between projects, other than A Quiet Place,” Emily says. “I broke the rule for him and him alone.” John adds, “Working in the same industry brings other perks, like a shared understanding of how all-consuming Hollywood careers can be, particularly during production. There’s a large fraction of stress that is taken out by someone who’s so supportive. Meaning, ‘You are directing this movie, so when you reach for your phone, I know you’re not trying to isolate me as your wife. You actually have something to do.’ I don’t have any of that pressure of, 15 percent of my day is explaining to my wife that I have a job to do.”

Emily follows her husband’s comments with, “We’ve always allowed and rejoiced in each other having a very full life outside of the other one.” Emily and John were fortunate enough to star together in this year’s A Quiet Place, a film that was a massive hit. But Emily and John understand the risk they were taking working beside one another. “I didn’t want it to be like, ‘Oh, how adorable. They’re working together,'” Emily says. “It was the only idea that had come our way that seemed bigger than our marriage. The narrative of our marriage was not going to overwhelm this movie and this amazing opportunity for him as a director, as a filmmaker, as a writer. I knew this was a big swing for him.” Emily can soon be seen playing the title role in Mary Poppins Returns. Director Rob Marshall had this to say on how Emily and John have made it work as a married couple. “Neither of them has a jealous bone in their body. People think marriage is looking deep into each other’s eyes. No, it’s looking out and seeing the same life. Emily and John see the same life,” Rob explains.

Actor Chris Pratt, who has vacationed with the couple, also has nothing but kind words for them. “They are a down-to-earth couple, both really fun and funny. They’re caring and kind. They’re always doing bits and making themselves and other people laugh,” he says.

And while Emily has been busy playing Mary Poppins, John has been busy with his Amazon show Jack Ryan. Emily recalls John flying from Montreal where his show was being filmed to London where Emily was filming her movie. “When I got there, I was so destroyed from time zones and not sleeping and all that and was so excited to see my kids, it didn’t matter I had no sleep,” John says. “On top of it, there was nothing from Emily but love and support.” Emily adds, “I just felt so bad for him that he was the one having to be away. Because I’m usually the one being like, ‘You need to be with me.'”

Seems like a lot of patience and communication has been needed in Emily and John’s marriage, and that’s why they’ve been able to defeat the Hollywood stigma that couples there can’t survive. As for the future, John has already signed on to write A Quiet Place 2, which is expected to see him work with his wife again.