Trivia / A Quiet Place

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• Actor-Inspired Element: Lee was scripted to just sign "I love you" as he prepares to sacrifice himself. Millicent Simmonds, however, suggested he sign "I have always loved you" instead. Moved to tears by this suggestion, John Krasinski had the line changed at once, and ultimately he signs both, one after the other.
• Awesome, Dear Boy:
  • Krasinski wasn't initially interested in doing a horror film, but changed his tune as soon as he heard the pitch: "A family that can't make any noise and you have to figure out why."
  • Emily Blunt likewise wasn't even being considered for a role, and had suggested a friend to be cast as Evelyn. Then she read the script and asked to play it herself.
• Career Resurrection: John Krasinski's career didn't have a lot of success in the 2000s besides The Office (US), and it began declining after that show concluded its run in 2013. This film becoming a big critical and commercial hit not only revived his acting career, but also paved a new path for him as a filmmaker.
• Copiously Credited Creator: Krasinski was director, writer, producer and star.
• Directed by Cast Member: Krasinski directed and co-wrote the film, and portrays the father in the film.
• Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: Millicent Simmonds is deaf, and plays the deaf young daughter. This was deliberate, as Krasinski wanted a deaf actress for the part.
• Divorced Installment: At one point, John Krasinski thought about making the film a Cloverfield spin-off, but decided against doing so. In some respects, it follows the same formula that the Cloverfield movies fall under in that it's a high-concept, Paramount-developed horror movie that involves sci-fi elements.
• Dueling Movies:
  • With Bird Box, another 2018 horror film which has a similar premise, except that the monsters hunt via sight rather than sound.
  • And again with The Silence (2019), based on a 2015 novel and actually filmed first, with a very similar premise (creatures with superhearing lead to the collapse of civilization when modern governments cannot protect their citizens against the creatures relentless hunting) and a deaf daughter in the protagonist family.
• Dyeing for Your Art: John Krasinski had to grow a beard for the majority of the film and then shave it for the opening, which had to be filmed last to account for this.
• Fake American: Emily Blunt continues her tradition of playing them. Although the movie was made right after she became an American citizen, she still has to fake the accent in one dialogue scene.
• Missing Trailer Scene: A scene that was filmed specifically for the advertising campaign has Lee learning of the monsters arriving, along with their abilities and weaknesses, through television reports. Considering that there is very little spoken dialogue in the film itself, this was necessary to contextualize the film's gimmick of emphasizing the absence of noise to a general audience. Not to mention that, in-story, showing a news broadcast describing the monsters wouldn't make sense considering that it would attract noise.
• One-Take Wonder: According to Krasinski, the famous sequence of Evelyn in the bathtub was done on the first take. After "cut" was called, Emily Blunt came out of character immediately and said, "What's everyone having for lunch?"
• Playing Against Type:
  • Mixed with Creator's Oddball. Nobody expected John Krasinski, largely known as a comedic actor, to dabble in the world of horror, let alone as a director. Krasinski himself stated that he had no interest in horror until he paid attention to the social commentary in films like Don't Breathe and Get Out (2017). However, one familiar with previous movies Krasinski has directed might not be too surprised, as they have generally been indie arthouse-type films.
  • Producing-wise for co-producer Michael Bay, whose films are practically synonymous with loud explosions.
  • Acting-wise for Emily Blunt in a milder example. She's often cast as extremely flawed or aloof characters whose hidden heart of gold comes out later (even Mary Poppins Returns has her playing the Magical Nanny as a Sugar-and-Ice Personality). From the start, she's an extremely caring mother figure. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she wasn't the first choice for the part (see below).
• Real-Life Relative: John Krasinski and Emily Blunt are also married in real life. While the script was being written, Krasinski had approached another actress (a friend of theirs) about the role, but when Blunt read the script, she asked him to cast her instead.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Regan was named April in the original script. Likewise, the first draft would have only one line of spoken dialogue for the whole film.
  • Filmmakers intended for there to be no subtitles, trusting the audience to understand the context of what was happening without them. But when editing the sequence of Regan arguing with Lee about her cochlear implant processor, they realised it would need to be subtitled — and then the decision was made to subtitle the whole film.
• Word of God:
  • John Krasinski confirmed that the monsters are indeed aliens, and revealed the backstory he devised for them: they were the apex predator of their homeworld, which had no light and thus the creatures never evolved to have eyes. When their homeworld was destroyed, their thick armor enabled them to survive on the asteroid chunks of it, including one that landed in the American Southwest (this is referenced in the film by a newspaper Easter Egg).
  • He's also explained the reasoning behind the family constantly going barefoot: shoes would keep you from noticing that you're stepping in a place that would make a noise, and once they're gone, socks would have to be constantly cleaned when there's much better uses of their time and energy.
• Written for My Kids: John Krasinski has discussed how his kids influenced the way he wrote and directed the film, which stars himself and his real-life wife as parents to young children.

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