IF Star Cailey Fleming Reveals That John Krasinski Was "Literally Magical" On Set (2024)

Bea is a young girl touched by trauma who gains the ability to see the imaginary friends left behind in IF. Shocked by the discovery of this superpower, she is surprised to learn that her neighbor Cal also has this ability. Together they will try to help the IFs left behind reunite with their children and rediscover their purpose.

IF features a phenomenal cast with Cailey Fleming and Ryan Reynold leading the live-action side with a star-studded voice cast bringing the imaginary friends to life, including Steve Carell, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. This is a passion project for John Krasinski, who was inspired by his desire to make a movie for his children, and he serves as writer and director to bring his unique vision to life. Capturing the heart and humor of great family classics like Pixar and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory while combining animation with live action similar to the acclaimed Who Framed Roger Rabbit, IF is primed to become a heartfelt family classic for all ages.

Screen Rant interviewed IF star Cailey Fleming. She praised Krasinski's writing and directing style, revealing that she had to take breaks while initially reading the script because of how deeply it touched her. Fleming also explained how Reynolds is a strong scene partner and described the imaginary friend she created after making IF.

John Krasinski Is "So Dedicated And Has Such A Passion For" IF

Fleming explained how Krasinski blew her away as a director because of his dedication and passion. She also shared how the script impacted her the very first time she read it. Fleming described him as "magical" with an ability to add "pixie dust into his pages."

Cailey Fleming: John is amazing. He's one of my favorite people ever. He's so dedicated and he has such a passion for this movie. I'm just blown away by how he works. He literally did everything. I can't believe he, I don't even know how, I don't even know. He's literally magical. He's like a superhero, and I just feel very honored to know him.

I remember reading the script for the first time and just automatically connecting with it, which is so special. I remember there were some scenes in there where I just couldn't even read them all the way without crying. I would have to read it, take a break, and then go back to it. But I think that's just the way that John writes. He literally put glitter magic and pixie dust into his pages, and I feel like that's really special. I've never experienced that before.

Ryan Reynolds "Is Such A Great Scene Partner" In IF

Fleming also reminisced about her collaboration with Reynold praising his abilities as a scene partner. Fleming explained how he brings something extra to each scene and shared her appreciation to be able to work with and learn from him.

Cailey Fleming: I remember just from the beginning, from my audition, it was just me, John, and Ryan in the room. I did a scene with John and I did a scene with Ryan and I feel like it was just very natural. I like to say through the whole movie, I feel like I wasn't acting. It was just me.

That's one of the things I loved about my character is that she was very relatable to me. But Ryan is such a great scene partner. He's obviously phenomenal. Everyone knows that he's hilarious, he's smart, he's funny, he's creative, but he always brought something else to the scene, which I loved. I just liked watching him and learning from him, and he would always come up with the best ideas that I could have never thought of.

Fleming was also inspired by IF to create her own imaginary friend combining many of her favorite things, including color and animal, to make the perfect IF for herself. However, she is still working on a name.

Cailey Fleming: I didn't have an IF growing up, but since then I have created my own. It sounds a little bit out there, but it's okay because it's my IF. So I said if it would be a pink glittery dolphin because a dolphin is my favorite animal, pink is my favorite color, and I love glitter of course. And it would have a unicorn horn. I feel like that's a given and a mermaid tale. I guess it would just swim in the air. I'm not really sure, but I haven't thought of a name for it yet. I got to get on that.

About IF

IF is about a girl who discovers that she can see everyone's imaginary friends — and what she does with that superpower — as she embarks on a magical adventure to reconnect forgotten IFs with their kids.

Check out our other IF interview with John Krasinski.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

IF (2024)

PG

Comedy

Animation

Drama

Fantasy

IF, originally titled Imaginary Friends, is a comedic fantasy film written and directed by John Krasinski. A young girl who experiences a tragic moment early in her life discovers she can see the imaginary friends of others who leave them behind as they grow older.

Director

John Krasinski

Release Date

May 17, 2024

Studio(s)

Sunday Night Productions , Maximum Effort

Distributor(s)

Paramount Pictures

Writers

John Krasinski

Cast

Ryan Reynolds , John Krasinski , Cailey Fleming , Steve Carell , Matt Damon , Emily Blunt , Phoebe Waller-Bridge , Vince Vaughn , Sam Rockwell , Maya Rudolph , Jon Stewart , Awkwafina

Runtime

104 Minutes