Nerd Man of the Month: John Krasinski

He’s tall. He’s lanky. He’s got hair that has “insouciant” written all over it – which sounds weird but you know what I mean. Yes, he’s John Krasinski, The Park Bench’s Nerd Man of the Month honoree for March. With a flurry of last minute voting, our man John crushed poor Adam Baldwin and left Shatner in the dirt. It was a victory worthy of the man who has come to embody every woman’s dream of The Perfect Office Boyfriend. Plus, he’s worn leather hats with George Clooney. I can think of no finer character reference.

On “The Office,” Krasinski – or as I like to call him, “The Tall Drink of Water Who Slakes Our Thursday Night Thirsts" (TTDOWWSOTNT, for short) – earned our love as Jim Halpert, the man who pined for and eventually won the heart of Jenna Fischer’s Pam Beesley. And given that Pam has more than a hint of the nerd about her, well, that office romance has been a Post-It waving, dancing on the desk-style victory for geeky women everywhere.

When Krasinski’s name was first put on the ballot for Nerd Man of the Month honors, some suggested that perhaps he was too traditionally handsome, too – dare I say it? – sexy to lead the nerd-man charge. If one digs deep enough, though, you’ll find more than enough nerd cred in his CV. For one thing, he’s an Ivy League graduate and holds a degree in playwriting...with honors. I’m betting his dorm shelves were filled with more Mamet than Miller Lite. And he’s written and directed a film adaptation of David Foster Wallace’s Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, which IMDB tells me is due out this year. Honestly, people deserve medals just for finishing Wallace's books let alone adapting them, so we know for sure TTDOWWSOTNT’s pants are of the smarty variety. And if one thing is certain – we nerdy women love the brainiacs. So much so, we forgive them for making movies with Mandy Moore.

For all the sweet gentle humor he brings to “The Office,” for being tall and floppy haired, for his spot-on Dwight Schrute impressions and for being a very smart dude, The Park Bench is pleased to name John Krasinski as its March Nerd Man of the Month.