One of the worst movies I've seen in recent years was "Licensed to Wed" which was so bad that it actually made me angry. Robin Williams as a clergyman/marriage counselor was off-the-scale obnoxious. But the one good thing that came out of that screening was this: I became a fan of John Krasinski who was the movie's major saving grace. I don't watch "The Office" on which John plays paper-pushing prankster Jim Halpert so was not aware of his work before that. I met John at the SAG Awards a few months back and he was one charming and very tall drink of water.

I'm also glad to see he is quite gay-friendly as we learn in the interview John did for The Advocate's "Big Gay Following" feature in its April 8 issue. Here are some excerpts from an extended online version of the piece:

Were you aware that you had a gay following? "Oh, is that why everyone in West Hollywood’s so nice? I thought they were just big Jim/Pam fans, but you’ve totally decoded it for me. No, I was not aware that I had a gay following, but I think it’s great. I mean, I live right in West Hollywood, so I’m constantly walking through the neighborhood, seeing how enthusiastic and extremely fun everybody is down there, so those are the fans to have behind you -- the people who can make a party out of anything."
How did growing up Catholic in Newton, Mass., influence your views on homosexuality? "Luckily, I have two of the coolest parents around. They’re so open about having any and all experiences, so they never hindered us in any way by categorizing or judging anything. Having people be that open was actually incredibly wild, because I was always a little confused when I heard anybody have issues with anything like homosexuality. It was very foreign to me. But I probably never gave it too much thought until I went to Brown, where I had a whole lot of friends who were gay. They talked about the fantastic parts of it and the really difficult parts of it, and that’s when I fully realized the scope of the experience, rather than the classification of being gay as having some weird romantic idea."

Who’s the most important gay person in your life? "One of my acting teachers from Brown, who’s probably one of the most important people in my life, period. He was the guy who basically helped me transform from someone who just wanted to get a laugh, and who used humor as a way to distract people from being insecure in acting class. He really got me to face a lot of different stuff, like who I was and who I wanted to be."

How does it feel when, for example, gay blogger Perez Hilton tags a photo of you and pal Milo Ventimiglia at an L.A. Kings hockey game as a naked locker room scene short of one of his “fantasies come true”?
"It’s sort of like when I was in People’s Sexiest [Men Alive issue in 2006]. It’s very hard to be comfortable thinking, Yes, that’s exactly what I deserve! But hearing anyone think that I’m any form of sexy or handsome is incredibly flattering."

Did you endure more teasing for People’s honor or for being on the cover of Men’s Health? "I got the most crap when people heard I was going to be on the cover of Men’s Health. I really got to see who my friends were, because they were like, “Wait, you’re on the cover of Men’s Health?” And I was like, “Whoa, easy with being so surprised!” But it was very nice in Men’s Health to hide behind vintage clothing."

Are you uncomfortable being thought of as a sex symbol?"I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable being considered a sex symbol, especially after you work with someone like George Clooney. When you walk down the street with him and everybody starts weeping out of joy, you’re like, Oh right, that’s a sex symbol!"

Sounds like someone has a dude-crush. "Wow. Well, I admire him so much, if I was ever going to have a dude-crush, it would be on George Clooney. I mean, I don’t think you can avoid it. It’s like a superpower -- he just sucks anybody in around him"

If nothing else, did 2007’s License to Wed teach you the necessity for legalized gay marriage?"Is that what you took away from it? Amazing. Don’t ever have babies that ugly -- that’s what I took away. I still have nightmares about those robotic babies. But it actually did teach me the amount of work that goes into being married, period. It’s such a commitment for anybody, gay or straight, and that level of love should allow anybody to get married."

If Jim were gay, who would be his type in the office? "By the laws of opposites, it would have to be Dwight. There would be some secret crush on Dwight for sure. Also, that would be the best fodder for the writers."