John Krasinski Got ‘Pulled Right Back to College’ While Filming This ‘Fountain of Youth’ Scene

Starring John Krasinski, Natalie Portman and Eiza González, ‘Fountain of Youth’ follows its characters into one of the most audacious adventures across the world in their attempt to find the eponymous mythical spring.

The most exciting part of the entire movie is maybe a whole collection of the most famous world landmarks as its background.

However, an opportunity of shooting a film in some of the most impressive places on the planet comes with its own troubles, which has now been confirmed by ‘Fountain of Youth’s lead John Krasinski.

John Krasinski Was ‘Blown Away’ by ‘Fountain of Youth’s Filming Location

Now considered one of the most hyped-up moments in the entire movie, the scene in question sees John Krasinski’s Luke Purdue who, after being hired to find the Fountain of Youth, has an encounter with Eiza González’s Esme that for some reason wants Purdue to not reach his goal.

The two end up in a huge fight that occurs in the real-life Austrian National Library in Vienna, a place that makes a great part of the world’s cultural heritage.

“I was genuinely blown away that they were letting us fly drones there before we even got to the fight scene. There was a drone shot of us walking in. And then, the fact that they had actual secret doors - the library genuinely has bookshelves that open up into doors that go into secret rooms. That was pretty awesome”, Krasinski revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly just ahead of the movie’s release on Apple TV+.

The actor also added that he was especially excited about filming in the library because he’s been a book lover ever since college years.

“Did I get pulled right back to college quoting Nietzsche and things like that in the library? Yes, I did. I was like, ‘Oh my god, we're actually using something that I know about.' I barely know about it, but I got the references thanks to my education”, Krasinski shared.

‘Fountain of Youth’ Library Fight Scene Had Everyone Worried About World Cultural Heritage

However, the overall excitement was there alongside Krasinski’s fear to damage the old precious books that the library keeps in its collection — in fact, this fear was what probably every production team member shared.

“They were quite precious about exactly what we were doing there. We would replace a whole section of books, which literally means the wall of books. So you could get up to all sorts of shenanigans without having to upset people”, Guy Ritchie revealed in the same interview.

The library scenes turned out to be quite a challenge for Eiza González too: not only did she have a fear of ruining everything in the ‘sacred place’, but the actress also got some of the most difficult stunts under her belt.

“Eiza got incredibly bruised up. She was wearing some incredible designer bad-ass shoes, and I was wearing loafers. But she was doing things that were unbelievably difficult. She's the one spinning on the desk. She's the one kicking me. I'm just the one receiving kicks and things like that”, John Krasinski shared.

When Is ‘Fountain of Youth’ Being Released?

The movie is coming to Apple TV+ on May 23.