Millicent Simmonds helped John Krasinski improve sign language skills on A Quiet Place Part II

Millicent Simmonds helped John Krasinski improve his American Sign Language (ASL) skills while they were filming A Quiet Place Part II.

The actor and director played the 17-year-old's onscreen father in the 2018 horror A Quiet Place, which followed the Abbott family, who were forced to live in silence to hide from alien creatures that hunt humans with sound.

Simmonds wowed in her role as Regan in the critically-acclaimed movie, and the deaf actress was encouraged to board the sequel after Krasinski used FaceTime to pitch the idea to her.

In an interview with Variety, she shared that she helped the filmmaker improve his ASL skills while making the sequel.

“We communicate really well,” Simmonds said via an interpreter. “We already had an ease in communication, but we shared so many moments where we’d have conversations about a scene. The sequel really shows you a different perspective.”

The sequel follows the Abbott family as matriarch Evelyn, played by Emily Blunt, fights to keep her family alive after the death of her husband, who was portrayed by Krasinski.

And The Office star was determined to focus the sequel on Simmonds' character as he was so impressed with her performance in the original.

“I had this small idea, which was to make Millie the lead of the movie,” Krasinski explained. “Not only did I think she would give an amazing performance, which I knew she could do, her character opens the door to all the themes I was dealing with in the first movie.”

A Quiet Place Part II was originally due to be released in March but has been delayed until later this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.