'A Quiet Place' screenwriters: John Krasinski insisted deaf actor to be cast in the film

'A Quiet Place'

screenwriters Bryan Woods and Scott Beck say director John Krasinski had pushed to cast Millicent Simmonds, a real-life deaf actor, to star in the film.


The scribe duo said Krasinski wanted Simmonds to play the character of

Regan Abbott

, his on-screen deaf daughter in the film about a family trying to survive in silence.

"We always had a deaf character in the script, but John really pushed for them to hire Millicent. She came to set and taught everyone sign language. It was really amazing and brought an extra depth to the film," Beck said.

The writers, who are longtime friends, share the credit with Krasinski.

Woods said the seed of the idea germinated when they were in college.

"We were making micro-budget films and studying film history. We fell in love with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and all the things that can be accomplished without sound. We wanted to do a modern-day silent film that lived in the suspense genre," he said.

'A Quiet Place' chronicles the story of a family which struggles to survive amid the invasion of blind, sound-hunting monsters.

Krasinski stars opposite real-life wife actor Emily Blunt in the film, which also features Noah Jupe.