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By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – Prom did not go as planned for Shelby County High School senior Marli Odgers. In some ways, however, it was even better than she imagined.

A couple of weeks after her father, Robby, surprised her with a prom dance in their living room after the SCHS prom was canceled, Marli and her family were contacted about appearing on actor John Krasinski’s YouTube show, Some Good News.

Krasinski had seen the video and photos of their father-daughter dance and wanted Marli and Robby to be a part of a Prom 2020 live episode he was hosting, Marli said.

“It was truly my favorite story this week, and that’s why we’re calling you,” Krasinski said to the pair in a video chat that aired on the April 19 episode of SGN. “But I’m also calling to tell you that I was completely inspired by you guys. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m going to throw a prom for every kid in the world tonight, and I would like you to be one of my dates (and) help me DJ this prom.”

Marli wasn’t sure exactly what Krasinski had in store, but they had to wait only a few hours to find out.

Dressed in their formal attire, Marli and Robby tuned in to find Krasinski had assembled an all-star lineup for the evening’s musical entertainment, including Chance the Rapper, the Jonas Brothers and Billie Eilish.

Rainn Wilson, one of Krasinski’s former co-stars on the hit TV show The Office, also made an appearance in the episode.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, can they hear us?’” Marli said. “It was really crazy. I was shocked.”

Perhaps equally as shocking was the moment during Marli’s and Robby’s pre-prom chat with Krasinski when Krasinski commented on Robby’s physique, and insisted he was relinquishing his role as Jack Ryan to Robby.

“We got so many comments about that,” Marli said of the exchange, laughing.

Marli, who admits she initially was hesitant about her sister sharing the video of her dance with her dad on social media, is thankful it has spurred positivity in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Having John Krasinski’s admiration was an unexpected bonus.

“We just thought it was pretty cool,” Marli said. “That was our only hope – for someone to think about that it’s a positive thing while all this negative stuff is going around. We didn’t know it would lead to John Krasinski.”