The announcement was made by Stephen Colbert on his late-night talk show, with Krasinski taking over the title from last year’s winner, Patrick Dempsey of Grey’s Anatomy.
Colbert jokingly celebrated Krasinski’s transformation, saying, “I’m so proud to see my friend, go from goofy, lovable boy next door to big, dumb sex hunk.”
In a video interview with People, Krasinski admitted his win came as a surprise. “Just immediate blackout, so the brain just turned off actually,” he said. “Zero thoughts.
“Other than maybe I’m being punked. After that, it was just a false reality. That’s not how I wake up, usually, thinking, ‘Is this the day that I’ll be asked to be Sexiest Man Alive?’ And yet it was the day you guys did it. You guys really raised the bar for me.”
The 45-year-old actor also shared that his wife, actress Emily Blunt, was thrilled by the honor.
“There was a lot of joy involved,” he said, adding that the recognition might come with more household chores. “I think after the cover comes out she’ll be like, ‘All right, that means you’re going to really earn it here at home.'”
Krasinski joked that the news would likely baffle his brothers and be a major conversation topic at their Thanksgiving dinner.
“They’ll probably wonder how this is possible for years.”
Best known for playing Jim Halpert on The Office and Jack Ryan in the Amazon Prime series, Krasinski has been married to Blunt since 2010, and the couple shares two daughters—Hazel, 10, and Violet, 8.
