John Krasinski is PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2024!

John Krasinski wasn’t quite sure what to think when he was told he was crowned PEOPLE’s 2024 Sexiest Man Alive.

“Just instant blackout, actually. Zero thoughts,” he tells the magazine in this week’s cover story. “Besides maybe I get punked. It’s not like I wake up and think, ‘Is this the day I get asked to be the sexiest man alive?’ And yet that was the day you did it. You have really raised the bar for me.”

While fans may know Krasinski as a lovelorn, fun-loving paper salesman, or an intense ex-Marine turned CIA agent, or a devoted family man who sacrifices himself for love, the actor, 45, prefers just being a husband and father. who binges Netflix documentaries and enjoys bedtime stories with her children.

Now living in Brooklyn with his wife of 14 years, actress Emily Blunt, 41, and their daughters Hazel, 10, and Violet, 8, Krasinski says Blunt was “very excited” when she heard the big news: “There was a lot of joy involved in me telling her.”

The actress has even joked that she would wallpaper their house with the cover if her husband received the crown. “Do we have it on camera? Because it’s like a binding contract, I think,” he says. “My kids will love it, it won’t be weird at all.”

Beloved for his nine-year run as Jim Halpert on the hit series The officehe wrote, directed and co-starred with Blunt in the 2018 thriller A quiet place. Its massive success spawned two sequels, while Krasinski was ripped for Michael Bay’s 13 hoursstayed in fighting shape to play the titular Jack Ryan for four seasons on the hit Prime Video series, which is now set to be made into a movie.

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With the film of the year IFwhich he also starred in, wrote, produced and directed, the actor cemented his status as one of Hollywood’s best filmmakers. Still, the transition took a little finesse. “I had to pitch the studio 54 times (for AQP) before they said yes,” jokes Krasinski, who next stars with Natalie Portman in the action heist film The Fountain of Youth. “I’m pretty sure someone said, ‘Excuse me, where’s Jim from The office will direct this?’ And I said, “Oh, it’s John, but we’ll get there.” ”

These days, Krasinski is settling down and appreciating the life he’s built with Blunt. “That’s the beautiful thing when you’re married to someone, you’re constantly learning and changing and evolving,” he says. “And I’m lucky enough to go through all that with her.”

Not that his new title will change anything: “I think it gets me through more household chores,” he jokes. “When this comes out, she’ll say, ‘Okay, this means you really want to earn this at home.'”

For more of Krasinki’s exclusive interview and photos, pick up this week’s issue PEOPLE on newsstands Friday