Crowning of John Krasinski as People magazine's 'Sexiest Man Alive' divides fans

Debate is raging over People magazine’s choice for the 2024 Sexiest Man Alive — John Krasinski.

The magazine announced the actor-writer-director as its pick on Tuesday night (US time) during The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: John Krasinski is the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’.

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It appears the news was a shock to Krasinski himself, with the star telling People he had an “immediate blackout” after learning the news.

Krasinski starred in the US version of The Office before launching the Quiet Place horror movie franchise and leading the TV action series Jack Ryan.

John Krasinski is People’s 2024 Sexiest Man Alive. Credit: PEOPLE Magazine

He joked in an interview with the magazine that he hoped his wife, fellow actor Emily Blunt, would make good on a promise to plaster the cover as wallpaper at their home.

“There was a lot of joy involved” in telling his wife, who was “very excited”, he said.

He takes the crown from 2023’s honoree, veteran actor Patrick Dempsey.

Krasinski, 45, said his immediate reaction was “just immediate blackout, actually. Zero thoughts”.

He said he thought he might be getting pranked.

Krasinski came to fame playing the floppy-haired, lanky Jim on the US version of the mockumentary The Office, and transitioned into the clean-cut, muscular action star on Amazon’s TV series Jack Ryan, playing the Tom Clancy character previously portrayed by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck on the big screen.

He also co-wrote, directed and starred in A Quiet Place, which has grown into a three-film franchise, and created the short-lived but immensely popular pandemic-era web series Some Good News.

Earlier in 2024, his sixth directorial effort made its debut — IF, a film about imaginary friends that also featured Blunt.

The couple have two daughters together.

Emily Blunt and John Krasinski attend the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Credit: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Vanity Fair

Krasinski told People in the issue the honour was likely to result in more than just jokes at home.

“I think it’s going to make me do more household chores,” he quipped.

Now in its 40th year, the first Sexiest Man Alive was Mel Gibson.

Other past recipients include Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John F Kennedy Jr, David Beckham, Michael B Jordan, John Legend, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Rudd and Pierce Brosnan.

John Krasinski's reaction to the honour was ‘just immediate blackout, actually. Zero thoughts’. Credit: AAP

Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he also revealed the one person he told after delivering the news to his immediate family.

“The only person I slipped and told was, the day we did the shoot, I went to Matt Damon’s birthday party,”

“When I walked in — yep, name drop, don’t worry about it — when I walked in, he was having such a good birthday, and I was late to the party.

“And he was like ‘Oh, man, why are you late? For what?’ and I was like, ‘People’s Sexiest!’”

Fans appear divided over the news

“We deserved better,” one said.

“I’m sorry but he should have won 10 years ago, he’s too old now,” said a second.

But others disagreed, questioning why some fans were not pleased with Krasinski’s win.

“Why are we acting like John Krasinski is not sexy?” a commenter asked.

“John Krasinski is legitimately sexy. People ate that one thing,” a supportive fan said.

- With AP