People Magazine has been teasing their Sexist Man Alive 2024 cover for weeks. They began releasing photos of the other guys who made the list (Benny Blanco??) and most people were thinking about which (white) guys were having “the best year” and/or had a big film to promote. It felt like the list narrowed to Glen Powell (great year), Jonathan Bailey (he’s in Wicked) or Paul Mescal (Gladiator II & Irish heartthrob for Gen Z). I’m not sure anyone expected who it actually turned out to be. Behold, your SMA 2024: John Krasinski??? Some highlights from John’s SMA profile:
What he thinks of the honor: “Just immediate blackout, actually. Zero thoughts. Other than maybe I’m being punked. That’s not how I wake up, 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 have really raised the bar for me.”
Family life with Emily Blunt: 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 that on camera? Because that’s like a binding contract, I think,” he says. “My children will love that, it won’t be weird at all.”
What is he promoting?? With this year’s movie IF, which he also starred in, wrote, produced and directed, the actor solidified his status as one of Hollywood’s top filmmakers. Still, the transition took a little finessing. “I had to pitch the studio like 54 times [for AQP] before they said yes,” jokes Krasinski, who next stars with Natalie Portman in the action heist film Fountain of Youth. “I’m pretty sure someone said, ‘Sorry, is Jim from The Office going to direct this?’ And I went, ‘Oh, it’s John, but we’ll get there.’ ”
He’s built a life with Emily Blunt: “It’s that beautiful thing where when you’re married to someone, you’re constantly learning and changing and evolving. And I’m so lucky to go through all that with her.” Not that his new title will change anything: “I think it’s going to make me do more household chores. After this comes out, she’ll be like, ‘All right, that means you’re going to really earn it here at home.’ ”
So, I actually forgot that he’s doing so much behind the camera these days. Not just IF, but he made A Quiet Place into a franchise, and he’s executive producer on Jack Ryan too. While I acknowledge that Krasinski is still relevant and still well-known, it does feel like People Mag got cold feet about naming an SMA who was buzzier/younger, right? Wouldn’t be the first time.
If this is a dream don’t wake us up. #JohnKrasinski is our 2024 #SexiestManAlive. https://t.co/H792MltVUC pic.twitter.com/RqvLoKTEZG
— People (@people) November 13, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of People.