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

“Basically just an instant blackout. No thoughts,” he tells the magazine in this week’s cover story. “Except maybe I’m being tricked. That’s not the way I wake up and think, “Is this the day I’m asked to be the sexiest man alive?” And yet it was the day you did it. You have really raised the bar for me.”

While fans may know Krasinski as a lovelorn, wisecracking paper salesman, or an intense former Marine turned CIA agent, or a devoted family man who sacrifices himself for love, the 45-year-old actor prefers to simply be a husband and father , who loves Netflix documentaries and enjoys bedtime stories with his kids.

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 joy that came with me telling her.

The actress 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 kids will love that, it won’t be weird at all.”

Beloved for his nine-year role 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, who was ripped because of Michael Bay 1 p.mstayed in fighting shape to play the titular Jack Ryan for four seasons on the hit Prime Video series, which is now set to become a movie.

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With this year’s film IFin which he also starred, wrote, produced and directed, the actor cemented his status as one of Hollywood’s top filmmakers. Still, the transition took some finesse. “I had to pitch the studio 54 times (for AQP) before they said yes,” jokes Krasinski, who next stars in the action-heist film opposite Natalie Portman Fountain of Youth. “I’m pretty sure someone said, ‘Sorry, that’s where Jim is from The office are you going to direct this?’ And I said, ‘Oh, it’s John, but we’ll get there.’ ”

Today, Krasinski chooses himself and appreciates the life he built with Blunt. “It’s that beautiful thing: when you’re married to someone, you’re constantly learning and changing and evolving,” he says. “And I feel so lucky to be able to experience all of this with her.”

Not that his new title will change anything: “I think I’ll get around to it more household chores,” he jokes. “If this comes out, she’ll say, ‘Okay, that means you’re really going to earn it here at home.’ ”

For more exclusive interviews and photos from Krasinki, check out this week’s issue PEOPLE on newsstands Friday