John Krasinski’s hottest roles, from ‘The Office’ to the MCU
John Krasinski was just crowned PEOPLE’s 2024 Sexiest Man Alive, and it honestly shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. This man has been making corporate office desk jobs and silence sexy for over 20 years. And he never fails to make us laugh, which might just be the sexiest thing about him.
From unexpectedly swoonworthy romantic leads to straight-up action heroes, here are Krasinski’s hottest roles to date.
Jim Halpert in ‘The Office’ (2005–2013)
Mitchell Haaseth/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
No one else can make corporate life look so romantic. Krasinski starred as sarcastic sales rep Jim Halpert throughout the entire run of NBC’s iconic comedic mockumentary The Office, making Pam (Jenna Fischer) — and viewers — fall in love with him with every smirk, deadpan, and side-eye to camera along the way. Not even his workplace nemesis Dwight (Rainn Wilson) could stay invincible to his charms, since by the end of the series, he asked Jim to be best man in his wedding.
Sir Lancelot in ‘Shrek the Third’ (2007)
Paramount Pictures
Shrek (Mike Myers) himself said it best: “Strong, handsome, face of a leader. Does [he] look like a king or what?” Krasinski had a small but mighty cameo in the third Shrek movie, Shrek the Third, voicing a high-school-aged Sir Lancelot in a quick but hilarious scene. He played the stereotypical dumb jock role well, and we would totally watch a spinoff movie about him.
Carter ‘the Bullet’ Rutherford in ‘Leatherheads’ (2008)
Melinda Sue Gordon/UNIVERSAL
After getting a taste of (animated) sports, Krasinski took on the real thing with his next big role. He starred opposite George Clooney and Renée Zellweger in Leatherheads, the period comedy about the early days of professional football. Krasinski scored points as a war-hero-turned-pro-footballer Carter “the Bullet” Rutherford, but he really made us swoon as he fought his fellow teammate for the heart of the reporter trying to take him down.
Burt Farlander in ‘Away We Go’ (2009)
Francois Duhamel/Focus
Krasinski went back to his roots with another funny romantic lead role who would do anything for the woman he loves. In Away We Go, he and Maya Rudolph starred as a couple expecting their first child who go on a road trip to figure out where they should settle down. As Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudolph) visit family and old friends at each stop of their search, all kinds of hilarity ensues. But Burt weathers the storm, always making Verona feel safe and loved no matter what. Talk about ultimate life partner goals.
Lee Abbott in ‘A Quiet Place’ (2018)
Jonny Cournoyer/Paramount Pictures
What can’t Krasinski do?! With A Quiet Place, he proved that he’s a triple threat by directing, co-writing, and starring in the post-apocalyptic horror thriller opposite his real-life wife Emily Blunt about a family struggling to stay alive after an alien invasion. He also made silence scary, and to some people, that is sexy (no judgements here).
Jack Ryan in ‘Jack Ryan’ (2018–2023)
Jan thijs/Amazon Studios
We’re not saying that Krasinski is the sexiest man to have played Jack Ryan. But we’re also not not saying that, either. After Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine, Krasinski was the next actor to play the titular spy created by Tom Clancy, this time in a Jack Ryan TV series for Prime Video. This version of Jack is a CIA data analyst ripped from the safety of his desk job and thrust into the world of field missions, and Krasinski played him with equal parts fish-out-of-water awkwardness and quiet confidence. By the end of season 4, he literally ran the CIA, and there’s nothing sexier than a man who can grow and evolve.
Reed Richards a.k.a. Mister Fantastic in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ (2022)
Marvel Studios
After many years of fans casting him as stretchy Fantastic Four leader Reed Richards, Krasinski finally made that dream come true — and he looked even better than what fans predicted. While he’s not Marvel’s official Mister Fantastic — that honor goes to Pedro Pascal in the upcoming The Fantastic Four: First Steps movie — he portrayed the role first thanks to some multiverse magic. In the Doctor Strange sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Krasinski was Earth-838’s version of Reed Richards, a member of the Illuminati tasked with keeping their world safe from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and the Darkhold. He looked so good in his Fantastic Four supersuit with that gray streak in his hair, but all good things must come to an end. In a shocking twist, he died a brutal death, flayed into ribbons by a murderous Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). Be careful what you wish for!
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