Noah Wyle Is the Sexiest Man Alive! No Second Opinion Needed.

We all owe Noah Wyle 's wife, Sara , a debt of gratitude. When the Pitt star, 55, first got the news that he was going to be crowned Sexiest Man Alive , he was incredulous. "I thought that sounded like a prank — just not in a million years did I think that this would be an honor bestowed on me," says the actor.

Luckily Sara, 46, was able to convince him that he was, in fact, SMA material. "She thinks I'm a good guy and that the kind of person that I am and the kind of father I am, the kind of husband I am, is worth promoting." he says. "I thought, 'Okay, if you say so.' " Not to mention, "she was very pleased that this reflects well on her taste," he adds.

Read every sexy page of People 's Sexiest Man Alive issue — two days before everyone else, only for People VIPs.

Judging by the way Wyle lit up when she arrived at his shoot at a cliffside Malibu estate this August with their daughter Frances, 11, and their chocolate Lab Lily in tow, it's clear whose opinion matters most. Once on-set, Sara happily cheered him on as he showed off his domestic skills for our social video — whipping up Frances's favorite eggs, cleaning up the kitchen and even folding laundry. And if you needed another reason to swoon, his wife confirms he does all that and more at their Los Angeles home.

For all the prodding needed for Wyle to accept his Sexiest Man Alive status, this isn't his first brush with People 's highest honor. Back in the '90s, when he was stealing hearts as the handsome young Dr. Carter on ER , he and his costars George Clooney , Eriq La Salle and Anthony Edwards graced the cover of the magazine's "Sexy Men of ER " issue. Clooney, of course, went on to claim the Sexiest Man Alive crown twice. But Wyle? Somehow we let him get away.

Now with The Pitt , his latest zeitgeisty medical drama ( which returns for season 3 in January on HBO Max), delivering what Wyle calls the "second lightning strike in my life" (and two consecutive best actor Emmys), it's about time to give Dr. Robby his due.

Here Wyle sits down with People' s editor in chief Charlotte Triggs for a revealing conversation about fame, family and finally getting the cover he deserves.

Congrats on being our new Sexiest Man Alive. What did your kids [Owen, 24, Auden, 21, and Frances] think when you told them?

My son is super practical. He was like, "Oh, this is going to make my life so much harder now. But that's cool, Dad. But also, you invite a lot of haters too." My older daughter was just like, "No way, no way." Because I think she's going to tease me about this for the next 50 years.

Do you think anything will be different?

I hope this changes everything. I hope it's just wine and roses, milk and honey from here on out. [ Laughs ] No, I don't, but I am going to take a lot of ribbing from friends and family for sure.

" I'M A GEMINI — I'M A BIT MERCURIAL. I TEND TO DO THINGS INTENSELY FOR FINITE PERIODS OF TIME "

I think he'll be amused and feel, hopefully, like a proud papa, that I've come of gray-haired age.

In middle school I went from sort of string bean-y to short and stocky, then stretched out again in high school. But that short, stocky period was rife with insecurity.

I wasn't a very good athlete, and I wasn't a great student. So I just kept looking for my tribe, and I found them in the theater department.

When did you finally feel comfortable in your own skin?

I was so hoping today was going to be the day. "Look at you. You're the Sexiest Man Alive. Finally you can be comfortable in your own skin." Not yet. I like being in other people's skin. I like putting on characters. I get self-conscious. It's still the hardest kind of interaction for me, speaking without a script as myself.

I've heard other actors describe that experience.

You get into this because you are a natural observer. Then that privacy is immediately taken from you if you get any notoriety. It could be a hard thing to reconcile. It took me a long time. The Pitt gives me the opportunity to do it differently than I did the first time — with a little bit more presence and a little bit more composure.

How were you at dealing with fame the first time around with ER ?

Faking it really well. Those were heady times. There was a complete 180 that happened almost overnight after my 22nd birthday. When I came out the other end of the ER experience, I was 37, married [to ex Tracy Warbin] with two kids in a totally different situation. But all of that felt like it had gone by in a blur.

What's been one of your most memorable fan encounters?

The other night I was sitting in this restaurant with my wife and another couple, and this older couple came to the table, and they said, "We love The Pitt . We haven't missed an episode. I just had surgery. Would you mind taking a look?" And she rolled up her pant leg and showed me the freshest stitches I've seen in a long time. And I said, "It looks like it's healing nicely. Are you putting full weight on it?" My wife's like, "Are you doing this right now?"

So people think you're an actual doctor?

Oh, absolutely. And occasionally I do too.

Oh yeah, tons. I work with a guy named Dr. Joe Sachs, who is about to receive a lifetime achievement award from Stanford Medical. Also through the company FIGS [where Wyle is a global brand ambassador ], I've found very inspirational, really impressive people who are currently in the workforce. I find them incredibly noble.

What's a typical day like when you're not working?

I usually make breakfast for my wife and my daughter. I have a daily journal practice. I try to exercise a little bit every day. I do Pilates or kettle-bells, and I take my dogs for a walk. I try to read a little bit every day. Try not to scroll too much on my phone. But I rarely get a day off.

I am the dish maven. The sink is my domain. And I would recommend more guys get into the dishwashing, because it's very therapeutic.

" HUMOR IS BIG BECAUSE THINGS CAN GET HARD. IF YOU CAN CRACK A SMILE, I THINK YOU HAVE A PRETTY GOOD CHANCE "

NOAH WYLE, ON THE SECRET TO A HAPPY MARRIAGE

The ones I'm least proud of at the moment are my Instagram shopping habits. A lot of survival gear. Those guys always get me. "You think you're prepared? You're not. You know what you need? You need this bucket of s---."

I don't like to be late. I would rather get there 5 to 10 minutes early, find a good place to park, not feel stressed and have a drink at the bar.

What's your favorite place in the world?

I'm kind of a homebody. I have a place up in Santa Ynez, California, that's my go-to sanctuary.

It sounds odd, but I have a talent for catching flies live. Catch and release. I have really very, very fast hands.

What's the most romantic thing you've done?

When my wife and I were first courting, I had two kids from a previous marriage, and we weren't always able to be together because I'd have them, and for almost a year I didn't introduce everybody. So when we weren't together, I would make these gifts for my wife. I'd make a book with photographs and mementos of things that we'd done on dates and drawings and poems and things that I'd find. Just ways of being able to do something for her when we were apart that I thought she'd like when we saw each other again.

We've been trying to do them with more regularity. My daughter went away to sleepaway camp for two weeks, and after we got through the first 48 hours of like, "I don't know what we do without a child to give all of our love and attention to," we were like, "Oh wait, I think we used to give it to each other." And then we had a great time. A great date could be staying in. It could be going out. It could be going someplace to stay in. But usually it involves eating.

Once we were driving a car full of children to breakfast. I love hawks — that's one of my favorite animals — and I saw this hawk soaring, and I was just about to say, "Hey, everybody, look at this beautiful hawk!" And I realized it was soaring right into my car. There was no avoiding it. I hit it, and I saw in the rearview mirror that the car behind me hit it, and I let out a sound that was somewhere between a scream and a cry. My wife immediately knows that this is going to ruin my week, and she says the only three words that would have kept me from wanting to turn the car off the road. She said, "He chose you." She always knows the words to defuse the bomb.

At a party, I like to ... Check out the books on the shelf in the library. Or pet the dog. I have an irrational fear of ... Maggots. It's more of a revulsion. I dream about ... Flying. Falling. Having my teeth fall out. Being late. Being lost. All sorts of odd dreams. Mr first nickname was ... Wyle Coyote. My first car was ... A 1988 sky blue Dodge Shadow. Not a very sexy car. I used to leave it perpetually unlocked, and homeless people would sleep in the back and pee in it. The movie that always makes me cry is ... The Champ . Ricky Schroder crying over Jon Voight's dead body broke me up. Left on my bucket list is ... Hosting SNL. The title of my memoir would be ... Noah's Arc .

That was the most life-changing event in my life. They handed my son to me, and I was like, "Now I get it. It's not about me, it's about you." That's when I quit ER . He was born on, like, a Tuesday. I went to work on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, spent time with him for the first time on Saturday, went back to work the following Monday and was looking at my watch, going, "Come on, what are we doing?" I'd never tried to rush through work to get home, and I thought, "Well, where do you want to be?" So I tendered my resignation. I called it a divorce with visitation rights and came back for the finale.

I've got a wonderful wife. I've got wonderful kids. I've got four parents that are still alive and able to, you know, feed themselves and have dinner and give advice. I'm grateful for my work. I'm grateful for my colleagues. I'm grateful for friends and mentors—and the teachers that I've had.

Groomer: Rachel Burney / STMNT and Augustinus Bader / The Wall Group