John Krasinski refuses to read the comments after 'The Office' chat rooms "scared the absolute hell" out of him.

The 45-year-old actor - who played Jim Halpert in the US remake of Ricky Gervais' iconic sitcom - recalled his early experiences with the idea of people being able to critique however they want on social media.

John - who has been named People's Sexiest Man Alive for 2024 - told the outlet in his cover story: "I remember on 'The Office', the computers we had [at our desks] were live, and that was the early days of like MySpace and IMDb chat rooms and stuff.

"[Jenna Fischer] was super into it and she'd go, 'Guys, last night's episode, they loved it and blah blah, blah. And so we'd all jump on.

"One of my first forays down that rabbit hole, I was like, 'Oh my God, what did they say?' It was like, 'Oh dear Lord.' And I've never gone back. I've never gone back."

The 'IF' star noted that things are much worse now after social media has become more prevalent since those early days.

He added: "Truly, that scared the absolute hell out of me, those chat rooms in the early days. So I can't imagine where it's gone since."

The 'A Quiet Place' filmmaker has become a huge star from 'The Office' and beyond, and he can still remember the first time he realised his level of fame.

He recalled: " "It must have been season two [of The Office] because iPods had come out and I had no idea what an iPod was.

"I remember a guy came up to me on the street and he held up an iPod and he said, 'Look, you're on my iPod.' And the screen was [tiny], and I couldn't see who it was, but it looked a lot like me.

"And I thought, 'I don't know if that's fame or if that person's going to kill me, but either way, that person knows me and that's a stranger.' So that was that was a big, big moment."

Meanwhile, John has admitted he thought he was being pranked when he was told he'd be receiving People's annual Sexiest Man Alive accolade.

Asked about his reaction, he said: "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.”