Noah Wyle thought it was a "prank" that he'd been named People's Sexiest Man Alive.

The Pitt actor was shocked to be chosen for the magazine's coveted annual honour, but his wife Sara, 46, was able to convince the 55-year-old star that he was worthy of the honour.

Noah told People: "I thought that sounded like a prank -- just not in a million years did I think that this would be an honour bestowed on me.

"[Sara] 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.

"I thought, 'Okay, if you say so.' She was very pleased that this reflects well on her taste."

Noah, who has Owen, 24, and Auden, 21, from a previous marriage and 11-year-old Frances with Sara, admitted his kids were not quite as impressed by the honour as his wife was, and he's expecting his friends to mock him too.

He said: "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...

"I am going to take a lot of ribbing from friends and family for sure."

Noah's former E.R. co-star George Clooney has previously been named People's Sexiest Man Alive twice, and his pal joked he's made his old friend "proud".

Asked how he thinks George will respond, Noah said: "I think he'll be amused and feel, hopefully, like a proud papa, that I've come of grey-haired age."

Despite the accolade, Noah admitted he is always very self-conscious and ill at ease with himself.

Asked when he first felt comfortable in his own skin, he said: "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.

"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."