Will Ferrell Jokes He Shouldn't Have Lost to John Krasinski for PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive: 'I Don't Get It!'

Will Ferrell is ready for his close-up!

On Tuesday, Jan. 28, the actor, 57, appeared on the Today show and expressed his disappointment at not being named PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive last year.

Co-host Savannah Guthrie recalled their previous on-air conversation about Ferrell wanting to appear on PEOPLE’s annual issue dedicated to all things sexy.

"Yes, [my campaign] started here," the comedian said. "And maybe this was the wrong place to start it. I got zero votes."

Guthrie was indignant on his behalf. "That can’t be!" she said. "I didn’t have a vote but I would vote for you."

Ferrell said that he tried to "launch" a campaign at the Despicable Me 4 premiere in New York City, but did not make a big enough splash — so he's got grand plans for 2025: "I think I may need to do a preemptive photoshoot," he said, "pay for some billboards around LA and New York. Influencers, get it going that way."

As for his take on the winner?

Ferrell said he couldn't recall who won the title over him, and the co-hosts played along. "Does anybody remember?" Guthrie quipped, while Melvin said, "Who was it?"

"If it was you, everyone would remember," Guthrie told Ferrell.

Melvin finally noted last year's winner was John Krasinski.

"So you’re okay to losing to him?" he asked Ferrell, to which he begrudgingly answered, "Okay. All right. I guess ... I don’t get it."

Melvin said, "You don’t see what they see."

At the Despicable Me 4 premiere in June 2024, Ferrell told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that he was gunning for the title.

Related: All the Stars Campaigning for Sexiest Man Alive, from Will Ferrell to Kevin Hart

He said that he was "planting the seeds" to end up on the cover "because you guys never have comedians."

"So get it going internally, all right? Sexiest Man," he added.

The actor went on to mention that one of his Minion superpowers would be to "be PEOPLE Magazine's Sexiest Man of the Year. Come on. Vote for comedians!"

He continued his campaign a few days later on Late Night with Seth Meyers, saying that he was "getting the campaign going early."

"I have to be one of the leading vote-getters as of right now," he said while observing his dramatic pose at the aforementioned premiere, for which he wore a white tracksuit.

Around the same time, he told the Today show that his campaign "is not a joke."

"It’s time," he said. "They never have comedians. Can you think of one? I can’t."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Co-host Guthrie then pointed out that Paul Rudd has won the title, to which Ferrell said, "Paul’s funny, but not there."

"I’ve never wanted anything more badly than Sexiest Man Alive," he later added.

PEOPLE announced that Kransinki won the title in November 2024. Sharing his reaction to the news, the actor told PEOPLE the he went into an "immediate blackout."

"Zero thoughts," Kransinki continued. "Other than maybe I’m being punked. That’s not how I wake up usually, 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 really raised the bar for me."

Read the original article on People