Hugh Jackson crowned People's 'Sexiest Man Alive'

Recalling Furness' reaction, Jackman says: "God bless her, she said, 'I could've told them that years ago! And then she said, 'Obviously Brad (Pitt) wasn't available this year.' And I said, 'That was a joke, right?'"

The magazine's executive editor, Jess Cagle, said Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show that Jackman is a "surprising choice," but he'd been on the editors' minds "for a long time and it seemed like this was the year to do him."

Cagle pointed out that not only is Jackman's career at its peak, with the "X-Men" movies and his upcoming epic with Nicole Kidman "Australia," but he's "built like a tank."

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