Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, is People's Sexiest Man Alive for 2016

People magazine has named Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, its "Sexiest Man Alive" for 2016, ushering him into an elite group of physically appealing men that over the years has included George Clooney, Matt Damon and David Beckham.

The award is, of course, a naked public relations enterprise, bestowed upon a celebrity - often an actor - who is in the throes of promoting a new project. In Johnson's case, that would be Moana, an animated Disney film, which will open in wide release on November 23.

He will also co-star in the eighth film of the Fast and the Furious franchise next year as well as in a remake of Jumanji, and he has been chronicling daily the filming process of that film on his Instagram account, which has nearly 70 million followers.

Johnson told the magazine: "I'm not quite too sure where we go from here. I've done it all; this is it."

The magazine has been criticised for nearly always choosing a white man for the cover of this issue. But in Johnson, the magazine chose its first actor of Samoan heritage. (In interviews, Johnson has described himself as half black and half Samoan.)

Denzel Washington was the first black actor to hold the title.

Johnson, who is 44 and the father of two girls - Simone, 15, and Jasmine, 11 months - became famous in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a performer with World Wrestling Entertainment. He turned toward Hollywood and found success with films like The Mummy Returns (2001) and a spinoff, The Scorpion King (2002). 

When writing about the new title on Instagram this week, the actor commented, "This just means I'm still up at 4am trainin' hard, takin' care of my babies, drivin' my pick up truck and tellin' a few dirty/nerdy jokes ... extremely sexily of course ...

"Remember, sexy isn't something you 'try and be.' Sexy happens naturally when you're comfortable just being yourself."