John Krasinski Says He Cried 'So Much' Watching Wife Emily Blunt in 'Mary Poppins Returns'

John Krasinski was not prepared for the emotion that overcame him when he watched the love of his life portray an iconic childhood character.

The Office alum, 39, shared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday that he was lucky enough to see an early showing of his wife Emily Blunt‘s new film Mary Poppins Returns, in which she plays the titular magical nanny. He recalled that he was initially surprised to see tissues in the screening room, thinking that they wouldn’t be necessary because he “didn’t have a cold.”

He continued: “25 minutes into the movie, I stood up and went to the back of the room, and Emily said, ‘Do you not like it? I’ve never seen this happen.’ And I was pushing through all the muffins and bagels that were in the back looking for napkins. I was like, ‘I need anything to stop this crying!’ I was crying so much. I blew through the tissue box in 20 minutes, had to go to the napkins, and when I ran out of napkins, it’s just all sweater.”

Then when DeGeneres asked if his wife, 35, did a great job, the father of two joked, “It’s not her best,” before changing direction. “It’s honestly one of the most beautiful films. I think it’s exactly what everybody needs at the holidays, the pure joy,” he said.

After praising himself for earning the title of PEOPLE’s Man of Action, Krasinski also shared a hilarious anecdote about attempting to bond with his wife’s Jungle Cruise costar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He asked to use the former wrestler’s gym to prep for his role as Jack Ryan, which secured him his place on the hotlist.

Even though one of Johnson’s producers told Krasinski that “no human being has ever been in that gym,” he decided to stop by anyway.

“I walked in and it was like alien spaceships had landed,” Krasinski recalled. “He has like 40 pieces of equipment I’ve never seen in my life … [One of the alien pieces of equipment] is called a pit shark, and I said, ‘Dwayne, how do you use this?’ And he said, ‘Oh, it’s easy I’ll show you one day.’ … ‘I had a crick in my neck for about three weeks.”

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Fans of the couple know that Krasinski often has emotional reactions to Blunt’s work. He’s apparently seen The Devil Wears Prada, her breakout performance, more than 70 times, and he toldEW at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival in the end of October that “there’s nothing she can’t do.”

He added that he was especially impressed by her work in My Summer of Love, Sicario, Girl on the Train, and of course, Mary Poppins Returns.

Blunt also complimented her hubby’s acting.

“I think he’s really stunning in [A Quiet Place], but I loved him in Away We Go,” she gushed. “I think he was just awesome in it. I loved his big shaggy beard and the hair and he was so authentic and funny. I think that’s one of my favorites that he’s done.”

Mary Poppins Returns opens Dec. 19.