EXCLUSIVE: John Krasinski Reveals How '13 Hours' Kicked His Survival Instincts into Overdrive

ET has the first look at Michael Bay's exciting new film, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, starring John Krasinski.

While the movie is surprisingly emotional -- a departure for the director of Transformers -- Bay manages to stick to his roots by peppering in some impressive explosions.

WATCH: Michael Bay's Benghazi Film Is Surprisingly Emotional, Still Has Huge Explosions

"I think there's a lot of stuff in this movie that people might actually watch and say, 'Oh, that's fake. That's CGI.' That's all real," Krasinski said in a behind-the-scenes interview. "So to actually be there when something blows up in very helpful, because you don't have to do a lot of acting. Your instinct kicks in."

13 Hours tells the story of the terrorist attack on an American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya in 2012, and the members of a security team who were tasked with defending the compound and those inside.

"This movie is about true heroism," Krasinski said. "I think parents want to teach their kids to do the right thing no matter what and it's a very hard lesson to teach, so a movie like this to show these guys did what was right no matter what the cost -- I don't think you can get any better than that."

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13 Hours, also starring Pablo Schreiber and Toby Stephens, hits theaters Jan. 15, 2016.