1.Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp first topped an Empire sexiest poll waaaaay back in 1995, but it appears that age cannot wither his appeal. He has the cheekbones and looks of a matinee idol, but the killer stroke that won everyone's hearts is the fact that he prefers to play weirdoes and oddballs - and, as Cap'n Jack Sparrow, he's hilarious too. Long may he reign.
Most alluring as... Cast your mind back to his role as Don Juan De Marco (1994), complete with open white shirt, billowing hair and suggestive hand caresses.
3.Robert Downey Jr.
The perennial comeback kid, Downey Jr. has finally delivered on the promise he's always shown and turned into a major movie star - one of the biggest, following the one-two shot of Iron Man and Tropic Thunder. And he's aging well too: overly-pretty as a younger man, he's now such an undeniable fox that there are few straight men who'd even try to deny it. Admit it: you even loved him in the least PC-role ever as Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder.
4.Brad Pitt
The only thing holding Brad Pitt back from the top spot is that he's so good-looking it's almost off-putting. Even with that horrendous Inglourious Basterds moustache, he was still approximately 1000% times better looking than any of the rest of us will ever be on our best hair day ever. And as one-eighth of the most photogenic family ever to grace the Earth, he's showing no signs of fading.
5.Christian Bale
As impossibly chiselled as Depp, as intense as Sean Penn, Christian Bale brings equal commitment to playing a superhero, a dragon-fighter or a psycho. It seems like every role involves him getting shirtless at some point, but that's OK because 99.9% of the man-fancying population supports such a contractual demand entirely. The other 0.1% would have, but they accidentally watched The Machinist.
6.Hugh Jackman
OK, tall: check. Dark, handsome: likewise. Smart, funny, self-deprecating, able to sing, able to dance, having muscly arms: check, check, check, you betcha, sure thing and no kidding. Devoted husband and father, reputedly nicest man in Hollywood: present and correct. We're sure he has an unattractive quality in there somewhere; we're just not sure what it is.
7.George Clooney
Impossibly handsome, charming and debonair, Clooney is this generation's Cary Grant, Gregory Peck and Clark Gable all rolled into one. He's intensely smart, very funny and political. It's the half-grin and the glint in the eye that kills, and the sense that somewhere, deep down, he's laughing at his own sex symbol status.
8.Alan Rickman
It's good to see that here, amid the chiselled cheekbones and perfectly coiffed heads, is a man who's sexy because he's smart, sarky and has a fine line in put-downs. Sure, everyone loves a bad(ish) boy, but Rickman's rogues' gallery is united by the fact that they're all strangely, unjustifiably sexy. Yes, even greasy-haired Snape. And as for his good guys, they're pretty irresistible.
12.Daniel Craig
Hardly anyone knew about serious actor Daniel Craig until the role of James Bond thrust him into the spotlight. While some carped that Bond shouldn't be blond, Craig very calmly punched them all in the face, adjusted his dinner jacket and turned those lightning blue eyes back to the business at hand: giving us a sexier, more aggressive, dirtier Bond than we'd seen in years.
14.Heath Ledger
There was more to Heath Ledger than the grinning anarchist in The Dark Knight. He could play innocent and bookish (The Brothers Grimm), tortured (Brokeback Mountain), cocky (10 Things I Hate About You, A Knight's Tale) or, well, psychotic (guess who?). But with a smile a mile wide and eyes blazing with mischief, he was always attractive.
16.Jake Gyllenhaal
He won everyone over as the awkward but magnetic Donnie Darko, but since then he's grown into true leading man territory, mixing great performances in artier fare like Brokeback Mountain and Zodiac with big blockbusters like The Day After Tomorrow and the forthcoming Prince of Persia.
Johnny Depp first topped an Empire sexiest poll waaaaay back in 1995, but it appears that age cannot wither his appeal. He has the cheekbones and looks of a matinee idol, but the killer stroke that won everyone's hearts is the fact that he prefers to play weirdoes and oddballs - and, as Cap'n Jack Sparrow, he's hilarious too. Long may he reign.
Most alluring as... Cast your mind back to his role as Don Juan De Marco (1994), complete with open white shirt, billowing hair and suggestive hand caresses.
3.Robert Downey Jr.
The perennial comeback kid, Downey Jr. has finally delivered on the promise he's always shown and turned into a major movie star - one of the biggest, following the one-two shot of Iron Man and Tropic Thunder. And he's aging well too: overly-pretty as a younger man, he's now such an undeniable fox that there are few straight men who'd even try to deny it. Admit it: you even loved him in the least PC-role ever as Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder.
4.Brad Pitt
The only thing holding Brad Pitt back from the top spot is that he's so good-looking it's almost off-putting. Even with that horrendous Inglourious Basterds moustache, he was still approximately 1000% times better looking than any of the rest of us will ever be on our best hair day ever. And as one-eighth of the most photogenic family ever to grace the Earth, he's showing no signs of fading.
5.Christian Bale
As impossibly chiselled as Depp, as intense as Sean Penn, Christian Bale brings equal commitment to playing a superhero, a dragon-fighter or a psycho. It seems like every role involves him getting shirtless at some point, but that's OK because 99.9% of the man-fancying population supports such a contractual demand entirely. The other 0.1% would have, but they accidentally watched The Machinist.
6.Hugh Jackman
OK, tall: check. Dark, handsome: likewise. Smart, funny, self-deprecating, able to sing, able to dance, having muscly arms: check, check, check, you betcha, sure thing and no kidding. Devoted husband and father, reputedly nicest man in Hollywood: present and correct. We're sure he has an unattractive quality in there somewhere; we're just not sure what it is.
7.George Clooney
Impossibly handsome, charming and debonair, Clooney is this generation's Cary Grant, Gregory Peck and Clark Gable all rolled into one. He's intensely smart, very funny and political. It's the half-grin and the glint in the eye that kills, and the sense that somewhere, deep down, he's laughing at his own sex symbol status.
8.Alan Rickman
It's good to see that here, amid the chiselled cheekbones and perfectly coiffed heads, is a man who's sexy because he's smart, sarky and has a fine line in put-downs. Sure, everyone loves a bad(ish) boy, but Rickman's rogues' gallery is united by the fact that they're all strangely, unjustifiably sexy. Yes, even greasy-haired Snape. And as for his good guys, they're pretty irresistible.
12.Daniel Craig
Hardly anyone knew about serious actor Daniel Craig until the role of James Bond thrust him into the spotlight. While some carped that Bond shouldn't be blond, Craig very calmly punched them all in the face, adjusted his dinner jacket and turned those lightning blue eyes back to the business at hand: giving us a sexier, more aggressive, dirtier Bond than we'd seen in years.
14.Heath Ledger
There was more to Heath Ledger than the grinning anarchist in The Dark Knight. He could play innocent and bookish (The Brothers Grimm), tortured (Brokeback Mountain), cocky (10 Things I Hate About You, A Knight's Tale) or, well, psychotic (guess who?). But with a smile a mile wide and eyes blazing with mischief, he was always attractive.
16.Jake Gyllenhaal
He won everyone over as the awkward but magnetic Donnie Darko, but since then he's grown into true leading man territory, mixing great performances in artier fare like Brokeback Mountain and Zodiac with big blockbusters like The Day After Tomorrow and the forthcoming Prince of Persia.
