We love to love Hollywood’s leading men. Whether it’s the quirky cuteness of Joseph Gordon-Levitt or the rugged perfection of Michael Fassbender (Shame, anyone?), each of these gorgeous guys has his own sexy superpower designed specifically to make us worship him. While we truly believe that no man can hold a candle to Ryan Gosling (who proved his superhero status by literally saving a woman’s life in New York this past week… sigh…), we do think it’s time for us collegiettes to branch out and show the underdogs some love. Check out our list of the hottest Hollywood up-and-comers—they’ll be gracing the silver screen (and the posters on your bedroom wall) before you know it.
Note: The following have not been ranked in any particular order because, frankly, they’re all perfect tens.
1. Alexander Ludwig
If you haven’t seen The Hunger Games yet, it’s time to crawl out from whatever rock you’ve been living under that stopped you from seeing it opening weekend and join the rest of the world. If Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, and Lenny Kravitz weren’t enough to tempt you, look no further than Alexander Ludwig: Canadian golden boy, USC sophomore, and childhood friend of Skidmore’s own Yumi Karlshoej (2015), who says, “He’s really friendly and definitely the life of the party. He’s actually really talented. I wouldn’t be surprised if he came out with a CD soon.” A crooning Cato? Yes, please! (And can we please discuss the last time we saw abs like that on the Skidmore campus? Namely, never!? So, who else is planning to transfer to USC?)
2. Tom McDonell
You may be confused—why have we posted a photo of Johnny Depp, circa 1993, in our young Hollywood list? They say if you ask, you shall receive; we asked for a man to fill the hole in our hearts left by the still sexy (but—we hate to say it—aging) Johnny Depp, and we received this brooding beauty, Tom McDonell. McDonell will be making a change of pace from Suburgatory to play the younger version of Depp’s character in the upcoming campy, vampy film Dark Shadows. His luscious locks are also the sole reason that any collegiette was at all tempted to see PROM (we’re going to pretend that none of us actually went through with it…). We highly suggest making room on your wall for his poster today—you still won’t beat us to it.
3. Eddie Redmayne
Proving that it is indeed possible to have both brains and beauty, this Cambridge grad turned award-winning thespian (turned Burberry model turned star actor, casually) has it all, and some freckles, too. We last saw him opposite the queen of class, Michelle Williams, in My Week with Marilyn, and you can expect even bigger things to come—Redmayne will be making an honest woman of Amanda Seyfried’s Cosette in this winter’s star-studded rendition of Les Misérables. We would like to take this opportunity to nominate him for the award for Best Pucker-up Pout from Across the Pond—agreed?
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4. Rodrigo Santoro
We know every collegiette knows this scene (and those who don’t had better get started brushing up their rom com repertoire): the adorable Karl from Love Actually, tragically rejected and still gloriously unclothed on Sarah’s bed. Well, Karl is finally back on the map! We caught Santoro recently as Jim Carrey’s first boyfriend in I Love You Phillip Morris, and he’ll be turning heads in his upcoming role as Jennifer Lopez’s reluctant baby daddy in the ensemble film What to Expect When You’re Expecting. What we really want to know is… will he have the same wardrobe (or lack thereof) as he did in Love Actually?
5. Joe Manganiello
Like a scruffier Rodrigo Santoro, but with fifty pounds more muscle (though given his upcoming role as “Big Dick Richie” in the too-good-to-be-true male stripper flick Magic Mike, it seems the weight isn’t all in the biceps). Manganiello will be returning as the sensitive werewolf, Alcide, in this summer’s season of True Blood—here’s hoping Sookie finally wises up and snags him—and will be coming to a movie theater (and a daydream) near you alongside Santoro in What to Expect When You’re Expecting. We like to consider this film a double whammy of sorts, and will be first in line for tickets.
6. Max Irons
Burberry knows how to pick ‘em! The second of our list’s Burberry model alums, Max Irons is already on the fast track to the Robert Pattinson path. He’ll be playing Jared opposite Saoirse Ronan in the highly anticipated (at least by us… and we’re talking the pee-our-pants-with-excitement kind of anticipation) film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s novel The Host due out next spring. Though he clearly inherited the acting chops and devilish good looks of his father, Jeremy Irons, this rising star hasn’t had much screen time yet other than in Red Riding Hood, when he gave us yet another reason to wish we had Amanda Seyfried’s life.
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7. Jesse Williams
To all you Grey’s Anatomy buffs out there, this little shout-out will come as no surprise. We don’t know if it’s his hypnotizing eyes or his grade A abs that gets us—it must be the combination, because oh, do they get us! When he’s not saving lives and having sexy time as Avery on Grey’s, Williams has been spotted cozying up to Alexis Bledel as a nude model (swoon) at RISD in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and will be starring alongside Chris Hemsworth in this month’s creepy thriller, The Cabin in the Woods. If only we could watch him on screen and hold his hand during the scary parts…
8. Sam Claflin
We struggled to choose our eighth up-and-coming Hollywood heartthrob (and by “struggled” we mean we were so overjoyed by all the endless man candy that we nearly cried when we had to cut down the list). Sam Claflin ended up making our job (slightly) easier; with his breakout role as a love struck missionary in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (yeah, the one that true fans didn’t actually watch) and his upcoming spot as Kristen Stewart’s very own Prince Charming in Snow White and the Huntsman, you can bet his name will soon be on the tongues of teenage girls everywhere (and let’s admit it—of collegiettes everywhere, too. We can’t help it; the Royal Wedding made us suckers for princes all over again).
These days it feels like you can’t walk in a movie theater without seeing Ryan Reynolds’ abs or Zac Efron’s sexy squint. We’re not complaining—in a culture where Justin Bieber’s hair flip makes teenage girls faint in the streets, we collegiettes need all the manly, muscled eye candy we can get to keep us grounded. A celebrity crush can only last so long, though, and we think it’s time we all started fresh (lest we enter restraining order territory). What better way to begin than with these heartbreakers-in-training? The heat, the hair, the heart, the body—these rising stars have it all.
Swoon away, collegiettes!