Of course, the Sexiest Man Alive is based on a complex set of parameters. Who is sufficiently different from who they have had in recent years? Who is around to do a cover image? Who has a big project to promote (it is no coincidence that nearly every winner has been an American actor)?
This year, the answer was Ghostbusters: Afterlife (out November 18) and The Shrink Next Door (out November 12) star Paul Rudd, who joins a hootenanny of hunks that includes former Sexiest Men Alive like Idris Elba, Brad Pitt and George Clooney.
The first Sexiest Man Alive, in a decision that has not aged particularly well, was Mel Gibson. He won the accolade in 1985, the year that he made Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
In total, 32 men have won the award across its 36 year history, with Richard Gere, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and George Clooney all winning twice. Other notable winners include Denzel Washington (the first Black winner in 1996), John F. Kennedy Jr. (the youngest winner, who was 27 when he won in 1988) and David Beckham, the only sportsman to win Sexiest Man Alive (excluding Dwayne Johnson, whose wrestling days were way over by the time he won in 2016).
At 52, Paul Rudd is the third-oldest man to win the prize after Harrison Ford (56 in 1998) and Sean Connery who was 59 in 1989—the same year he played the distinctly unsexy role of Indiana Jones’ dad in The Last Crusade. In fact, Rudd is one of only five winners to win in their fifties; Nick Nolte won at 51 (in 1992) and Richard Gere won for the second time at 50 in 1999.
All the Sexiest Man Alive Winners
1985: Mel Gibson1986: Mark Harmon1987: Harry Hamlin1988: John F. Kennedy Jr. 1989: Sean Connery1990: Tom Cruise1991: Patrick Swayze1992: Nick Nolte1993: Richard Gere (first time winning, named “sexiest couple alive” with Cindy Crawford)1994: Keanu Reeves (no winner originally named in 1994, but Reeves was voted to fill the gap in 2015)1995: Brad Pitt (first time)
1996: Denzel Washington1997: George Clooney (first time)1998: Harrison Ford1999: Richard Gere (second time)2000: Brad Pitt (second time)2001: Pierce Brosnan2002: Ben Affleck2003: Johnny Depp (first time)2004: Jude Law2005: Matthew McConaughey2006: George Clooney (second time)2007: Matt Damon2008: Hugh Jackman2009: Johnny Depp (second time)2010: Ryan Reynolds2011: Bradley Cooper2012: Channing Tatum2013: Adam Levine2014: Chris Hemsworth2015: David Beckham2016: Dwayne Johnson2017: Blake Shelton2018: Idris Elba2019: John Legend2020: Michael B. Jordan2021: Paul Rudd
