I have created my own list of hotties.  (Warning: Some are SUPER-HOT!)  Some are rising stars, while others  have been making their mark in TV/film/etc., for years.  Not only are these gents good-looking, they’re good actors!

Aaron Eckhart 

He’s not just Two Face, but an actor of MANY faces and facets.  Aaron grew up in Cali,  was raised Mormon, and attended BYU (where he met director and close pal, Neil LaBute.)  They both come from a similar background, and have collaborated often.  LaBute operates outside the mainstream, working on topics he likes.   Aaron is  unafraid to take on unusual projects; he’s gained lbs. and changed his hair/looks for many roles.

This is a screen shot from Possession (one of my fave films of ALL time!)   In it Aaron plays an underappreciated American researcher (post-PhD) in London who happens upon a JUICY secret (at least in the field of Romantic poetry).  He joins up w/ an icy Brit Womens Studies prof (Paltrow) to get more info…   Too bad no REAL poetry experts look like him- LOL!!!

I smile a lot in public because I tend to look too serious. 
Adrian Lester

Wow, check out those EYES!!!  Like many performers of the “old days”, Adrian Lester can sing, dance, AND act onstage and onscreen.  He’s a BIG talent (physically, too- he’s around 6’4″) who has a rather soft voice.

After I saw him in Primary Colors, I wondered why he wasn’t in more (big) films.  Fans of the bard can check him out in Branagh’s musical film Love’s Labour Lost and As You Like It.   His smile is VERY sweet!

Chiwetel Ejiofor 

With a (Nigerian) name like that- you’re gonna have a nickname (Chewy)!  This young actor (under 35) can pretty much play ANY part, as the song goes.  He’s done Shakespeare (screen/satge), played a transvestite (Kinky Boots), and acted opposite Denzel (Inside Man / American Ganster)!

He made a HUGE impression w/ Dirty Pretty Things, a smart, sensitive view of immigrant, working-class London.  He played a Nigerian immigrant (and former doc) who worked days driving a cab and nights at a hotel.  Chewy based this character partly on his OWN immigrant father (who was a real-life doc).  Unfortunately, he lost his father in a car accident when he was 11 y.o.  The scars on his forehead are a reminder of that.

He disappears into roles like few other actors can, which makes him valuable to any film, but it also makes it difficult for him to become a star. 

I enjoy every role that I’ve seen him perform. His acting seems effortless and his interaction with colleagues is a beautifully timed dance.

A superb artist and I believe he will win that Oscar one day. A magnificent actor!

-Fan comments from IMDB

Christian Bale

Welsh-born Bale has appeared in Shakespeare, dramas and comedies demonstrating a versatility, depth and range that has made him one of the best reviewed actors today and one of the most popular actors on the Internet.

-IMDB 

Though born in Wales, he calls himself British (as he didn’t grow up in Wales).  Christian grew up onscreen; his 1st movie role was at age 14 in Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun.  He trained for 10 weeks in dancing and martial arts for the dance sequences in Newsies (1992) and Swing Kids (1993).   

Since it’s holiday season, check out Little Women w/ Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, and Kristen Dunst.

An actor should never be larger than the film he’s in.  

–Spin magazine, March 1996
I only sound intelligent when there’s a good scriptwriter around.  

In American Psycho, Christian tackles a very, very EVIL businessman consumed w/ his own desires.

It’s the actors who are prepared to make fools of themselves who are usually the ones who come to mean something to the audience.

I don’t think I was particularly in need of superheroes. I never had any fascination with Superman or Spider-Man or a Batman kind of character. If it happened at all, it was imagined characters that I had invented. My dad was a role model for me. He was a fascinating man. There was intrigue and entertainment growing up with him. He gave me an edict that I still pursue: Life should never be boring.
Denzel Washington

Did you know one of Denzel’s twins, Katia, is now at Yale university?

On Oprah, Julia Roberts commented that “working with Denzel (on The Pelican Brief) was like working with The Beatles.”  Dir. Ed Zwick uses a lot of close-ups on him, because “even when he’s not saying anything, the audience is looking at him.”  His wife in Crimson Tide, Vanessa Bell-Calloway, told People that “Denzel has wit, style, and intelligence.”  But the coolest thing about this big Hollywood success is that he’s willing to help young actors!
Dylan McDermott

My theory about actors is we’re all walking milk cartons.  Expirations dates everywhere.

After a very troubled childhood/family life, Dylan and his lil sis were adopted by his step-mom (actress/writer/feminist icon Eve Ensler).  She encouraged him to go to acting school and Fordham.   She also turned his life around.   He had become a hard drinker and was constantly in fights. At age 23, he quit drinking.  He also changed his name from Mark to Dylan in tribute to Eve.

This is a shot from The Mistress of Spices– a terrible film I suffered through just to see Dylan.  In order to NOT alienate her Bollywood fans, Aishwarya Rai DID NOT kiss Dylan on the lips in Gurinder Chadha’s rom com film.  Boy, talk about missed opportunity! 

Hugh Dancy 

In Elizabeth I, a great UK miniseries I previously wrote about, Hugh goes toe-to-toe w/ Jeremy Irons and Helen Mirren.  Not bad for a guy just who’s just 33! 

Who better to rescue a damsel in distress?  LOL… Daniel Deronda is about a young man- sensitive, caring, and highly intelligent, but haunted by doubts about his identity.  Is he a British gentleman like his adopted father?  And why is he drawn to the Jewish faith?

Hugh is not just a pretty face; he graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English Literature & Language and speaks French fluently. 

My dad is an academic but there was never any question of me following on that route. I’m thick.

Ioan Gruffudd

Isn’t he looking sophisticated in this pic?  Ioan starred in Amazing Grace, and had a bit part (as Tony Blair) in Oliver Stone’s W.  He’s done TV, historical stuff, action- you name it!  An interesting fact about Ioan is that his first language was Welsh; he’s a bilingual, multicultural guy.   

You don’t need blue eyes to be a hottie- warm brown ones can work, too.  Did you know Ioan starred on a TV show (Horatio Hornblower) a few years back?  It’s now sold in the US.  You may have seen him in Wilde opposite Stephen Fry; he had gorgeous long hair then!

I’m looking forward to seeing one of his (older) films- Solomon and Gaenor.  It’s a youthful love story between a Jewish boy and a Catholic girl in Ireland. 

Jimmy Smits

Where else can you find cheekbones like that!?  His height and striking looks (his heritage is Puerto Rican) make him a major presence onscreen.  Jimmy Smits has been making his mark since the late 1980s, when he was cast on LA Law.  Too bad he didn’t take the offer to star in CSI: Miami.  (I’d rather watch him than David Caruso ANY day!)  He grew up in one of the toughest neighborhoods of Brooklyn (Bushwick), and can be seen in ads for the charity NY Cares.  

Here is a pic from The West Wing, where Jimmy played Matt Santos, a serious, sympathetic democratic presidential candidate w/ a young fam.  Hmmm… sounds familiar. 

Sometimes art imitates life!  Like our future prez, Jimmy is someone who transcends race.  He’s played Latino characters (from many backgrounds), but also characters that weren’t race-specific. 

Toby Stephens

I like this longer hair A LOT!  Toby is possibly the hottest Bond villain (aside from fellow Brit Sean Bean.)   Speaking of Sean Bean…  He and Sean acted in Sharpe’s Challenge (shot in Rajasthan, India).   Speaking of India…  He’s acted in English AND Hindi (alongside Aamir Khan in The Rising).

Like mom, Dame Maggie Smith (above w/ bro),  Toby has an unmistakeable (posh) accent, confidant gait, large expressive eyes, and a wide smile.

In The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Toby plays a kind country farmer who falls for his new neighbor, and becomes a father figure to her little son.   This character is VERY sweet and gentlemanly!

Toby took on the challenge of Mr. Rochester- a very “changeable” romantic hero who’s “larger than life.”  Now he has MANY more fans!