2008's Sexiest Men Alive

Who made the Annual List PEOPLE's new Sexiest Man Alive.

Check this out the Top 15 Sexiest Man Alive for the year 2008.

 

#1. HUGH JACKMAN

He's a triple threat: a star who can sing, dance and wield a weapon. At 6 ft. 2 in., all scruff and biceps, Jackman, 40, looms large in the epic Australia, and left people stammering, "Oh ... my ... God," according to costar Nicole Kidman. Jackman's wife of 12 years, Deborra-Lee Furness, calls his perfect form "the Body of Doom – but I like what's inside": a romantic who sings ballads at home and makes pancakes for kids Oscar, 8, and Ava, 3.

HUGH MICHAEL JACKMAN (born 12 October 1968) is an Emmy Award- and Tony Award-winning Australian actor of film, musical theatre, and television. An acclaimed singer, dancer, and actor in stage musicals, Jackman is known internationally mostly for his starring roles in several major films, including action/superhero roles and films, period roles, and romance roles. Some of his well-known films include the X-Men series, Kate & Leopold, The Prestige, and Australia. A former three-time host of the Tony Awards, Jackman will host the Academy Awards on 22 February 2009. He will also be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2009.

#2. DANIEL CRAIG

So who is his favorite Bond girl? The "one on my arm," says Craig, 40, who brought longtime girlfriend Satsuki Mitchell to his London premiere of the latest 007 film, Quantum of Solace. But the British actor's current onscreen Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko, isn't so shy about 'fessing up to playing favorites, saying of Craig, "He suits the part of James Bond perfectly."

DANIEL WROUGHTON CRAIG (born 2 March 1968) is an English actor. His early film roles included The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Cout and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert. He went on to star in his breakthrough performance Layer Cake, The Golden Compass and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Craig became the sixth actor to portray the fictional secret agent James Bond in the long-running Eon Productions film series. He made his debut as the character in the 2006 film, Casino Royale to critical acclaim and was nominated for a BAFTA award. He recently finished filming the 22nd James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, released in the UK on 31 October 2008 and in the US on 14 November 2008. According to Men's Vogue, Craig is now the highest paid actor in Britain.

 

#3. JON HAMM

"I try to be a good person. I'm loyal and I'm trustworthy. I'm kind," says the Mad Men star, 37, who has been in a 10-year relationship with actress Jennifer Westfeldt. "And I'm a really good driver."

JONATHAN DANIEL "JON" HAMM (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor whose work has been primarily in television. He won the 2008 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama for his role of 1960s Madison Avenue advertising executive Don Draper in the AMC series Mad Men.

#4. ZAC EFRON

As he gets older, the High School Musical 3 star finds himself graduating from a "jeans and sandals" wardrobe to a more sophisticated look. "There's something timeless about suits," says the 21-year-old. "A few years ago I didn't own a single one. Now I've got a small collection going."

ZACHARY DAVID ALEXANDER "ZAC" EFRON (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He began acting in the early 2000s, and became known to young audiences after his roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray. Speaking to Newsweek in June 2006, director Adam Shankman described Efron as "arguably the biggest teen star in America right now." In 2007, right before the release of High School Musical 2, Rolling Stone declared him the "poster boy for tweenyboppers" and featured him in their late August issue.

#5. ROBERT BUCKLEY

What keeps this former economic consultant in the gym? "Being half-naked in front of millions of strangers," says Buckley, 27, of his work on Lipstick Jungle. Next up: Lifetime's Flirting with Forty, with Heather Locklear.

ROBERT EARL BUCKLEY (born May 2, 1981 in Los Angeles County, California) is an actor living in Los Angeles. He played two roles on MyNetworkTV's prime time dramas: photographer Michael Bauer on Fashion House and Matthew Wakefield on American Heiress. Buckley has also appeared in several independent films, including When a Killer Calls, Teenage Drama, Petrified and Robot Battle. A Southern California native, he earned an economics degree from the University of California, San Diego. He spent a year and a half working as an economic consultant, then moved to Los Angeles to pursue an entertainment career. He said that he loves to watch football. As a college student, Buckley appeared as a contestant on The Price is Right. One of his bids was for $1 less than another contestant. Bob Barker noted, "That wasn't the smartest bid he could have made." After college he worked as an economic consultant for a while, but was told that he should model and act. He gave notice at the consulting firm where he was working, moved to Los Angeles and booked his first commercial.

#6. BLAIR UNDERWOOD

A star since his L.A. Law days, the Dirty Sexy Money actor, 44, is still surprised by his effect on women. Once at school drop-off, "a mother came up and grabbed my butt cheeks! And I'm like, 'How is that okay?' I was so caught off-guard that I couldn't help but laugh," says the married dad of three. He's shocked, but his kids "find it entertaining."

Blair Underwood (born August 25, 1964) is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known as headstrong attorney Jonathan Rollins from the NBC legal drama L.A. Law, a role he portrayed for seven years.

 

 

#7. ED WESTWICK

How does Gossip Girl's bad boy sum up his dating style at 21? "I'm childish at times, passionate, a little crazy, I guess," he says. "And I pride myself on being one of the last romantics." Oh, and ladies, just FYI: "My weakness is the neck – when girls get too close to my neck, crazy things start to happen."

EDWARD "ED" GREGORY WESTWICK (born June 27, 1987) is an English actor best known for his role as Chuck Bass in the main cast on the American television series Gossip Girl. He is also the lead singer of the English indie rock band The Filthy Youth.

 

#8. MICHAEL PHELPS

What do you do after winning eight gold medals and shattering world records at the Beijing Olympics? If you're Phelps, 23, you enjoy "being lazy." As for the overnight female attention, the Baltimore native says, "I don’t really notice it. ... I don't think of myself as a sex symbol. My mom is by far the most important woman in my life."

MICHAEL FRED PHELPS (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer. He has won 14 career Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympian. By the end of 2008, he held seven world records in swimming.  Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics with the eight golds he won at the 2008 Olympic Games. With this record, he surpassed American Mark Spitz, who was also a swimmer and had held the previous gold medal total with the seven that he won at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

 

#9. BLAKE SHELTON

His appeal? A well-worn truck, says country singer Shelton, 32, who dates songstress Miranda Lambert and has a new CD, Startin' Fires. "The wussiest thing a guy can do is drive a clean truck. Dents, scratches and mud – that's manly."

BLAKE TOLLISON SHELTON (born June 18, 1976 in Ada, Oklahoma) is an American country music artist. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". Released as the lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. This song was the first single from his gold-certified debut album, which also produced two more Top 20 hits. Although the album was released on Giant Records Nashville, Shelton was transferred to Warner Bros. Records Nashville after Giant closed in late 2001.

 

 

#10. LANG LANG

"When you play the piano, you feel your blood pressure go up," says the single Chinese-born virtuoso, 26, who performed in the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. "You become part of it. It's a very sexy instrument."

 

 

#11. MARK-PAUL GOSSELAAR

The star once known as Saved By the Bell's Zack has been married for 12 years, has two kids and plays an ace lawyer in Raising the Bar. "My legal education comes from watching Law & Order and NYPD Blue." Fans still love his hair – so much so that TNT created an online game about it. As for him, he says, "I'm a guy. I don't get my hair cut unless I need to."

MARK-PAUL HARRY GOSSELAAR (born March 1, 1974) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Zack Morris on NBC's Saved by the Bell, detective John Clark on NYPD Blue and more recently as Jerry Kellerman on TNT's Raising the Bar.

 

 

#12. JAVIER BARDEM

His girlfriend Penélope Cruz raves, "He's an amazing actor!" His Oscar-winning performance in No Country for Old Men certainly proved that, though Bardem, 39, once joked that it would take three months for him to get laid thanks to his haircut in the movie.

JAVIER ÁNGEL ENCINAS BARDEM (born March 1, 1969) is an Academy Award-winning Spanish actor who has starred in over two dozen films in Spain. He had garnered critical acclaim as an actor for films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne tremula, Boca a boca, Los Lunes al sol and Mar adentro.

 

#13. ROBERT PATTINSON

"Last year all I was trying to do was get a girlfriend," says Pattinson, 22, Twilight's resident vampire and previously Harry Potter's Quidditch foil, Cedric. "What happened? It's like the face of what is attractive has changed. Girls used to want to see guys take their shirts off. Now it's, 'I want you to bite me.' It's bizarre."

ROBERT THOMAS-PATTINSON (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor, model and musician, best known for playing Edward Cullen in the film adaptation of Twilight, based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer,  and Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

 

#14. JOSHUA JACKSON

What's changed since he was a Dawson's Creek pinup? "I'm not nearly as embarrassed being called attractive at 30. At 18, you're tall, gawky, bad haircut. Somebody tells you you're a heartthrob and you feel like a fraud. At 30, I'm happy, I'm in love," says Jackson, who dates actress Diane Kruger and stars on FOX's paranormal drama Fringe. "I can take it all with a grain of salt."

JOSHUA CARTER JACKSON (born June 11, 1978) is a Canadian–American actor. He has appeared in primetime television and in over 32 film roles, and is known for playing Pacey Witter in the television series Dawson's Creek and Charlie Conway in The Mighty Ducks film series.

 

#15. DAVID BECKHAM

The soccer star, 33, made a lot of women happy when he posed in just his underwear for Emporio Armani (country singer Miranda Lambert, whose boyfriend Blake Shelton is among PEOPLE's Sexiest Men, says, "That Armani ad sort of changed my life"). Alas, except one: his mum. "When the photos came out," Beckham says, "she was the first one to call me and say, 'What are you doing?' "

DAVID ROBERT JOSEPH BECKHAM, OBE (born 2 May 1975) is an English football midfielder currently playing for Milan (on loan from Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy) and the England national team. Beckham's stint with Milan is a two-month loan, which began 7 January 2009, in order to retain his fitness levels during the MLS offseason. Beckham earned his much-publicized hundredth cap for England against France on 26 March 2008.