From the Magazine Sexiest Man Alive These Guys Aren't the Sexiest Man Alive ... but They Still Made Our List of 2017's Hottest! Zac Efron, Luis Fonsi and 50 Cent are among our Men of the Year By People Staff Published on November 14, 2017 04:40PM EST 01 of 24 MILO VENTIMIGLIA, JUSTIN HARTLEY & STERLING K. BROWN OF THIS IS US Amanda Marsalis The Sexiest Cast “Justin and Sterling are great men,” says Ventimiglia. “We’re all invested in the same goal: impacting people on an emotional level." 02 of 24 IDRIS ELBA Jenny Gage + Tom Betterton Sexiest Heartthrob In the handsome Brit’s film The Mountain Between Us, he and Kate Winslet had to spend hours freezing in the snow to portray planecrash survivors in the Utah mountains. But in real life Elba’s heart was melting for his new girlfriend, Canadian model Sabrina Dhowre. “I’ve fallen in love while making a movie about falling in love,” he says. “It’s pretty special.” 03 of 24 ZAC EFRON Jeff Lipsky/CPi Syndication The Sexiest Thrill-Seeker He jumped off a cliff with Bear Grylls and swam with a tiger shark, so it’s not surprising that the Greatest Showman and The Disaster Artist actor, who turned 30 last month, sees more adventures in his future: “I want to seek out projects outside of my comfort zone,” he says. “I want to have fun and color outside the lines. I’m pretty excited for the next decade.” 04 of 24 SAM HEUGHAN Robby Klein/Contour/Getty Sexiest Scotsman The Outlander star trains hard to maintain the strong body of a Highlander. He also has to be mentally ready for his nude scenes. “You have to know where the character has come from and what they want, ” he says. 05 of 24 KUMAIL NANJIANI Jason Bell/Camera Press/Redux The Sexiest Husband A few months into dating his now wife, Emily V. Gordon, Nanjiani spent eight days watching over her in the ICU after she got sick and had to be put in a medically induced coma. “Leaving her wasn’t something I considered,” says Nanjiani, who starred in the romantic comedy The Big Sick, a fictionalized version of their story. “I just loved her too much to have that even be an option.” 06 of 24 50 CENT Celeste Sloman The Sexiest Triple Threat For the rapper, actor and executive producer of the hit drama Power, there is a thin line between work and play. “Even when I’m relaxing, I go to film, television or music, so it’s research for the next thing that I’m doing,” says Jackson. But if he had three days without a phone or TV, “I’d just have a lot of sex. A woman who can speak with her eyes can really hold my attention. I don’t care how old she gets, it’s definitely sexy." 07 of 24 LUIS FONSI OMAR CRUZ The Sexiest Chart-Topper The Latin music veteran—and married father of two— scored a No. 1 hit and a record 4 billion-plus views on YouTube with his Spanglish single “Despacito.” But don’t call him a sex symbol! “I’m just a normal guy,” the Puerto Rican singer insists. 08 of 24 ARMIE HAMMER Jenny Gage + Tom Betterton The Sexiest Risk-Taker After making Cars 3 and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., the star takes an indie detour with his new coming-of-age film Call Me by Your Name, in which his character falls in love with a 17-year-old boy. “We spent several days shooting this movie completely nude,” he says. “But fans shouldn’t get too excited. We shot more than you see!” 09 of 24 PRINCE HARRY Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Sexiest Royal He made headlines for his romance with American actress Meghan Markle, but he won our hearts for his hero’s touch with wounded warriors at his annual Invictus Games. 10 of 24 THE CAST OF SHADOWHUNTERS Richard Phibbs Sexiest Young-Adult Idols During the first two seasons of the fantasy series, the cast — Alberto Rosende, Dominic Sherwood, Matthew Daddario, Isaiah Mustafa and Harry Shum Jr. — would lighten the mood with on-set pranks. "But we avoid pranks nowadays because the fear of reprisal is so significant," Daddario says. "Each of us is ready to go nuclear with the counter-prank. It's like a nuclear stalemate." 11 of 24 KOFI SIRIBOE Micaiah Carter The Sexiest Breakout Long before he set hearts ablaze as Ralph Angel on OWN’s Queen Sugar or Jada Pinkett Smith’s ripped boy toy in Girls Trip, “I was chubby with a chubby-kid complex,” says Siriboe. After focusing on his health in high school, “I really came into my own.” 12 of 24 RYAN GOSLING Vera Anderson/WireImage Sexiest Mystery Man The Blade Runner 2049 star has mastered the art of oozing charm while revealing absolutely nothing. When Ellen DeGeneres asked him to name his favorite physical feature, he replied, “my left thumb.” To which we say, Thumbs up! 13 of 24 RIZ AHMED Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Sexiest Advocate The British-Pakistani actor, who won an Emmy for playing a misunderstood murder suspect in The Night Of, is outspoken about the importance of racial representation in Hollywood. “Everyone wants to be seen, heard and valued,” he says. 14 of 24 MAHERSHALA ALI Steve Granitz/WireImage Sexiest Juggler Life became a lot more hectic for Ali, who won an Oscar for the drama Moonlight and also became a first-time father—daughter Bari is 9 months. “I want to work in a more focused way and discover the right balance for my life,” says the actor, who will star in the third season of HBO’s True Detective. 15 of 24 PETER HERMANN Deadline/REX/Shutterstock Sexiest TV Boss He endearingly manages millennials on Younger, but the actor and dad, with wife Mariska Hargitay, considers his biggest feat “getting three kids to school on time every morning, dressed for the weather, with a defensibly healthy snack.” 16 of 24 VINCENT RODRIGUEZ III Sthanlee B. Mirador/Sipa USA Sexiest Song and Dance Man As the object of affection in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Rodriguez says he can only guess why the lead character still finds him sexy. “I like to think she likes my bulky upper body and my boyish innocence, aside from my love for musical theater,” he says. 17 of 24 JASON REYNOLDS AP Sexiest Author The young-adult writer (his latest book, Long Way Down, is out now) targets readers who can’t believe that a book about them exists. “I’m looking for the nonbelievers who’ve given up on reading,” he says 18 of 24 JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE John Shearer/WireImage Sexiest Family Man Becoming a dad to Silas, 2, with wife Jessica Biel, “gives you a new focus and direction because everything you do is for them,” says the 2018 Super Bowl Halftime performer and Wonder Wheel actor. Though he carps that “I no longer get to watch the ticker on ESPN,” he says that “to hear Silas say ‘Dada’ was when it all became real.” 19 of 24 COLIN JOST Dana Edelson/NBC Sexiest Joke Writer On Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, writer and coanchor Jost is called one sexy nickname after another by costar Leslie Jones. So what exactly does it take to be a Sexy Vanilla Muffin? “I’m extremely white, so that takes care of the vanilla part,” says Jost. “Then I just buy a sexy muffin at my local erotic bakery.” (Also worthy of a mention? His coanchor and fellow SNL writer, Michael Che.) 20 of 24 HUGH JACKMAN Splash News Online Sexiest Nice Guy The former Sexiest Man Alive, who portrays P.T. Barnum in the upcoming musical The Greatest Showman, has been married to Deborra-lee Furness for 21 years. His secret to a happy marriage? “Never spend more than two weeks apart. And never go to bed on an angry word.” 21 of 24 COLE SPROUSE Kevin Mazur/Getty Sexiest Dream Date At college, “I had long hair down to my nipples, a mustache and wore all tweed. It was bad! Don’t look for photos!” says the former child actor, now the object of many a teenage crush on the drama Riverdale. 22 of 24 CHRIS PINE Jacopo Raule/Getty Sexiest Sophisticate Whether appearing seductively in an Armani fragrance ad or singing his way through a hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, Pine hit his stride this year. But it was his romantic chemistry with Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman,which the Washington Post compared to “watching the entrancing dance of a flame,” that elevated his position as an A-list leading man. 23 of 24 AZIZ ANSARI Clint Spaulding/Variety/REX/Shutterstock Sexiest Storyteller Ansari chronicled an actor’s struggles with love — from New York to Italy — in two hit seasons of Master of None. So how does he describe his real-life dream girl? “Someone I would be thrilled to do nothing with who would be as equally thrilled to do nothing with me,” he says. 24 of 24 BEN PLATT Ben Trivett Sexiest Broadway Performer His vulnerable performance in Dear Evan Hansen won him breakout success, a Tony, and even the adoration of Beyoncé. “You can’t hide anywhere on Broadway,” he says as he wraps his run. “You have to put up or shut up.” Close