Best of 2011: Hollywood Hunks

Of course, we love these actors for their souls and/ or talent, but they aren't that difficult to look at either.  Below we highlight our achievements in handsomeness (or more accurately, affable nerdy charm) in TV and film.

Hunk Criteria:

• Made a movie or appeared in a currently running TV show (sorry, Jon Hamm!) in 2011.
• Has a decent filmography (competence is sexy!)
• Makes interesting role choice. 
• Handsomeness.
• Sense of humor.

To even the playing field a bit, I'm excluding several actors that I've talked about at length before (some might say excessively).  Sadly, Paul Schneider, Andrew Garfield, Sam Rockwell, Adam Scott, and Jesse Eisenberg are excluded from the list. They are all, however, totally dreamy (seriously, call me any time guys!).

Achievements in Handsomeness Television:

5).  Zach Gilford as Matt Saracen from Friday Night Lights. 
I pretty much have a crush on every single guy on Friday Night Lights, it's hard to just pick one (Okay, Tim Riggins, if you twist my arm).  That being said, Matt got cuter in the last season.  Maybe it's the whole artist thing or perhaps just Zach Gilford's increasingly floppy hair.

Check out Friday Night Lights or one of Zach's films.

4).  Jake M. Johnson as Nick from New Girl. 

With his relaxed hipster look (Nick loves flannel shirts and hoodies), he is adorable in a guy-next-door sort of way.  Nick manages to be both a straight man to Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and a jaded, neurotic mess. 

Check out New Girl, Tuesday nights at 8PM on Fox.

2).  Josh Charles as Will Gardner from the Good Wife.

Matt Czuchry as Cary Agos from the Good Wife (tie).  
It's hard to choose between these two Good Wife guys.  Will Gardner was definitely my favorite in Season 1. Partly because he's played by Josh Charles, who I've had a crush on since Sports Night, and partly because he was so sweet and lovelorn about Alicia (Julianna Margulies)- even though she was still married and he's her boss.  However, his character seems to be getting increasingly shady.  Still, he looks sharp in a suit.

Meanwhile, Cary seemed immature and conceited in season one.  But in the following two seasons, his character has gained considerable depth.  I really enjoy his relationship with Kalinda (Archie Panjabi) on the show.

Check out the Good Wife or one of Josh Charles's films.

1).  Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens from Justified.
Never have cowboy hats looked so good!

Check out Justified or one of Timothy Olyphant's other work on film and TV.


Achievements in Handsomeness Film:

5).  Paul Rudd: 
Modern day hippie Ned in Our Idiot Brother wasn't Paul Rudd's studliest roll (too much facial hair, not enough sleeves), though the movie was really cute (and had Adam Scott in it!).  But Paul Rudd is one of the few childhood crushes that I'll still admit to; only he and Joshua Jackson have that honor.  So he gets the five spot.
Check out one of his films!

4).  Chris O'Dowd from Bridesmaids.
I enjoyed Chris O'Dowd's performance as hapless tech geek Roy on the IT Crowd.  However, he was super cute as a scruffy, Irish police officer in Bridesmaids. 
Check out one of his films!

3). Jason Segel:
It's easy to overlook Jason Segel's attractiveness.  First, he's cute more in a real life than a Hollywood way.  You'd probably have a crush on him if he was a bartender or a friend's brother, but he's not exactly Ryan Gosling.  Also, he tends to play characters who are somewhat unappealing man-boys, though they are usually really funny.  However, Segel's sense-of-humor, talent, and fearlessness make up for this (and his room full of puppets).  Also, he's really tall.
Check out one of his films!

2). Ryan Gosling:
Yeah, I know...duh.  Gosling is pretty much universally lusted after by women everywhere.  Some women (most women) love him for the Notebook.  However, not being down with Nicholas Sparks, I like him for his consistently good and edgy choices in his post-Notebook career.  Gosling is a daring actor and not afraid to comprise his attractiveness.  I don't always love his choices, but it's hard not to respect his boldness.  Also, he can play classical jazz guitar and a baglamas, pull off a short-sleeved dress shirt, and he's not afraid to break up a street fight in NYC.  He's one dreamy dude.
Check out one of his films!

1).  Michael Fassbender:  
It was a tough choice between Gosling and Fassbender: both are handsome, well-dressed, collectively starred in all the movies released in 2011, and were shockingly robbed of People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive by Bradley Cooper.  However, there can only be one winner of the coveted Media Corner Hunk-of-the-Year and I had to go with Fassy. He's got slightly better acting chops, if you ignore Centurion and Jonah Hex (shudder).  He's also smart, surprisingly funny, devastatingly handsome and has an Irish accent. 
Check out one of his films!