Imaginary Boyfriends of 2011

It's that time of the year again! Let's honor the hottest, most desirable and all-around attractive men, aka my Imaginary Boyfriends, from the past twelve months.

(And in case you are curious about my previous picks, check out 2008, 2009 and 2010).

Johan Akan

As soon as I saw a picture of Johan, my first reaction was, "Who is this guy?" He's one of those models who looks good clothed, naked, doing a serious shoot, an artsy shoot, a fun, personality-driven one or even one with the legendary Catherine Deneuve. In other words, Johan is the total package and one of the best new models around.

Douglas Booth

Some guys have it all. And a select few, like Douglas, manage to have it all at the ripe old age of 19. He's got the looks of a model, an impeccable fashion sense (or at least smart stylists) and a career on the rise, with both a Miley Cyrus comedy and the umpteenth adaptation of Romeo & Juliet in the works. I would hate him if he wasn't so damn attractive.

Dominic Cooper

I will admit that it took me way too long to warm up to Dom (I still blame that boner crusher Mamma Mia!). Thankfully, 2011 was the year I came to my senses and truly fell for the The Coop. It certainly helped that 2011 was also the year of The Devil's Double, wherein Dom stripped down in to his Speedo and then some. Repeatedly. Needless to say, it was a very good year for Dom's fans.

Leebo Freeman

A bit "out there" for my usual tastes in men, I'll admit, but there's something about that platinum blond hair, those piercings, the way he rocks sunglasses, his versatility in front of the camera and, of course, his body, that works for me.

Max George

One of my favorite pastimes these past six months has been getting drunk and then tweeting very inappropriate messages to Wanted frontman Max George. He hasn't responded back yet, which is probably for the best. But you can hardly blame me when he looks as good as he does, especially on his recent Attitude magazine cover; I'm pretty sure I tweeted him that if I was 14 years old, I totally would have masturbated to his photo shoot.

Ryan Gosling

The Occupy People Magazine movement, started after People picked Bradley Cooper over Ryan Gosling as this year's Sexiest Man Alive, had to be one of the funniest protests in ages. How those boneheads ended up going with Cooper, who isn't bad looking by any means but is really only mega famous because of The Hangover, over Gosling is beyond me. This past year will always be remembered as the one where Ryan Gosling went from respected to indie actor to full-fledged movie star, and as the one where the last stragglers finally fell under his charm. If that doesn't qualify you as the Sexiest Man Alive, I don't know what will.

Armie Hammer

I never rank my Imaginary Boyfriends because I feel that it's enough of an honor just to be mentioned (yes, I am that conceited) and it's a hard enough task narrowing the list down to this many people without having to rank them. With that said, I think we can all agree that My Man Armie would probably be my number one for 2011. I fell in love with his goofiness while making the press rounds for The Social Network, I died of happiness when I heard he was making out with a dude on film (even though said film was an Eastwood film and said dude was DiCaprio), I posed with his cover of Details magazine, I saw freaking J. Edgar at midnight on its opening day. If that doesn't qualify as obsessive behavior, I don't know what does. And you know what? I wouldn't take back a single thing.

Josh Hutcherson

Vanessa Hudgens tried to sink her nasty claws into Our Josh, but thankfully she moved on to someone no one really cares about. The year started off very well for Josh, as he looked perfectly adorable in his tux at the Oscars. Perhaps even more important, though, was his casting in The Hunger Games, which should finally launch him as one of the best young actors in Hollywood. I'm definitely Team whatever character Josh plays.

Max Irons

One of the most unbelievable sights in the movies this year was in Red Riding Hood where we are supposed to believe that the gorgeous Max Irons was somehow an undesirable suitor for Amanda Seyfried. On what planet is he not even competition for the equally attractive Shiloh Fernandez? Nonsense!

Steve Jones

The sexiest host on TV (sorry, Seacrest) made one of the most unbearable shows of the year almost watchable whenever he came on-screen, yelling at Nicole "Cunt" Scherzinger to make a goddamn decision already. I will never watch another episode of this God forsaken show ever again, but I still dream about Steve holding me backstage while my friend goes out and auditions for the judges and we nervous wait their decision.

Harry Judd

With their music career in limbo, what else was there for the McFly boys to do but get naked and appear on reality shows? Thankfully, none of the boys delivered on each of these fronts as well as Harry did. The boy has no shame, but with a body and a face like that, can you blame him? As if seeing GIFs of his performances on Strictly Come Dancing weren't hot enough, along came that Attitude cover. We've already seen Harry pretty much naked but that cover feels dirtier than anything we've seen him do before. A tip of the hat to you, Harry.

Zayn Malik

When One Direction was on X-Factor, I was a Liam girl, through and through. But then he came out with that horrible hairstyle, and I moved on to greener pastures. I didn't realize just how green those pastures were with Zayn Malik until I was a complete fangirl referring to myself as Mrs. Malik. I think Zayn is poised as the bad boy of the group (He has earrings. And he's gives good seriousface.), but whenever he smiles, his eyes light up the entire room, inspiring me to join thousands of other teenage girls writing fanfiction about how he spots me across the arena at his concert and immediately falls in love with me. Sigh. A girl can dream, right?

Chris O'Dowd

Chris can't really compete with the others on this list in the looks department, but he makes up for any (slight) deficiencies in looks with his personality and sense of humor. In Bridesmaids, he was the most realistic Prince Charming in a romantic comedy in years. As an added bonus, he doesn't look too shabby in a police uniform.

Anthony Perkins

I've always found Tony attractive--hello, Psycho--but 2011 was when my lust for him went into overdrive. I saw The Trial late in 2010 and, consequently, went on full-on binge of Perkins movies. With Tall Story and Five Miles to Midnight, most of them stunk to high heaven. But Tony was never less than super attractive, so at least I had his lean, lanky frame to stare at for the runtime.

Eric Saade

In a land full of gorgeous, sexy men, Saade stands out as one of Sweden's sexiest. He has the moves like Timberlake and the looks of a Greek god. You simply can't say no to someone this attractive.

Marlon Teixeira

Of all the male models in the world willing to get naked and show off (nearly) all the goods, do any do it as willingly and with such glee as Marlon Teixeira? I've seen more of his body than I have of some people I've been intimate with. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, as his body is absolutely bangin'. God bless those Brazilians, every one of them.

Aaron Tveit

I have been in love with Aaron Tveit ever since he guest starred on Gossip Girl as Nate's ultra preppy, Senate-seeking cousin, yet somehow I have never once included him on one of these Imaginary Boyfriends lists. For shame, Dame! In all honesty, it may have been the best to wait for 2011, as Tveit had what was perhaps his most high profile year ever. First, he starred in the musical version of Catch Me If You Can on Broadway, which produced a great soundtrack and the chance to see him perform at the Tony's (in a pilot's uniform!). Then, we saw him as a guest star on Law & Order: SVU as, much to my happiness, a former basketball star turned drug addict who was sexually abused by his childhood coach. He sings, he dances, he plays emotionally damaged boys; how can you not love this guy?

100 Hot Men and a Dame: #97 Jeremy Irons

97. Jeremy Irons

Occupation: Actor

Nationality: British

Age: 62

Peak of Hotness: The 1980's

Best Known For: Oscar, Emmy & Tony Award winning acting legend. Star of such notable films as The French Lieutenant's Woman, Dead Ringers, Reversal of Fortune and, of course, The Lion King.

For this installment, I sought help from my friend Joel. We met a little over a year ago and have a shared passion for classic cinema, although you wouldn't know it from the way we seem to disagree about nearly everything. He's not really into Jeremy Irons in the same way I am, but he has a thing for respectable British thespians--his favorite actor is Richard Burton--so I forced him to help me out. Plus, he's incredibly smart and witty, which never hurts. I've tried to force him to get a blog or a Twitter but no go. One of these days he'll share his snark with the world! But until that day, here he is on my blog.

Dame James:  When did you first encounter Jeremy and when did you first realize how awesome he is?

Joel:  Umm, I knew the name since I can really remember but that's my creepy memory. I think the first movie that I saw with him in it prominently or at least that I noticed him in though was Damage and I was really impressed by that. So that would have to be my answer to both. This was about two and half years ago?

DJ: I'm pretty much the same way with Jeremy. He's always just sorta been there, hasn't he? I know I've known of him since at least The Lion King. But at six, I wasn't exactly interested in Jeremy Irons the person. He was just the awesome bad guy (I had a total thing for the bad guy in every Disney movie). Now, though, I'm totally like "Goddamn, Jeremy Irons is the man in that movie!"

It feels kinda weird labeling Jeremy Irons as "sexy" or "attractive" because, although he has a generally good looking appearance, he's hardly a looker. We all know the real reason I am, at least, attracted to him is because of that voice. My God, that voice! It's so rich and full and deep and British. I recently watched the miniseries version of Brideshead Revisited--ten hours of listening to him speak and I felt like I was in heaven. To modify a Nicki Minaj lyric "He just gotta talk and the panties comin' off, off." His good looks combined with that voice make Jeremy a very desirable fellow? What do you think of the voice? Does it add to his appeal for you? Also, I know you're a fan of the diction of British actors like O'Toole and Burton. How does it compare to their infamous voices?

J: I guess I didn't really connect that that was him in The Lion King but I was also never as interested as most kids were when that came out. It was never my favorite, too sappy. "Be Prepared" was a jam for me though then and it shows that he can kinda sing. He's very suave, I'd say. That'd be a good word to describe him. I don't find him attractive at all though I'd say he just stops short of being unattractive. His voice is good but I view it as more of an Alan Rickman kind of voice. They both are very distinctive and great but I can't understand how anyone would find him attractive. Maybe if he were whispering sweet nothings instead of the creepy things that he is always saying in his movies. And he admittedly chooses odd films. I feel like I need to see Dead Ringers and then I would know even more about him. He's kind of that British guy who's cultured, classy and dark with hidden secrets that women really seem to like. Kinda like Dirk Bogarde and Richard Burton before Liz got all over him. Like the kind of guys that Olivier played in the forties and thirties or dark Cary Grant. When they're trying to kill their wives.

DJ: "Be Prepared": The best homage to Nazism since the fall of the Third Reich? I am beyond obsessed with that song. I have quite a few Disney songs on my iPod and I listen to it far more than nearly any of the others. I like Jeremy's speak-sing voice and find it far more interesting than Rex Harrison's far more celebrated musical stylings.

I think you make a great point regarding the relationship between his attractiveness and the types of roles he takes. Personally, I don't think I would find him as desirable if it weren't for all of the Dead Ringers/Reversal of Fortunes/Damages in his filmography. As creepy as those roles are, they kind of define Jeremy as an actor and what he is best at. If he did a movie where he was whispering sweet nothings, I don't know if I would buy it. He's just fucking creepy and that's it. Not that that's a dealbreaker by any means.

And I know you listed all of those guys as creepers we're not supposed to find attractive, but how bad is it I found them all the sexiest (give or take Grant) in those types of roles?

So you find Jeremy suave but just short of attractive. I can live with that. And that's all I ask since I made you do this against your will. Any final thoughts on Jeremy?

J: Jeremy uses his looks to his advantage. He has a dark complexion as well, so it lends more easily to darker, more complex characters. It involves the audience in it more closely and intensely because he is often doing repulsive things. Like in Damage, even though we loved him originally. He was so powerful and attractive. Or in M. Butterfly, where we all think he's crazy, giving up his entire life and everything in his obsession. But Jeremy's always classy. He's like bad Hugh Grant, if Hugh Grant is going to sleep with sister-in-laws and conspire as opposed to fop around or just make weird witticisms.

DJ: Agreed on all counts. And I shall leave you with this article entitled Jeremy Irons: A Pat on the Bottom Shouldn't End in Court, aka the best article title in the history of journalism.

So what do you all think of Jeremy? Does The Voice make him any more attractive in your eyes? And what about his hot son, Max (pictured above)? Hubba hubba, am I right?

Like Father, Like (Smokin' Hot) Son

Everyone loves a good Hollywood dynasty. From the Fondas to the Barrymores to the Hustons, talent has been passed down in these families for multiple generations in some cases (And, yes, I refuse to call the Roberts an acting dynasty because Emma Roberts is a grotty little harpy, desperately clinging to her aunt's fame to land roles in films that should go to young actresses with actual talent). The tradition continues to this day, Emma Roberts excluded, with a special little niche emerging: the hot son of a male acting legend. Let's investigate this further with some examples.

Ethan Peck

Grandson of Gregory Peck

 I discovered Ethan Peck a couple of summers ago while he was on the ABC Family show 10 Things I Hate About You. To this day I've never seen an episode, but I still find Ethan to be hella attractive, just like his grandfather back in the day.

Henry Hopper

Son of Dennis Hopper

I never thought Dennis Hopper was attractive until I saw Giant a couple years ago and discovered that the shaggy-haired guy from Easy Rider was once a very good looking fellow. His son Henry, soon to be seen in Gus Van Sant's answer to the quirky indie comedy, Restless, certainly cleans up nicely. Bonus points: he plays an Emotionally Damaged Boy in Restless! We all know how I love those.

Max Irons

Son of Jeremy Irons

While I was obsessing about Brideshead Revisited and, vis á vis, Jeremy Irons, I discovered that he had a son who was smoking hot. Max doesn't quite have the infamous Jeremy Irons voice, but it's more than pleasant in it's own right and I would certainly go weak in the knees if he talked to me. He was recently in that Red Riding Hood movie that looked exactly Twilight but not. I'll certainly be checking it out sometime soon because I'm superficial like that.

Scott Eastwood

Son of Clint Eastwood

I wasn't even aware Clint Eastwood had a song until Glenn pointed him out the other night, immediately alerting me to his hotness (that's what friends are for, people). Scott looks exactly like his father back in the early part of his career, if a tad bit stockier. Does this mean he'll become a director soon and we'll be getting a strange mixture of Westerns and Oscar prestige pictures from him for the next fifty years?

Patrick Schwarzenegger

Son of Arnold Schwarzenegger

Okay, so he's not technically an actor (i.e. at all), but he's hot so I had to include him. The best thing about the Schwarzenegger divorce is the fact that we get to see so many pics of Patrick. Never a bad thing when he looks like this.