Sexiest Man Living 2007

Who: John Amaechi
Age: 36
Know him as: Former NBA player

One of the last things you expect from a former professional basketball player is humility. But earlier this year, when John Amaechi became the first NBA player to come out of the closet -- a qualifier for sexiness in its own right -- it became clear during the media rounds that he was not only erudite, handsome and smart, but more than happy to cut himself down to size. On "The Daily Show," when Jon Stewart chided him about being British, he deadpanned: "There's one [British player] in Chicago now, but he's actually good."

For those of us with distaste for the machismo and egocentrism that often accompany professional sports, and, despite that, a predilection for tall athletes in shorts, Amaechi's self-deprecation is beyond refreshing -- it's hot. Combine that with a British accent, a sharp sense of humor, a delightfully screwy dental structure, and a history of vocal opposition to the National Rifle Association, and you've got my vote for the gay male heartthrob of the year.

Although Amaechi -- who played center for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz and retired in 2003 -- was never a star player during his eight years in the NBA, his impressive size and strong work ethic still made him a hot commodity. At one point, he turned down a $17 million deal from the L.A. Lakers, choosing to remain with the Orlando Magic for a mere fraction of the money. The reason: loyalty. How's that for sexy?

But, athletic skills notwithstanding, it's Amaechi's politics that really make him stand out. During his time in the NBA, he openly criticized American gun culture, and just before his retirement, grabbed headlines with his opposition to the Iraq war. When he published his memoir, "Man in the Middle," publicly acknowledging his homosexuality, it was only the latest in a long string of public political statements.

It's as if Amaechi decided to single-handedly destroy all of our preconceptions about professional basketball players at once. Sure, he's gay. But he's also a political activist. He's completing his Ph.D. in child psychology. He writes poetry. He drinks Early Grey tea. He makes introspective YouTube videos about his height. He's the gift that keeps on giving.

Professional basketball doesn't just need more openly gay players. It needs more John Amaechis. And so do we.

-- Thomas Rogers

Who: Owen Wilson
Age: 38
Know him as: Screenwriter/actor

Owen Wilson has always been intriguing: Handsome in a quirky, broken-nose, surfer-dude sort of way, with oddball friends like Wes Anderson, he always seemed smarter than your average Hollywood bear. Even so, his brother Luke was the hot one. Plus, Owen was such a relentlessly sunny guy, the perfect match for Goldie Hawn's relentlessly sunny daughter, Kate Hudson. Appealing, sure. But sexy? Not really.

But then Wilson split from Hudson and allegedly attempted suicide. Suddenly, the occasional shot of a grinning, happy Owen was replaced by a tireless wave of photos of a long-faced Owen, striding glumly through the California sunshine with a haunted look in his eyes and a determined set to his jaw. What happened to Mr. Happy? Where did he go?

Sick though it may be, something gloomy and mournful inside each of us saw those pictures and longed to hold the Butterscotch Stallion's hand and hear all about his trip to the dark side.

Sadness is sexy. And while it's far too late to save sullen-sexy Kurt Cobain or suave-sad George Sanders or slouchy-sorrowful Elliott Smith, Owen Wilson has another shot at happiness. And this time it won't be that cheap, shallow "Everything in my life has gone perfectly up until now" happiness, either, it'll be the resilient, leathery happiness of someone who's peeked over the edge into the inky existential abyss and lived to tell about it.

When Wilson finally starts to crack a smile on camera (I'll give him about nine months), he can relish the fact that he's going to be a lot happier -- and a whole hell of a lot sexier -- from here on out. And in the meantime, he gets my vote for the Sexiest Man (Still) Alive.

-- Heather Havrilesky

Who: Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There"
Age: 38 playing 25
Know her as: Actress

As teenagers hoping to attract members of the opposite or even the same sex, most of us were told by well-meaning (or were they?) adults to "Smile more! Be more open! Look interested, engaged!" Bob Dylan, circa 1965-66, would have had none of that. Not yet fully closed off but shutting down fast, this Dylan -- stung by the rejection of longtime fans who saw his plugging-in at the Newport Film Festival as an act of heresy instead of merely inevitable -- wasn't smiling a whole lot, and if you were an idiot, he sure as hell wasn't going to make an effort to look interested! Engaged!

But was there any sensible person -- and who cares about insensible people? -- who didn't want to sleep with this strange, wiry, elfin creature, decked out in fantastic threads he'd recently bought in London, who still seemed to be hoping (a hope that was most definitely futile) that someone out there might be able to amuse him, to stir him, rather than just worship him? His charisma was the caustic kind -- it could wither you -- but even so, you couldn't help reaching out to it.

That's the Bob Dylan Cate Blanchett channels in Todd Haynes' sort-of biopic "I'm Not There." She cuts a striking figure in her polka-dot shirts and drainpipe trousers, her seemingly electrified hair (it must be the result of artful teasing, but it sure looks like a miracle of not-combing) looking as tense as her eyes do. But Blanchett's androgynous beauty -- as arresting as it is -- isn't what makes her sullen, cranky Dylan so desirable. It's the way she captures a pinpoint moment of being both misunderstood and not yet past the point of wanting to be understood. When the Crystals sang "He's a Rebel" in 1962, this guarded, vulnerable, slightly nasty Dylan was the guy they had in mind, except they couldn't have imagined him -- no one could have. Blanchett plays the Dylan we think we know and yet maybe we've only created, the Dylan of our dreams, the guy whose rare smile is itself a kind of secret, as if he'd just heard a joke at dog-whistle frequency, a joke the rest of us wanted to be in on. The smile of this Dylan, when it actually deigns to show up, holds a world of masculine secrets. It's a smile that says, "Smile more, my ass."

-- Stephanie Zacharek

Who: Ira Glass
Age: 48
Know him as: Host and producer of "This American Life"

Perhaps the least alluring thing about Ira Glass is his voice. On public radio's stalwart "This American Life," he doesn't seduce with velvety warmth; he clips along with flat, unremarkable efficiency. But Ira Glass's disembodied persona brims with infectious curiosity and inviting wonder. As a conduit for the show's simple, moving stories of humanity, he coaxes out candid revelations with a refreshing lack of smirk and sarcasm. Fans of the show have for years been drawn to Glass' disarmingly plain-spoken manner, even if few had ever glimpsed more of him than a few stills of a horn-rimmed, somewhat gangly figure.

Who'd have guessed, then, that he would turn out to be so telegenic? When "This American Life" became a Showtime series earlier this year, a new legion of devotees fell for Glass and his dapper, smart, bookish looks. He could be all nerdy self-deprecation and we'd still be hot for him, but what's sexy about Glass is that he seems to know damn well how sexy he is: He's relaxed, he's genial, and he gazes at the camera with a directness that could bore a hole right into you.

Whether his former reputation as a ladies' man is true or not (he's married, not that it's slowing down our imagination), he sure carries himself with the confidence of one. And no matter how good the stories he brings us are, the best part of "This American Life" is always Glass himself: droll, capable, with a simmering self-assurance that makes us want to tell him all our secrets.

-- Mary Elizabeth Williams

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