'Sexy' Degrees of Separation: How We Connected Every Single Past Sexiest Man Alive

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Chris Evans Sexiest Man Alive 2022 — Michael Schwartz

When I first set out to connect all of the past Sexiest Men Alive — a moniker given out from 1985 to present — I thought that, like Icarus, flying too close to the sun, I was surely to be burned at some point by the sheer hotness of all of these connections. At the very least, I knew I would end up looking like this gif of Charlie Day from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

But, for the sake of journalism, I set out on my quest to connect every single one of the Sexiest Men Alive in what I now call: The 'Sexy' Degrees of Separation. Get it? Like the Six Degrees of Separation, but sexy and with many more degrees.

It shouldn't be possible, but oh, it is. Click through to see how they're all connected.

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2021's Sexiest Man Alive, Paul Rudd

HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 24: Paul Rudd attends the 91st Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on February 24, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic) — Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

was in the 2002 cult classic film Wet Hot American Summer which was the feature film debut of …

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2011's Sexiest Man Alive, Bradley Cooper

Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper - Wet Hot American Summer — Amy Rice/Eureka Pics/North Coast Group/Kobal/Shutterstock; Saeed Adyani/Netflix/Kobal/Shutterstock

(pictured here in 2015's Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp). And they both also starred in ...

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NEW YORK - APRIL 19: (L-R) Actors Paul Rudd, Julia Roberts and Bradley Cooper appear onstage during curtain call at the opening night of "Three Days of Rain" at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on April 19, 2006 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images) — Paul Hawthorne/Getty

... the 2005 Broadway production of Three Days of Rain with Julia Roberts, who starred in Pretty Woman with …

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1999's Sexiest Man Alive, Richard Gere

Richard Gere And Julia Roberts In 'Pretty Woman' — Buena Vista/Getty

who was also crowned ...

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Sexiest Couple Alive in 1993 with Cindy Crawford

Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere — Brenda Chase/Online USA/Getty

who was on the very first cover of George magazine, which was owned by …

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1988's Sexiest Man Alive, John F. Kennedy Jr.

John F. Kennedy Jr., Cindy Crawford - George Magazine — BOB STRONG/AFP via Getty

and the magazine also had a cover featuring Calista Flockhart, and she is married to ...

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1998's Sexiest Man Alive, Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford, Calista Flockhart — Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock; Steve Granitz/WireImage

who plays the iconic Indiana Jones, and his fictional dad in the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was …

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1989's Sexiest Man Alive, Sean Connery

Harrison Ford And Sean Connery In 'Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade' — Paramount/Getty

who starred in The Hunt for Red October with ...

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Sean Connery, James Earl Jones - The Hunt for Red October — Paramount/Getty; Moviestore/Shutterstock

James Earl Jones, and James Earl Jones voiced ...

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James Earl Jones, Moira Kelly - The Lion King — Courtesy Everett Collection; Inset: Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty; Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Mufasa in the original animated Disney movie The Lion King while Moira Kelly voiced Nala, and Kelly appeared on The West Wing, as did ...

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1986's Sexiest Man Alive, Mark Harmon

Moira Kelly - Mark Harmon - The West Wing — Eric Liebowitz/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; NBCU Photo Bank

who appeared in Freaky Friday with ...

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Freaky Friday, Jamie Lee Curtis, Mark Harmon — Moviestore/Shutterstock

... Jamie Lee Curtis, who starred in Halloween with ...

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Jamie Lee Curtis, Kyle Richards - Halloween — Alamy

... a young Kyle Richards, who is now on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills with ...

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lisa rinna and kyle richards — lisa rinna/ instagram

... Lisa Rinna! And Rinna is married to ...

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1987's Sexiest Man Alive, Harry Hamlin

Lisa Rinna, Harry Hamlin, Kyle Richards, and Mauricio Umansky — Emma McIntyre/Getty

(Pictured second from left) and Hamlin was in Mad Men with ...

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Harry Hamlin, January Jones - Mad Men — Jordin Althaus / © AMC / Courtesy Everett Collection; Michael Yarish / ©AMC / Courtesy Everett Collection

January Jones, who was in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, where ...

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1991's Sexiest Man Alive, Patrick Swayze

January Jones, Patrick Swayze - Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights — Miramax/courtesy Everett Collection; Miramax

made a cameo as a dance instructor. Swayze was also in The Outsiders with ...

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1990's Sexiest Man Alive, Tom Cruise

Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise - The Outsiders — Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty

who starred in Tropic Thunder with …

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1992's Sexiest Man Alive, Nick Nolte

Tom Cruise, Nick Nolte, Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder — Dreamworks Llc/Kobal/Shutterstock; Mary Evans/DREAMWORKS/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection

In the film with Cruise and Nolte was Robert Downey Jr., who played Iron Man in Marvel's Avengers franchise, which also stars …

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2014's Sexiest Man Alive, Chris Hemsworth & 2022's Sexiest Man Alive, Chris Evans

Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth - The Avengers — Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection

and Hemsworth was in Snow White and the Huntsman with ...

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Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron - Snow White and the Huntsman — Dave M. Benett/Getty

Charlize Theron, and she did a commercial in 2018 with …

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1995 & 2000's Sexiest Man Alive

Brad Pitt, who acted in 12 Years a Slave alongside ...

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Lupita Nyong'o and Brad Pitt attend the EE British Academy Film Awards Entertainment One After Party at the London Edition, in London Britain EE British Academy Film Awards 2014 Entertainment One After Party, London, United Kingdom - 16 Feb 2014 — Jon Furniss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

... Lupita Nyong'o, who was in Black Panther with …

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2020's Sexiest Man Alive, Michael B. Jordan

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 06: Michael B. Jordan and Lupita Nyong'o attend the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 06, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by George Pimentel/WireImage) — George Pimentel/WireImage

who was on The Wire with ...

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2018's Sexiest Man Alive, Idris Elba

Michael B. Jordan and Idris Elba - The Wire — Blown Deadline Productions/HBO/Alamy; HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection

who starred in the 2007 film American Gangster alongside…

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1996's Sexiest Man Alive, Denzel Washington

Idris Elba, Denzel Washington - American Gangster — Universal Pictures; Moviestore/Shutterstock

whose son, John David Washington, starred in the TV series Ballers with ...

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2016's Sexiest Man Alive, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson

Denzel Washington, John David Washington, Dwayne Johnson - Ballers — Allen Berezovsky/Getty; Jeff Daly/©HBO/courtesy Everett Collection

who stars in the 2021 film Red Notice with …

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2010's Sexiest Man Alive, Ryan Reynolds

RED NOTICE - (L-R) Dwayne Johnson is John Hartley and Ryan Reynolds is Nolan Booth in Netflix's RED NOTICE. Directed and written by Rawson Marshall Thurber; RED NOTICE is releasing November 12, 2021. Cr: Frank Masi / Netflix © 2021 — Frank Masi / Netflix

who starred in the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine with …

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2008's Sexiest Man Alive, Hugh Jackman

Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman - X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE — 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection

who played Jean Valjean in the movie musical version of Les Misérables alongside ...

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HUGH JACKMAN, AMANDA SEYFRIED, LES MISERABLES — Alamy

... Amanda Seyfried. And Seyfried was also in Mamma Mia, which means that Hugh shares an onscreen daughter with …

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2001's Sexiest Man Alive, Pierce Brosnan

Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan - MAMMA MIA! — Universal/courtesy Everett Collection

who famously played 007 in 1995's James Bond film GoldenEye, which featured actor ...

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Pierce Brosnan, Alan Cumming - GoldenEye — Alamy

Alan Cumming, who was also in the cult classic ...

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Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Victoria Beckham, Alan Cumming - Spice World — Columbia Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection; Inset: Ron Galella, Ltd/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Spice World, starring Posh Spice a.k.a. ...

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2015's Sexiest Man Alive, David Beckham's

Victoria and David Beckham — Anthony Harvey/Getty

wife, Victoria Beckham, and she made a cameo in ...

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Victoria Beckham, Gwen Stefani - Zoolander — Paramount Pictures

... Zoolander, as did Gwen Stefani, who is married to …

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2017's Sexiest Man Alive, Blake Shelton

Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton — Emma McIntyre/Getty

who coached The Voice with ...

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2013's Sexiest Man Alive, Adam Levine & 2019's Sexiest Man Alive, John Legend

Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, John Legend - The Voice — Art Streiber/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

and Legend performed at "Movies Rock: A Celebration of Music in Film" in 2006 with ...

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Jennifer Lopez and John Legend — Kevin Winter/Getty

Tony Bennett and Jennifer Lopez, and Lopez is married to ...

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2002's Sexiest Man Alive, Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty

who stars in the 2021 film The Tender Bar, which is directed by …

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1997 & 2006's Sexiest Man Alive, George Clooney

Ben Affleck, George Clooney - The Tender Bar — David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage

who starred in Ocean's Eleven with ...

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2007's Sexiest Man Alive, Matt Damon

George Clooney, Matt Damon - Ocean's Eleven — Shutterstock

(and check out Brad Pitt, too!) and Damon starred in The Talented Mr. Ripley with …

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2004's Sexiest Man Alive, Jude Law

Matt Damon, Jude Law - The Talented Mr Ripley — Phil Bray/Paramount/Miramax/Kobal/Shutterstock

who was in Anna Karenina with ...

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Jude Law, Keira Knightley - Anna Karenina — Moviestore/Shutterstock

... Keira Knightley, who was in Pirates of the Caribbean with …

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2003 & 2009's Sexiest Man Alive, Johnny Depp

Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean — Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp in *Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl* (2003). Moviestore/Shutterstock

who was in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street with ...

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Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street — Leah Gallo/Dreamworks/Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock

Helena Bonham Carter, who played Ophelia in the 1990 movie version of Hamlet, starring …

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1985's Sexiest Man Alive, Mel Gibson

Helena Bonham Carter, Mel Gibson - Hamlet — Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock

who was in Lethal Weapon with ...

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Mel Gibson, Danny Glover - Lethal Weapon — Mary Evans/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection

... Danny Glover, and Glover was in Angels in the Outfield with …

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2005's Sexiest Man Alive, Matthew McConaughey

Danny Glover, Matthew McConaughey - Angels in the Outfield — Buena Vista Pictures/ Courtesy: Everett Collection; Inset: Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

who appeared in Magic Mike with …

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2012's Sexiest Man Alive, Channing Tatum

Matthew McConaughey, Channing Tatum - Magic Mike — Moviestore/Shutterstock

who was in the 2013 movie This Is The End with none other than …

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2021's Sexiest Man Alive, Paul Rudd!

Paul Rudd, Channing Tatum - This Is The End — Columbia Pictures

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Paul Rudd, Kevin Bacon - Staged Readings of Five One-Act Plays to Benefit The MCC Theater — Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

And if that wasn't enough, Rudd (far right) also shared a stage with Kevin Bacon (far left) when they were both part of staged readings for the MCC Theatre in N.Y.C. Bacon has never been named Sexiest Man Alive, but this connection fulfills the theory that suggests any actor in Hollywood can be connected to Kevin Bacon within six degrees, a.k.a. The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.