What The 'Sexiest Man Alive' Winners From The '90s Look Like Today

People's "Sexiest Man Alive" has been a tradition since 1985, and the first-ever honoree was Mel Gibson. The award is chosen by People staffers, and it goes to someone who is not only attractive but also a part of the cultural conversation at the time. It's typically someone who is doing well on-screen — though non-actor John F. Kennedy Jr. did get it in 1988. "Every year we look at what is the spirit of the year? What does the zeitgeist want at the moment?" Dan Wakeford, People's editor-in-chief, told CNN in 2020 when Michael B. Jordan was chosen as the Sexiest Man Alive.

It's an involved process. Back in 2010, People managing editor Larry Hackett explained how they chose the winning man to ABC News, revealing that it takes months of meetings and discussions amongst the editorial team. "We know it has to be a mix of someone who's hot but well-known," Hackett said. "Not too young, not too old and somebody who, frankly, maybe we haven't thought of."

For a trip down memory lane, we took a look at all those chosen for Sexiest Man Alive in the 1990s. It was an interesting decade for the award; one year had no winner, and one year, the winner had to share the title with someone else. When you look at what each of these sexy men looked like the year they were chosen compared to how they look now, you can still see a lot of the appeal. Many of these men have certainly aged well, and there was one we lost too soon.

In 1990, the 28-year-old Tom Cruise was chosen as the Sexiest Man Alive. It was also the same year that Cruise married Nicole Kidman. It was a good start to a big decade for Cruise's career; he'd already become a star with movies like "Risky Business" and "Top Gun," so he was definitely a star of the moment.

The '90s brought us Cruise's first "Mission: Impossible" movie, and he's still playing the highly skilled spy nearly 30 years later. While the years since his Sexiest Man Alive designation may have left him with some wrinkles, he still has his signature mega-watt smile.

Patrick Swayze was the 1991 pick for Sexiest Man Alive. The movie "Ghost" had come out the year before, confirming him as a sex symbol. Add to that his turn as the charismatic skydiving surfer / bank robber in "Point Break" in 1991, and Swayze was at the top of his game at the time. But according to his mom, he was an ordinary guy. She told People back in 1991 that Swayze "knows he's just an ordinary, down-home Texas kid," per Today.

Sadly, Swayze died of pancreatic cancer in 2009 at the age of 57. Jennifer Grey, who co-starred in "Dirty Dancing" with Swayze called him: "a rare and beautiful combination of raw masculinity and amazing grace. Gorgeous and strong, he was a real cowboy with a tender heart," via ABC News.

Nick Nolte was 51 in 1992 when he was named Sexiest Man Alive. He was described at the time as a "big-lug Adonis with the heart of gold," according to People. Some thought it was a fitting title for him; a young Luke Perry said, "I'd pay $7 just to walk him down the street," according to The Associated Press. But Nolte wasn't quite sure about it. "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake? My personal choice is Walter Cronkite," he said.

While Nolte has kept a lower profile in recent years, the 85-year-old hasn't retired. He had two movies come out in 2026 — "Company" and "Crime 101." And Nolte made his first red carpet appearance since 2022 at the 2026 Venice Film Festival, sporting a white beard, though there were still hints of dark roots in his hair.

The year 1993 didn't have a Sexiest Man Alive; instead, they chose Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford together as Sexiest Couple Alive. Gere and Crawford got married in 1991. He was a movie star, and she was a supermodel — it's no wonder they were the "it couple" of the day. However, they split by 1995, and Crawford blamed the age gap on the failure of her marriage to Gere.

Gere got the honor of Sexiest Man Alive all to himself in 1999.  His role in the romantic comedy "Runaway Bride" with Julia Roberts played a big part in that. "It's like looking for the man you're going to marry,"  Liz Sporkin, People magazine's assistant managing editor at the time, told CBS News. "When he comes along, you just know it. When he was in 'Runaway Bride' this summer, we just knew it."

Gere is now in his late 70s and a bona fide silver fox with a thick head of white hair and only a few more wrinkles than he had in the '90s. Gere is still working as a romantic lead, starring in the 2026 film "Asymmetry," based on a Lisa Halliday novel of the same name. In it, he plays an author in his 70s who falls in love with a young editorial assistant.

1994 saw another break in tradition — there was no official Sexiest Man Alive. However, during a TV special about the award in 2015, Jess Cagle, an editor at People, said that if they had given it out that year, it would have been to Keanu Reeves. Reeves had just played opposite Sandra Bullock in "Speed," so he was definitely in the cultural zeitgeist and a fitting candidate for the accolade.

Cable also confirmed that competitors for the 1994 title would have included Hugh Grant and Jim Carrey. That sounds like the closest that either Grant or Carrey got to receiving the award, and Reeves hasn't formally received the honor. While Keanu is still looking youthful and has a full head of dark hair, his salt and pepper beard proves that time stops for no one.

Brad Pitt was the 1995 Sexiest Man Alive; he got it again in 2000. The only other men to win the title twice have been George Clooney and Johnny Depp — of course, not counting Richard Gere's half-win in 1993.

The year before Pitt's first win, he was in "Interview with the Vampire" and "Legends of the Fall." The latter may have helped him clinch the Sexiest Man Alive title. Director Nilo Otero said that Pitt in that movie came off as "a man's man who seems to be a woman's man too," via E!.

Pitt, like so many of the other men on this list, is still working. In 2026, he played a veteran stuck in Alaska with his dog in the movie "Heart of the Beast," and he's reprising the role of stuntman Cliff Booth from Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" for a film with Netflix. These days, his hair is graying, and he's sporting a few wrinkles, but he's as handsome as ever.

Denzel Washington made history as the first Black man to be named the Sexiest Man Alive in 1996. He took the award in stride. "I don't take myself too seriously," Washington said in an interview with People at the time. "I don't stop in the mirror and go, 'Hey, Sexy Man.'"

Washington stayed busy in the years with starring roles on screen and on stage. One of his recent major roles was in "Gladiator 2," which came out in 2024, and he looks as good as ever. In 2025, on "Today Show Australia," Washington talked about how he's at the point in his career where he can be picky. "I'm only interested in working with the best," Washington said. "I don't know how many more films I'm going to make. It's probably not that many." He has a few things in the works, though, including a part in the next "Black Panther."

He's often seen with a shaved head these days, which highlights his flawless skin that doesn't have as many wrinkles as you might expect at his age. Seriously, we need his skincare routine.

George Clooney got his first of two Sexiest Man Alive awards in 1997; he got the second in 2006. In 1997, George Clooney had been riding high as a star of "ER" for a few years, in a role that helped establish him as a sex symbol around the world. People just made it official.

Clooney doesn't mind bringing up the accolade. In an interview with Jess Cagle on SiriusXM in 2020, Clooney jokingly emphasized that of all his claims to fame in his career, he was also a two-time Sexiest Man Alive winner. When asked if that designation was better than his two Academy Awards, he quipped, "I think you know," and then added, "I'm lobbying for a third one because no one's ever won three."

Clooney has aged gracefully, really rocking the gray hair and unafraid to be seen with glasses, which make him look distinguished. And, of course, he's living his best life with his wife, Amal Clooney.

Harrison Ford first played Han Solo in "Star Wars" in 1977, and it catapulted him to superstardom. Fast forward 21 years, and he was still going strong and was named People's Sexiest Man Alive. At 56, Ford was the oldest man of the '90s to get the award. He is still one of just a few men to have gotten the award after 55 — the oldest (so far) is Sean Connery, who got it in 1989 at the age of 59.

While we can certainly see the sexy appeal to Ford then, he didn't see it himself. "Why this sudden outpouring for geezers?" Ford said in his 1998 cover story with People. "I never feel sexy. I have a distant relationship with the mirror."

Now in his 80s, Ford is still working. He's in "Shrinking" on Apple TV, and he was a part of the Taylor Sheridan / "Yellowstone" universe with a starring role in "1923" opposite Helen Mirren. And while his hair has gone white, his face has barely changed from the '90s.