It’s the most handsome time of the year, everyone! Welcome to the election that doesn’t leave you with a sense of despair for the future of humanity – the Head Over Feels Most Handsome Young Man of 2024. Unlike People Magazine, our title can’t be bought and is truly of the handsome moment. We guarantee that none of these nominees will make you go “Him?? In this economy?” (We hope so anyway!)
We thank Louis Tomlinson for serving Most Handsomely for the past year and send him on his way to enjoy the snacks, bottomless cocktails, and constant adoration in our Most Handsome Young Man Hall of Fame. Now is the time to usher in our new class. As those of you who have been with us for the past decade know, yes, Most Handsome Young Man is about how good looking these men are. But it’s also about the moment they are having, their body of work, and what makes them worthy of the crown this year. We couldn’t be prouder of this year’s batch of nominees and any one of them deserves the title.
A few housekeeping things! You should well know by now that “Most Handsome Young Man” is a moniker lovingly borrowed from Community and has nothing to do with age. (In fact, we say, the older the better! Aging and gray hair is sexy!!) The polls are open from now until Sunday, December 1st at 5 PM EST. You can vote once an hour. We encourage campaigning and making the case for your faves on social media (have you followed us on Bluesky yet?) but we also DO believe in free and fair elections here at Head Over Feels. We definitely monitor voting activity, and if we see anything suspicious, we will remove it.
And now, without any further ado, allow us to present the Most Handsome Young Man Class of 2024…
Jacob Anderson
Your first nominee comes to us from Patreon subscriber Margaret (learn about this and other benefits on our page!), and we were only too delighted to comply. Jacob Anderson has been on our radar since he joined the cast of Game of Thrones as Grey Worm in 2013, though he had plenty of roles (including some meaty theater ones) to his name by then. After leading Khaleesi’s Unsullied army, he was one of the bright spots in Doctor Who‘s Flux, playing the brave and loyal dad-to-be Vinder and deserving of much more screen time and cool stuff to do than he got. But I digress!
Playing supporting characters in two of the most formidable institutions in genre television is nothing to sneeze at, but Jacob has really gotten to shine and show his incredible range as he’s redefined one of Anne Rice’s immortal creations on AMC’s sumptuous and extremely handsome Interview With the Vampire. His Louis de Pointe du Lac is not the 18th century plantation owner of the novel but a savvy Black Creole entrepreneur making his living in the brothel business in the early 20th century. Even before Lestat bestows the Dark Gift, this Louis is a fountain of charisma and a vision in a three-piece suit. Afterwards? Well, let’s just say that fangs and the ability to rip someone’s head off will make anyone instantly even hotter. (And that accent, helloooooo.)
As if you needed more reasons to have a crush on this guy, he can also carry a tune. In addition to being a stellar actor, Jacob is also a singer/songwriter and has been releasing alternative R&B music as Raleigh Ritchie for over a decade – charting in the UK, performing at the O2, and presumably stealing a lot of hearts while doing so. A multi-talented king oozing with creativity and pure vibes? Sign us up. – Sage
Jonathan Bailey
FIYEEEEEEEROOOOO.
We’ll have to wait for Wicked Part II to hear Cynthia Erivo belt what all of our brains (and hearts) were singing when Jonathan Bailey made his entrance as the most popular guy at Shiz University, but luckily, we’ve got plenty of Jonny content to tide us over until then. The past few years have been meteoric for him, from taking center stage in the horniest (I will not be entertaining other opinions on this) Bridgerton season so far, to being Emmy nominated for his tour-de-force dramatic performance in the historical romance epic Fellow Travelers, to winning an Olivier for mastering the most diabolical song our dear departed Stephen Sondheim ever wrote.
Amid all of this, the man knows what he is doing to us. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anyone enjoy being the internet’s boyfriend more, and that is absolutely a compliment. Take, for example, the “Drink Your Milk” shirt Jonny collaborated on with Loewe and marketed the sweet hell out of, inspired by the Fellow Travelers scene you would least like to watch with your parents. Maybe the girls, gays, and theys like to be baited a little! Maybe we find it kind of exciting being on a handsome Englishman’s hook!
This past Bridgerton installment may have been all about Polin, but Anthony still showed up to do his husbandly duties, and Jonny to make endearing TikToks with his younger castmates. And now that Wicked is out in the world, we’ve also seen the boy we first got to know as the intrepid yet misguided cub reporter on Broadchurch in the movie musical role every actor with half a singing voice was after. Of course, Wicked is all about the girlies (and the fascism), but every love triangle needs its third point, and it’s no stretch at all to understand why both Elphaba and Galinda fall for this Fiyero. Jonny’s “Dancing Through Life” is a revelation, and he has chemistry with everything with a pulse, including his horse. That’s star quality. – Sage
Colman Domingo
If there’s one thing we love here at Head Over Feels, it when a long-working, incredibly handsome, triple threat actor finally gets his proper flowers. Colman Domingo didn’t come out of nowhere. He’s been working steadily in film, television, and theatre since the early aughts. He’s built up a resume that includes making his Broadway debut originating multiple roles in Passing Strange, Tony-nominated work in The Scottsboro Boys, a breakout role in Fear the Walking Dead, and an Emmy-winning guest stint on Euphoria. He’s an actor’s actor whose dance card is always full. So why now? Why THIS handsome? Because the one-two punch of his performance as Mister in The Color Purple and his Academy Award nominated work as Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin in Rustin launched Colman into the stratosphere at the end of 2023 and ensured that Domingo would be the name on everybody’s lips in 2024 long before the viral SNL sketch.
As an actor, Colman has that undeniable IT factor. (Or, the rizz, as the kids would say.) You can’t take your eyes off of him when he’s on screen but yet he never hogs the spotlight. His work in Rustin is truly electric and he somehow manages to humanize a truly despicable character like Mister by the end of The Color Purple. (It’s the silver pants that Mister buys from Celie and then gleefully wears to her Easter dinner.) And while A24 is making it damn near impossible for ordinary people to see Sing Sing right now (how is it not even available to RENT?), the buzz around his performance indicates that a return trip to the Academy Awards could be in the cards. And honestly, thank God for that, because we need more of this man on the red carpet.
If you were to look up the term “peacocking” in the dictionary, you would see a picture of Colman Domingo’s style in 2024. He was THEEEEE man to watch and look forward to at every red carpet, from his awards season run to the Met Gala to any movie premiere or festival appearance. He’s always willing to experiment with bold color, with silhouette, with accessories, with bling. He walks every carpet with confidence and is truly a designer’s dream. And the clothes never wear him, which is just another indicator of that undeniable rizz. Stylish and unbelievably talented? You can’t get more handsome than that. – Kim
Jonathan Groff
The theater boys are really taking it this year, because Patreon subscriber KatyBeth’s MHYM nominee is angel-voiced Tony winner (!!!) Jonathan Groff. Whether your introduction to him was Melchior Gabor or Jesse St. James, if you were a drama kid circa the mid-’00s, chances are one of his dreamy malcontents put you through it. And like a fine wine, he’s only improved with age, blossoming into a stage and screen star with one hell of a head of hair.
This year, Jonathan caught the eye of no less than the Doctor, appearing in the best episode of the new Doctor Who season as Rogue, a dashing bounty hunter. He and Ncuti Gatwa have chemistry for days, and the story calls for them to banter, flirt, dance, and even lock lips, to our immense delight. It’s rare to get an American star in such a significant guest role, and Jonathan seemed right at home, beaming away in the TARDIS, delivering some fetching hard sci-fi dialogue, and generally sweeping Fifteen off his feet. COME BACK.
But his crowning achievement of 2024 was winning the Best Actor in a Musical Tony for his work in the first successful Broadway production of Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, something his costar and bestie Daniel Radcliffe threatened to burn the building down over if it did not happen. Franklin Shepard is, by definition, kind of an asshole, and it took a performer as likable and empathetic as Jonathan to make you care about him, despite his arrogance and poor decisions. And of course, the press tour was a full-on delight, featuring Jonathan loudly loving his castmates, weeping at every available opportunity, and doing his best to explain why he’s notoriously one of the spittiest thespians we’ve got to Vanity Fair‘s Lie Detector Test. (He gets wet, okay??)
There’s nothing more handsome than a man who wears his heart on his sleeve and puts everything he has into his art, and that’s why we’re proud to nominate this future legend. – Sage
Elliot Page
Patreon subscriber Kortnea nominates The Umbrella Academy‘s Elliot Page for the Most Handsome Young Man of 2024. We may have mixed and complicated feelings about the final outing for our favorite dysfunctional superhero siblings (six episodes was NOT enough, Netflix!!) but one thing we have never questioned is just how fucking great Elliot has been as Viktor. Viktor Hargreeves always felt like he was the glue that kept The Umbrella Academy together thanks to the combination of Elliot’s own name recognition and the character’s specific journey from thinking he had no powers to actually being the MOST fearsome and powerful one of all. Elliot’s performance always elevated the material too, from his touching transition in Season Three to his volcanic confrontation with his father in Season Four. Frankly, he deserved better than what the show ultimately gave him!
2024 also saw Elliot return to the silver screen in the deeply personal indie film Close to You. (Now available on Netflix!) Elliot plays Sam, a transgender man returning to his hometown for the first time in four years, leading to a reckoning with his family and a reconnection with his first love. It’s an incredibly moving and raw performance that reminds you exactly WHY Elliot is a fucking Oscar nominee.
I think one of the handsomest things about Elliot is his passionate advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, especially in a time where the new attacks on their basic human rights appear almost every day. He recognizes the platform he has as a public figure, and he does his utmost to use it for good, be it trying to educate the audience of The View about trans-rights or reveling in his own gender euphoria in every single photoshoot he does. It doesn’t get more handsome than that. – Kim
Glen Powell
If there’s one thing to take away from 2024 it’s that it’s Glen Powell’s world and we’re all lucky to be living in it.
Not to brag but I’ve been on the Glen train since he made a splash in Hidden Figures as a rather dashing John Glenn all the way back in 2016. (“Yes, sir. The smart one. And if she says they’re good I’m ready to go.” SWOON.) It’s been so satisfying to watch his star rise, from leading Netflix’s Set It Up (still their best original rom-com, that pizza scene lives in my head rent free) to his role as the jerky but ultimately heroic Hangman in Top Gun: Maverick. But nothing – I mean nothing – could have prepared us for Glen’s trifecta of films in 2024: rom-com Anyone But You (which technically opened in the last days of 2023, but made a SPLASH in January), real grown-up Netflix dramedy Hit Man (which SHOULD HAVE gotten a theatrical release), and THE movie of the summer: Twisters.
Sage and I went to see Twisters in 4D-X in Times Square the weekend after it opened and let me tell you, I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a movie where the audience was SO HORNY for the leading man. Glen’s entrance to the should-be-Oscar-nominated “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” got a round of applause. The wet white t-shirt scene that doesn’t even NEED to be in the movie other than to quench the audience’s thirst earned outright moans from men and women alike. It was like witnessing the birth of a MOVIE STAR right before our eyes. Glen Powell is Tom Cruise before he jumped on Oprah’s couch and revealed his crazy. He’s Matthew McCongahey without the naked bongo scandal. He’s following in Harrison Ford’s footsteps, easily moving from franchise action movies to drama to comedy. He is beauty, he is grace, he’s Mister United States.
And if that’s not enough handsome for you, Glen regularly post thirst traps with his adorable bestie Brisket Powell. That handsome AND he loves dogs? Have some mercy on us mere mortals, Glen. – Kim
Who will YOUR Most Handsome Young Man be? The power is in your hands!
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