Scroll To Top

20 heartthrobs gay '90s kids secretly loved

| 04/24/23

DRJedi

20 heartthrobs gay '90s kids secretly loved

We miss the '90s!

Shutterstock

Whether you secretly flipped through the pages of your sister's Tiger Beat, or simply couldn't stop watching Casper, the heartthrobs of the '90s made an indelible impression on many of us budding gay boys. So pop open a Crystal Pepsi, throw on some Savage Garden, and relive some of your earliest crushes!

1. Brad Pitt

Shutterstock

I mean. Brad Pitt. Thelma & Louise, Interview with the Vampire, Se7en, Jennifer Aniston… we could go on. I mean. Brad Pitt.

2. Keanu Reeves

Shutterstock

Keanu Reeves had some major hits in the 90's like The Matrix and Speed, and the man just knows how to smize.

3. Tyrese Gibson

Shutterstock

Although Tyrese Gibson didn't start his acting career until the 2000's, he came on and stole our hearts with his music toward the end of the decade, and that winning smile is still something that makes us swoon.

4. George Clooney

Shutterstock

First of all, I don't think this man will ever age. Second of all, he is the actual definition of a fine wine because every year he just gets hotter. He got his breakthrough in the 90's with E.R., and we're just stoked his career is still on track.

5. Ryan Phillippe

Shutterstock

Ryan Philippe was in league with Freddie Prinze Jr. (keep reading) in the 90s, thanks in part to their time together in I Know What You Did Last Summer. But Philippe’s role in Cruel Intentions? Forever an icon.

6. Jeremy Jackson

Shutterstock

This Baywatch hottie gave us everything we needed in the 90s when he took on the role of David Hasselhoff’s son, Hobie, in season 2. When he grew up, he became half the reason people watched. He may have turned to drugs and addiction following the show, but he will forever have his mark in one of the most iconic shows in history.

7. Jonathan Taylor Thomas

A collection of the hottest teen heartthrobs of the 90s.

No '90s list of any kind would be complete without good ol' JTT. From Simba to Randy Taylor, JTT was all over the '90s — and all over our wall posters.

8. Devon Sawa

≈

9. Rider Strong

Cory and Topanga may have been the leads of Boy Meets World, but Shawn kept us coming back week after week. He made us fall in love with bad boys before we even knew we loved boys.

10. Andrew Keegan

Party of Five, 10 Things I Hate About You — no matter the number, you could always count on Andrew to heat things up onscreen.

11. Erik von Detten

No DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie, duh) was complete without a little von D! Seriously, '90s hair goals.

12. Mark-Paul Gosselaar

Sure, Zach Morris gave us feels for cellular telephones before the iPhone was even a Steve Jobs wetdream, but he gave us lots of other feels, too.

13. Skeet Ulrich

We didn't even care that he was a psycho killer in Scream (spoiler alert!). No one could give a smolder from behind perfect '90s locks like Skeet.

14. Freddie Prinze, Jr.

We couldn't even wait to get to high school, get a makeover and have Freddie take us to prom and dance to a perfectly choreographed dance that everyone in the entire school was able to learn between montages and finals. Sarah Michelle, we're still not sure if we can forgive you from taking this gem off the market.

15. John Stamos

Oh, Uncle Jesse. You made that house (and our hearts) full, indeed!

16. Luke Perry

Ok, Matthew hit it big with Friends, but the other brother stole our hearts from the streets of Beverly Hills.

17. Will Smith

Who can't recite the theme song to Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, even to this day? We would have let him move in with us, no questions asked.

18. Leonardo DiCaprio

Before he became the legit actor we know and love (despite countless criminal Oscar snubs), this heartthrob was steaming up the small screen on Growing Pains. Oh yeah, and he did this little movie called Titanic ....