The Sexiest Men Alive 2009

From a sexy swashbuckler in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise to quirkier roles like Edward Scissorhands, the 46-year-old star has had women swooning since his days as a teen detective on 21 Jump Street. Yet it’s his devotion to his family that really makes the actor so endearing. “I could sit there all day and do nothing but watch them grow,” he’s said of children Lily-Rose, 10, and Jack, 7. “I’m totally inspired by them.”

They may have sparred onscreen in The Proposal, but costar Sandra Bullock has nothing but admiration for the actor, 33. “Ryan is a really good man. He’s really loyal, very trustworthy, and he can keep a secret,” she says. “And he’s got the sickest mind. His mind is a dark, scary place.”

“Jake is the kind of guy who can do a spot-on impression of someone you work with that will make you giggle,” raves Brothers costar Natalie Portman about the 28-year-old. “He plays guitar and has a great voice. Kids and dogs love him. He loves his mom and sister and girlfriend. He’s perfect. Too bad he’s ugly.”

The Hangover star, 34, has already won over a fan in his costar Heather Graham. “Obviously he’s very great looking, but he also has a great personality,” she says. “He manages to be manly while still being sensitive. As a woman, he makes you feel very attractive. When you’re around him, he’s always like, ‘I love your dress.'”

“Robert has a way of making everyone around him feel very special and comfortable,” Michelle Monaghan, his costar in the upcoming Due Date, raves about the 44-year-old. “Whenever I see him, I walk away smiling. Those beautiful brown eyes may have something to do with it.”

Why is the 34-year-old soccer phenom one of the sexiest men alive? Just ask his wife Victoria. “David is a wonderful husband. He is kind and incredibly romantic,” she tells PEOPLE. “He is a brilliant sportsman and an amazing father. He idolizes our three boys, and this is what makes him ‘the sexiest man alive’ to me.”

The married Brothers and Sisters star, 33, admits to indulging in getaways with his buddies when in Sin City. “Let’s be real. My wife doesn’t really enjoy gambling or going out too late,” he says. “[Vegas is a trip] definitely with your buddies. You can let loose.”

Watch Gilles take it off in his sexy shoot!

The show-stopping stars of Glee – Cory Monteith, 27; Matthew Morrison, 31; and Mark Salling, 27 – also hit the Vegas strip for their sexy shoot. While in town, they took advantage of some of the local entertainment, including Holly Madison’s burlesque revue Peepshow. “It was just some beautiful women taking off their clothes,” Morrison says. “Never a bad thing in my book.”

Watch it! The Glee guys take to the casino floor in their PEOPLE shoot!

The 29-year-old host of America’s Got Talent sure knows how to make the main woman in his life happy. Just ask him the sexiest music to play at home! “A Mariah Carey record, of course,” he says. “We’re talking about Mariah Carey. Of course she loves to hear herself.”

Think you have a shot with the American Idol star? You do if you’re an upbeat person. “I love people with good energy,” says Lambert, 27. “It’s even better when you can hook up with one of them.”

He’s gone from stoner hero in the Harold and Kumar movies to hot FBI agent in FlashForward – a role that comes with a sexy walk “if you’re carrying a real gun. When it’s on your hip, you lead differently; your hands go to different places,” says Cho, 37.

The singer, 29, offers up this impromptu ditty about what it means to be sexy: “‘Sexiest man alive?’/Am I at least Top 5?/I know being bald/won’t get me the cover/I just hope it’s not page twentysomething or other.”

Want more Daughtry? Go behind the scenes of his sexy photo shoot!

When you’ve got it, flaunt it! The sexy star, 35, showed off his sense of humor – and then some! – in his Speedo shoot. “If my kids ever annoy me, I’ll go and mow our lawn in a Speedo,” he says of his 11-month-old twin girls with wife Rebecca Romijn. “Just to embarrass them.”

Watch Jerry O’Connell do the town – in a skimpy Speedo, of course!

The 30-year-old crooner – who is dating model Christine Tiegen – admits to a certain guilty pleasure when in Las Vegas: “Gentlemen’s clubs. But I haven’t been to a strip club in a while.”

Check out the singer’s sexy Vegas-themed shoot!

What list of sexy men would be complete without the New Moon heartthrob? From his eyes to his artfully messy hair, the 23-year-old makes girls swoon the world over – or does he? As Pattinson says, “I still can’t get a date.”