Ryan Gosling – The Together Issue, No. 216, January 02
Ryan Gosling is like a cat with nine lives. He’s been a musician, an actor, a Mickey Mouse Club superstar, a meme (it’s the one where he’s wearing a beige jumper made out of boyfriend material, you know you’ve seen it), and a writer. He made us laugh in Crazy, Stupid, Love, cry in The Place Beyond the Pines and made everyone incredibly jealous of Rachel McAdams in The Notebook. Here he is aged 21, fresh off of Young Hercules and hot as hell. Oh to be that T-shirt on his back…. *swoon*
Ashton Sanders – The Big Issue, No. 346, 16
Ashton Sanders is the breakout star of Moonlight, this year’s most talked about film. With more charm than a Disney prince, let Ashton love you to the moon and back this Valentine’s Day.
Rachel Weisz – The Boys Own Issue, No. 51, September 87
Before The Mummy, before Daniel Craig, before she was even an actress, Rachel Weisz had a short-lived stint as a model. In that time she bagged an i-D cover, dressed up as a playboy bunny, when she was just 17. Do we really need to justify this one?
Robert Pattinson – The Resourceful Issue, No. 299, May 09
Remember when Robert Pattinson was just the hot boy that died in the fourth Harry Potter movie? We met him back then, when he was just 23, before he became vampire mega-hunk in the Twilight saga and Mr FKA Twigs. Nearly a decade later and he’s still probably one of the fittest boys ever to be in i-D.
Drew Barrymore – The Pin-Up Issue, No. 138, March 95
We met Drew when she was everyone’s favourite Hollywood pin-up, age 19, and the world knew her as this child star who was exposed to alcohol aged nine, marijuana age ten, cocaine age twelve and a suicide attempt age 14, she peered over the edge but made it back and came out on top, stronger than ever. Hot, wild, and funny, why not take Drew on her 52nd date?
Zoe Kravitz – The New Luxury Issue, No. 342, 16
Roses are red, violets are blue, love sometimes sucks, but Zoe we adore you. The daughter of Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz, there wasn’t a chance in France that young Zoe wasn’t going to be a beautiful And sure enough she is both inside and out. Singer, actress, model, and style icon – it doesn’t really get much better than this.
Jack O’Connell – The P.Y.T. Issue, No. 302, Pre-Fall 09
Before Starred Up, before ’71, before he was Angelina Jolie’s protégée in Unbroken, Jack O’Connell was teenage tearaway Cook in the breeding ground for hot British talent, Skins. Rotten to the core, let Jack be your ultimate bad boy this Valentine’s Day.
Lil’ Kim – The Hotel Issue No. 196, April 2000
Back in the Y2K we quizzed the sexiest rapper in the world on the eve of her second album, Notorious KIM. named so after her murdered boyfriend Biggie. Then aged just 24, she told us “it’s a lot of work being a celebrity and it’s not all fun. We go through money problems, we go through depression problems, we go through wanting to be ourselves days when we can’t, and we women all get our menstruation.” Why not be her knight in shining armour?
Michael Pitt – The Name Issue, No. 258, September 05
Weird, wonderful, and wildly sexy, Michael Pitt is the ultimate pin up. Here he is post The Dreamers, pre-Funny Games when he was still dating Jamie Bochert. We hear he’s currently single…
Kylie Minogue – The Love Life Issue, No. 90, March 91
The year was 1991 and the pint sized smoke-show that was Kylie Minogue had just gone from the sweet and sensitive girl next door on Neighbours to being every single boy on the planet’s ultimate wet dream. What a knockout.
LL Cool J – The Happy Issue, No.54, December 1987
Joining Public Enemy in ensuring Def Jam’s success, everyone’s favourite bad boy LL Cool J was back with a second LP Bigger And Deffer and hitting up the pages of yours truly. On the verge of making it big, LL was feeling the pressure. “I can’t lie. It is getting more hectic. It’s getting to the point where I drive to the local McDonalds, roll down my window and they scream.” A million fly girls can’t be wrong.
Scarlett Johansson – The Popular Issue, No. 214, October 01
Remember Ghost World? The hilariously sharp, acerbic stab at youth culture that starred Scarlett and Thora Birch? Of course you do. That’s when we first talked to her, she was 16 and straight-talking and said: “Well, why can’t a fucking 16-year-old say ‘cunt’?”. Sultry, sexy and not afraid to speak her mind, she’s the ultimate Valentine’s Day dream.
Jaden Smith – The What Is Love? Issue, no. 333, Fall 2014
A source of effervescent energy, Jaden Smith’s visceral young mind works at a million miles an hour. We met the young heartthrob back in 2014, and he told us 10 things he loved most in the world. Number four was high vibration frequencies, obv.
Stephen Dorff – The F.U.N Issue, No. 301, Summer 09
With his piercing stare, brooding looks and floppy blonde movie star hair, Stephen Dorff is the boyfriend you’ve always wanted. A bad boy with a kind heart, swipe left and he’s yours for the keeping.
PJ Harvey, The Fun & Games Issue, No.114, September 1995
Singer, songwriter, poet, artist, Polly Jean Harvey MBE is Wonder Woman. Or at least, she was for the cover of i-D’s The Fun & Games Issue. “I enjoy looking like a tart and thinking like a politician,” she told us with an almighty side-eye. Well, there you go.
Emile Hirsch – The Nationality Issue, No. 259, October 05
Over a decade ago Emile Hirsch was 20 years old and was just about to star as wild child skater Jay Adams in Lords of Dogtown. Have him then or lust over him now, he’s still fit and he’s single.
Kate Winslet – The Hot Issue, No. 165, June 97
Hot off the Titanic, with an Academy Award nomination and a host of blockbuster offers up her sleeve, Kate Winslet popped by i-D Towers for her double page spread and double the fun.
Orlando Bloom – The Together Issue, No. 216, January 02
Back in 2002, Orlando Bloom was 24 and just about to star in his breakout film role as Legolas in Lord of the Rings. Picked to appear in Peter Jackson’s adaptation of the JRR Tolkien trilogy just days before graduating from theatre school, and with his only previous film experience confined to a small part as a male prostitute in 1997s Wilde alongside Stephen Fry, he had no idea of the riches, fanboys and supermodels that would follow. Hello, ladies.
Sasha Lane – The Big Issue, No. 346, 16
Sweeter than honey, Sasha Lane first caught our attention when she starred in Andrea Arnold’s coming of age movie American Honey. She grabbed it again when she starred in last year’s campaign for Louis Vuitton. She’s breathtakingly gorgeous and totally wild at heart. And, as the saying goes, well behaved women never make history.
Liv Tyler – The Together Issue, No. 216, January 02
There are some women who are great for a dirty weekend away and there are others who you want to take home to meet you mother. Liv Tyler is both. Beautiful, sexy, and incredibly smart, she’s got it all. Plus she played a 3000 year old elf in Lord of the Rings. Now who else can boast that?
Jared Leto – The Masculine Issue, No. 251, February 05
Courting controversy as the HIV-positive, transgender drug addict Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club, when we met Jared back in 05, he was also dragging homophobic furore in his wake as Colin Farrell’s lover in Alexander. This is what he told us when we asked if he’d always wanted to be an actor: “Fuck no. I’m lucky that I’m not in prison right now to be quite honest with you. My brother and I were hitchhiking across the States doing odd jobs. We were doing demolition derby for a while. Worked at a slaughterhouse, never ate meat again. We both got arrested and I got out first and showed up in Los Angeles and was homeless and slept on the beach. I was a very bad kid.” Ladies and gentlemen, he’s your for the taming.
Rose McGowan – The Out of the Blue Issue. No. 277, June 07
From the lollipop sucking teen bitch in Jawbreaker to the shade wearing ice queen in Doomed Generation, Rose McGowan has been there, played that, and probably ripped up the t-shirt. She’s sexy as fuck but she’s also a bad ass feminist. You’ve got your work cut out with this one.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – The Scratch & Sniff Issue, No. 266, May 06
We first spoke to heartthrob Joseph Gordon-Levitt when he was 25 years old and starring in the audacious teenage noir Brick. But it was his role as teenage dork Cameron James in 10 Things I Hate About You which got us really hot under the collar. Why hate when you can love?
Still not found your dream Valentine’s Day crush? Fear not! There’s always Danny Dyer
Danny Dyer – The Tissue Issue, No. 275, April 07
And here’s one for the ladies. We met Danny Dyer, the realest actor and rawest caner coming atcha straight outta Canning Town, back in 07, when he told us the problem with his cute but also sort of hard, sex appeal was that: “It turns women into men around me. They’ll just come up and grab my bollocks and tell me what they want to do to me. The worst one was in a pub the other day, when this bird comes up to me and says ‘I want to sit on your face and rubbish you.’ Out of the blue. I was like ‘hello, I’m Danny. Shall we get that one out of the way first?'”