There's one simple reason why I dated so many bad boys and drug dealers in my formative years: Josh Hartnett. I can trace all of my bad boy yearnings back to
The Faculty, where he plays Zeke, a brilliant, sensitive-on-the-inside, super foxy drug dealer. One look, and I was toast. Nice guys? No thanks, give me someone pushing uppers in the boys' bathroom. And, might I remind you who saves the day (AND lands the foxy English teacher)? Yup. I’m certain that he also contributed (along with
the eyebrow god himself) to my lust for men with a strong brow.
Wait, what’s that he’s driving there? Is it the sexiest car of all time driven in possibly the sassiest, sexiest bad boy entrance ever?
Yes, I’ll take two of whatever you’re selling, thanks.
That’s not to say that Hartnett was the
only bad boy for me. Oh no, this was the era of the teen flick. Hottie bad boys and drug dealers were all over those days. Observe:
Though Patrick in 10 Things I Hate About You turned out to be more of a softie than you’d think, Heath Ledger still brought the sass. Also, please note: eyebrows.
Channing Tatum isn’t even my kind of guy, but put together bad boys and dance, and I’m sold anyway.
The only thing better than a bad boy? A bad boy set straight by the love of a good woman (even if it
is in a sapfest like
A Walk to Remember).
Good thing I saw
The Faculty before I saw
Scream…otherwise my penchant might have been for psychopathic killers.
Romeo? Totally a bad boy—he did kill Juliet’s cousin, after all. Though I have to say, the sass award in this picture definitely goes to Harold Perrineau.
And they weren’t just in movies…the bad boy eventually made his way to the small screen, too.
Joshua Jackson brought the sass with his bad boy Pacey.
Seriously, what dummy would have chosen lame-o good guy Dean over Jess? You did the right thing, Rory Gilmore.
Daniel Desario—bad boy AND burnout? Yes please.
Really, Mike Vogel’s character Jay Hogart just represented one of many rotating bad boys on Degrassi. But, as I have drunkenly posited on numerous occasions, he’s the big bad, as opposed to Spinner’s half-assed badness.
The O.C. was filled to the brim with sass (Julie Cooper-Nichol, anyone?) and reigning bad boy Ryan Atwood sassed with the best of them.
The sexy bad boy archetype isn’t limited to my generation, however. Remember these guys?
Please, Mr. Jailer, won’t you let my man go free?
You can put a baby in
my corner, Johnny Castle. (Yeah, I said it.)
You’re yearning, burning for some…
Whoo, hoo, hoo…honey.
The classic.
Jordan Catalano not only gave mainstream visibility to dyslexia, but epitomized the mid'90s with this haircut and smoldering gaze - no wonder he was the tool to so many girls' undoing.
BLAAINE! - No! And while I can still get behind Two and Half Men because Jon Cryer was the unstoppable and lovable Duckie, the real thing that always makes me mad about Annie/Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink is why she didn't fuck James Spader?! C'mon! Add doing lines in his parents' gigantic study and you get the best revision of a "wholesome" John Hughes film.
And yes girl (Majandra Delfino), you are looking fly, and I feel your longing for the out of this world/extraterrestrial sass of Brendan Fehr in Roswell. If you doubt the potency of his pout, watch this episode, then complain.
Like Jon Cryer, I will advocate on behalf of this man's career today because of his '80s teen film roles. Though Christian Slater channels James Dean in Heathers, his rebellious smoking and psychopathic murderous rage make him a bad boy for the ages.
Along the same anarchic wavelength, pre-Mad Men Vincent Kartheiser is a hottie when he's beaten up but still defiant in Masterminds, a film Tara introduced me to!
But River's Edge wins for having both Crispin Glover and Keanu Reeves in their bad boy finest. Apparently I go for murderers more than drug dealers, oh good.
Lastly, how could I forget this notorious one's best performance. If we could only remember him for this:
