All Those ’90s Guys Who Ruined Us For Future Boyfriends

Admit it: you totally had a fantasy boyfriend in the ‘90s. Mine was Brendan Fraser because I thought he was super adorable in George of the Jungle and could pull off a loincloth like no other. Later, I discovered Leo in Titanic and became completely obsessed with his sweep-y golden highlights and furrowed brow. How could a human look so tortured and angelic at the same time? Only Leo.

So this got us thinking: who made the best imaginary ’90s boyfriends? Here’s a countdown of all those wonderful famous dudes who swept us off our Skecher’d feet.

16. Breckin Meyer

Even though Cher Horowitz wanted none of this action, I feel like the rest of America the universe disagreed. Breckin, who played Travis in Clueless and Nick in Rat Race—not to mention one of the doomed boy band members of Du Jour in Josie and the Pussy Cats—has always been the fun, chill ’90s dude who would want nothing more than to watch TV with you and eat Doritos.

15. Ryan Phillippe

Ryan Phillippe always played the preppy bad boy who just needed the perfect girl to make him realize he actually has a soul.

14. Anthony Kiedis

Anthony Kiedis, the lead singer of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, was incredibly artistic and uh, experimental. In pretty much all the ways. Dating Anthony would be like dating a rollercoaster (~of looove~).

13. Joshua Jackson

Forget Dawson Leery. It was always about Pacey Witter. Pacey, the sensitive, sarcastic, misunderstood cutie, won over everyone’s hearts with his angsty rebellion.

12. Rider Strong

Rider played Shawn Hunter in Boy Meets World, AKA “the troubled hottie.” His home life was kind of rough, so he hung out with Cory’s family instead. Shawn couldn’t stay out of trouble, and we loved him for that (also, he was a TOTAL romantic).

11. Kurt Cobain

Aside from his weirdly attractive greasy hair and perfect face, Kurt Cobain was a genius who was taken from us way, way too soon. Kurt was the ’90s boyfriend who showered us with songs and poems, and borrowed our black nail polishes more times than we could count.

10. John Stamos

John Stamos not only played the cool, sexy Uncle Jesse, but he was also an occasional drummer for the freaking Beach Boys throughout the ’80s and ’90s. Stamos was the prime example of a bad boy gone good—and oh how good it could be.

9. Jared Leto

Jared Leto’s alter-ego, Jordan Catalano, was the dreamy jerk we all fell in love with in high school. On screen and IRL, Jared wrecked our hearts with his hair and his endless collection of plaid button-ups.

8. Justin Timberlake

It felt wrong to want JT as our boyfriend, we knew what he and Britney Spears had was for real. But we couldn’t HELP ourselves. Those frosted tips! Those slightly whiny-but-incredibly-sexy vocals! Ugh.

7. Lenny Kravitz

Lenny Kravitz is basically sex in human form. He is flawless, talented, ripped, and the only man who can pull off simultaneously wearing a choker AND a nose ring. Lenny Kravitz was the beautiful boyfriend who we dreamed would whisk us off on a tour bus road trip.

6. Brendan Fraser

My BF, Brendan Fraser, was the cutest man in Encino and beyond. He also won the swoon awards when he played the adventurous Rick O’Connell in The Mummy. Whoever he played, he was almost always the good guy, and this kind of made us melt a little.

5. Prince William

Prince William didn’t have to do a whole lot to win us over. He was royal. He was British. His face was better than a basket full of puppies. And did I mention he’s a prince?

4. Keanu Reeves

I mean. . .Keanu played what was essentially the messiah in The Matrix (AKA one of the most important films in history), where he dodged bullets by defying gravity. What more could a girl want?

3. Will Smith

Will Smith was practically the King of the ’90s. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Men in Black, Independence Day—there was no escaping his impeccable face. And it didn’t hurt that he’s a comedic genius.

2. Johnny Depp

Even though these days he’s basically a Tim Burton character, he used to be the universal symbol for bad-boy-sex-god.

1. Leonardo DiCaprio

I think the secret to Leo’s charm was that he always looked like he was about to burst into tears, and he also had those wrinkles in between his eyebrows, like a sad, sad puppy. Leo was everything—the ultimate ’90s boyfriend. He had swagger, flippable hair and deep, soul-piercing eyes that stared out at you from that poster on your wall. OK, so maybe there were multiple posters.

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