Russell Crowe
actor
"Mad, bad and dangerous to know." Lady Caroline Lamb used the phrase in 1812 to describe Lord Byron, but it fits Russell Crowe as snugly as the breastplate he wore in this year's Gladiator. Like the 19th-century poet, Crowe, 36, is as famous for his roguishness—a barroom brawl in Australia, a trashed villa in Morocco, a public romance with a married Meg Ryan—as for his artistry. "Russell's emotion comes straight from the gut, uncensored and uninhibited," says Curtis Hanson, who directed Crowe in 1997's L.A. Confidential. "That's what makes him hot." To maintain the earthy intensity that once led Sharon Stone to declare him "the sexiest guy working in movies," the New Zealand-born Crowe (who moved to Australia as a toddler) shuns L.A.'s gilded ghetto, spending his downtime on the 560-acre ranch north of Sydney that he shares with parents Alex arid Jocelyn, older brother Terry, several dozen cows and at least one platypus. "I've got to keep my life apart from Hollywood, mate," he told Britain's Sunday Times last March. This outback rebel remains stubbornly untamed.

Mel Gibson
actor
Although he was born in Peek-skill, N.Y., Sydney-raised Mel Gibson fathered Hollywood's Aussie invasion with his portrayal of a postapocalyptic cop in 1979's Mad Max. Now 44, Gibson is also the diaper-changing, car-pool-driving father of seven kids, ages 19 months to 20 years, with wife Robyn, 44, a former nurse. How does this box-office titan (whose reported $25 million fee for The Patriot may have set a Hollywood record) keep fueling the fantasies of women worldwide? "Mel has bedroom eyes," says actress Ana Gasteyer, who plays opposite the 5'10" Gibson in December's What Women Want. As well as "the charisma of a Clark Gable and the humor of a Cary Grant," adds the film's director, Nancy Meyers. What more could a woman want?

Heath Ledger
actor
"The main thing I learned from Mel was to relax and chill out," says Heath Ledger, 21, who played Mel Gibson's son in The Patriot. Ledger was given good advice, for the film quickly made him one of Hollywood's hottest properties. "He walks into a room and boom! Every eye is on him," says Gil Junger, director of Ledger's first U.S. movie, the 1999 teen flick 10 Things I Hate About You, At an early cast dinner, Junger reports, "all the women were staring at him. No one could speak." But few stay tongue-tied for long. The 6'3" Perth native, who now lives in L.A. and dates actress Heather Graham, 30, "is not so larger than life that people can't picture themselves like him or with him," says Todd Black, producer of Ledger's next film, A Knight's Tale, due in June. "Steve McQueen was like that. I think Heath is the first young actor since then that people can feel that way about."

Steve Irwin
wildlife expert
Fresh from rescuing a 9-ft. crocodile, Steve Irwin, 38, star of Animal Planet's Crocodile Hunter, is feeling less than fetching. "Oh, mate," he says. "I got a big hit in my face, my arms are cut up, my jaw is bruised. I reckon I don't look too sexy right now." That's a matter of opinion. Indeed, while vacationing in Queensland in 1991, American Terri Raines was immediately smitten with the 6'3 " animal rescuer when she saw him feeding a croc at the Australia Zoo. They wed in '92 and now live with their daughter Bindi, 2, near the zoo, which was founded by Irwin's herpetologist dad, Bob. Says Terri, 36: "Watching Steve is like watching poetry in motion."

Mark Philippoussis
tennis player
He's been through an earring phase, a shaved-head phase and a tattoo phase. He once thought nothing of spending-$10,000 on Armani or Versace clothes in Paris. "That was a pretty stupid phase," says Mark Philippoussis. The slick outfits are gone, as is a French fashion model girlfriend. "It doesn't worry me what I wear," says the 6'5" Miami resident—known as the 'Scud" for his powerhouse serve. His new clothes don't have designer labels, and his new Aussie sweetheart is an 18-year-old average girl from the suburbs, like me." But the 24-year-old Melbourner, who owes his Mediterranean good looks to his Italian mother and Greek father, could stand to make one more change. "Mark has such muscular legs," says ESPN's Pam Shriver. "I wish he'd go back to the shorter shorts players used to wear."

Keith Urban
country Singer
Fans of the Top 5 country hit "Your Everything," delivered by Keith Urban in a smoldering southern twang, are often shocked to hear the singer speak. "They say, 'You ain't from around here, are you?' " says Urban, 33, who was born in the Australian farm town of Caboolture and moved to Nashville in 1992. "Folks tend to stare as if I've got something stuck in my teeth." There are plenty of other reasons to look at the 5'10" Urban—including his triple-pierced left earlobe and gold-painted toenails. "I think he is quite exotic," says fellow country singer Danni Leigh. "Part of that is his Australian accent." But while Urban acknowledges that his heritage may attract American women, he recalls that one romance ended when a girlfriend said, "Don't you get it? The novelty has worn off."

Guy Pearce
actor
Long before the 1997 film noir L.A. Confidential let the secret out stateside, Aussie-raised Guy Pearce was a sex symbol at home, where at 18 he starred in the hit nighttime soap Neighbours. Teen idolhood, anyone? "It was absolute chaos," says the British-born Pearce, 33, whose switch from light fare to Confidential heavyweight was a shock to the locals. "It was like, 'How the hell did you get that job?' " the 5'11" actor recalls. "Australians have a lovely sense of humor, Guy especially," says Carrie-Anne Moss, his costar in Memento, due next March. "And he's really talented and open." But not interested in leaving Melbourne—where he lives with his wife of three years, Kate, who studies natural medicines. "I don't have the strength to take on Hollywood and remain a centered, happy person," says Pearce. "I would be totally swept up in it. My ego would just go out of control."

Adam Garcia
actor/dancer
Last summer's Coyote Ugly faded fast at the box office—it had no legs. But its male star, Adam Garcia? His legs carried him to fame in Britain two years back when he starred on the London stage in Saturday Night Fever. "Girls are attracted to dancers," says Garcia, 27. "I've seen fat, ugly dancers get women." Decidedly neither, the 5'10" son of a Colombian-American banker dad and an Aussie physiotherapist mum tapped his way out of a Sydney suburb in '93 with a dance troupe that eventually landed him in England. While in Fever he fell in love with castmate Laetitia Ray, 23, with whom he lives in North London. Says Ray: "His greatest asset is that he can wear bad clothing and still look so sexy!" Another talent: flipping pancakes. "I was brought up on American everything," he says. "Sammy Davis Jr. was my idol." Currently filming Riding in Cars with Boys opposite Drew Barrymore, Garcia "charms everyone," says his Coyote costar Piper Perabo. "He's a very positive person and has a happy spin on life. That's what makes him so cute."

Patrick Rafter
tennis player
His long brown hair is a hit on the court, but Patrick Rafter, 27, thinks it's time for a trim. "It will go, my word," says the two-time U.S. Open champ. "It annoys me." Rafter, who grew up the seventh of nine children on a small farm in Eumundi, Queensland, is now worth more than $7 million. But the 6'1" tennis star, who lives in Bermuda with his Australian girlfriend, Lara Feltham, 32, is known for his generosity as much as his tenacious volleys. In 1998 he donated his entire U.S. Open winnings ($425,000) to children's charities. When he does cut his hair, he says, he plans to make it a fund-raising event. "Wanting to help others is a big part of his personality," says Rafter's mom, Jocelyn, 61. "He's been that way since he was a little boy."

Ian Thorpe
swimmer
The "Thorpedo," as he's been dubbed by the Australian press, won three gold and two silver Olympic medals. But even before the games, Ian Thorpe, 18, who stands 6'4" and wears a size-17 shoe, was being admired. "He's gotten used to the pointing and whispers," says his sister Christina, 20. "He just says hello and tries to keep walking." Thorpe, who is now rich with sponsorships (Mazda, Adidas, Qantas), celeb friends (Giorgio Armani, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise) and the adoration of his nation (which named him Young Australian of the Year), still lives in Sydney with his folks. He isn't dating anyone special; in his spare time he plays video games and checks his stocks on the Internet. "He loves to make up stories and get you to believe them," says his teammate, gold medalist Michael Klim. "He's still got a bit of the boy in him."

Darren Hayes
pop star
"I'm probably the antithesis of the bronzed Aussie ideal," says Savage Garden singer-songwriter Darren Hayes, 28. With his delicate features, lithe frame (toned by daily yoga sessions) and aching falsetto, the 5'10" Hayes may well be an anomaly in the land of Crocodile Dundee. Yet "Darren is the kind of guy you can talk to and fall in love with over dinner," says his San Francisco roommate and personal assistant Leonie Messer. Hayes's own love life entered a rough phase in 1998, with the end of his marriage to Colby Taylor—an experience documented this year on Savage Garden's multiplatinum album Affirmation. "I want to have kids and a soulmate, the whole ballpark, but I don't think that happens instantly anymore," he laments. The fans who e-mail him 5,000 mash notes and marriage proposals a day will have to be patient: A psychic recently told Hayes his search would take another four years.

Costas Mandylor
actor
Costas Mandylor, 36, grew up in Melbourne with a passion for Anthony Quinn movies, The Godfather and his Greek-born mother's chicken and rice with red sauce. But the 5'11" former pro soccer player—whose acting resume includes TV's Picket Fences and next year's Sean Penn-directed film The Pledge—is no mama's boy. "He's a little bit wild," says Lynda McCormack, the makeup artist on Mandylor's upcoming CBS movie Nora Roberts' Sanctuary. Or as the film's costume designer Noreen Landry puts it: "This is a man we're talking about, not a boy." A single man, by the way, who has a clear idea about what is not sexy in life—"Mind games and flashy cars"—and what is: "A man and a woman having hunger for each other."

Lleyton Hewitt
tennis player
With his baggy shorts, ponytail and backward baseball cap, Lleyton Hewitt, 19, may not look like a champion, but he's smashing records left and right. At the U.S. Open in September, he became the youngest player to win a doubles match (with partner Max Mirnyi of Belarus) and the youngest singles semifinalist since 1990. Ranked in the Top 10 all year (he made his pro debut in '98 at No. 722), he says that "No. 1 is the next thing." The Adelaide native, who still lives with his parents, is fighting his way there fast. "He's a little hustler," says NBC sports-caster Bud Collins. "He runs around the court like a madman." Currently dating Belgian tennis star Kim Clijsters, 17, the 5'11" Hewitt is an ace at relaxing too. "I hang out at the beaches, go to the movies and catch up with the mates," he says.

Julian McMahon
actor
On their first date, Julian McMahon "offered me his arm and opened all the doors for me," recalls his wife, Baywatch Hawaii actress Brooke Burns, 22. "All the things you dream about in your Prince Charming." But then McMahon, 32, has breeding: His late father, Sir William, was Australia's prime minister from 1971 to '72; his mother, Lady McMahon, is a Sydney socialite. Still, the 6'2 " costar of The WB's Charmed doesn't put on aristocratic airs. As castmate Alyssa Milano observes, "What makes him sexy is he's unafraid of looking silly for a joke." Or just looking silly, period, like when he's gardening at the Hollywood Hills home he shares with Burns and their daughter Madison, 5 months. "I go out in whatever I happen to be wearing," McMahon admits. "It's so funny to see him in his Speedo and gardening boots," confirms Burns. "And sexy, yes!"

Hugh Jackman
actor
Hugh Jackman doesn't want to come off sounding like a drongo (Australian for "doofus"), but he thinks "sexy" means something different Down Under. Says Jack-man: " 'Sex appeal,' whatever it is, has more to do with self-confidence and a sense of adventure than anything."

The 32-year-old star of X-Men—he played Wolverine—has both, and it doesn't hurt that he's also a cross between "Mel Gibson and a young Clint Eastwood," in the words of the film's director Bryan Singer. Jack-man's costars vouch for his animal attraction. "He's got that real tough-guy edge," says Halle Berry, "but he's also got that leading-man sex-appeal thing happening." Adds Rebecca Romijn-Stamos: "He's a hunka hunka burning love!" To keep burning (calories, at least), Jack-man says, "I play a sport whenever I can. I love water polo, cricket, rugby, tennis." But the Sydney-born son of an accountant and a homemaker is also a family man. Last May, Jackman and his actress wife of nearly five years, Deborra-lee Furness, adopted a baby boy, Oscar, now 6 months. Although the three are currently living in L.A., the 6'2" actor hopes to make Australia home base—for Oscar. "I don't know if fatherhood makes me sexy or not, but it makes me happy," he says. "And if being happy is sexy, then I guess I am." Although Jack-man has signed on to reprise Wolverine in two X-Men sequels and will appear opposite Ashley Judd in the romantic comedy Animal Husbandry due out next spring, he says that Furness keeps him grounded. "As I was leaving home today," he reveals, "my wife just said, 'Oy, sexy boy. Take down the garbage!' "