Sexiest Man Alive 2012

Sexiest Man Alive: Who Could Be Next?

Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt – who could inherit the crown from these past PEOPLE cover stars?

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SMA '92: NICK
SEXY-IN-WAITING: JOAQUIN

By the time he was crowned SMA, Nolte had shed his real-life bad-boy image and won over moviegoers in '90s blockbusters Lorenzo's Oil and The Prince of Tides. Two decades later, Joaquin Phoenix is keeping audiences on their toes with an Oscar-worthy performance in Walk the Line and his (real or real scary) experimental performance in 2010's I'm Still Here.