10 Teen Idols from the '90s Who Were Going to Be My Husband
I take thee, thee, thee, thee, and all of thee.
When I was starting to get crushes on boys, I loved EVERY ONE OF THEM with a fervor I now reserve for cake. But back then, every one was THE one. Even if I hadn't actually met him in real life. I didn't like any boys that I actually knew, but I LOVED these celebrities and married them all in my head. Here are the guys I desperately wanted to marry when I was a kid, and what they look like now.
Chris O'Donnell
The All-American, blue-eyed charmer was my first "grown-up" cinema crush.
I first saw him in the 1993 movie The Three Musketeers. THANK GOODNESS I didn't somehow fixate on Charlie Sheen.
Now he plays NCIS Special Agent G. Callen in NCIS: Los Angeles. It also looks like he enjoys jumping out from behind corners and shouting, "Boo!"
Christian Bale
Every bookish little '90s girl's heart beat apace for Christian Bale's Laurie in the 1994 Little Women movie. He was boyish, he was handsome, he liked weird girls who liked to read. Sure, in the movie and book it was Jo March, but in real life, it was ME. How much more perfect could he have been? Until...
THIS. I can't even. Cut to a few years later and Laurie is with THE WRONG SISTER. Laurie was dead to me after that.
Tony Leung
If you have ever seen the 1994 film Chungking Express, you will know that Hong Kong movie star Tony Leung is highly skilled at lasering your soul wide open with his eyes. Just look at him! That poor woman has no idea what's about to happen to her. This was all very confusing to me a young woman. So obviously, because of this, I wanted to marry him.
Here he is six years later in In the Mood for Love, lasering Maggie Cheung's soul open. Very messy guy to be around.
Darren Hayes
This one might need a little extra explanation. Remember the "chick-a-cherry-cola" song? Darren Hayes was the guy singing it. I truly wanted to marry him. It was the first time my young heart knew sorrow, because I didn't know how to make a grown man love or marry me. (I was 13, so it was a good thing, in retrospect.)
Here is Hayes with his Savage Garden bandmate Daniel Jones. Oh, Darren. He was definitely THIS kid's choice, if you know what I mean. (Ew, sorry.)
My marriage plans were put into jeopardy when Hayes came out as gay in the aughts. But he seems happy and healthy, and that's all a gal can ask for re: once-potential husbands. Now, he has a brand-new movie podcast called We Paid to See This.
David López
...otherwise known as Alex from Ghostwriter. This Children's Television Workshop staple featured a group of Brooklyn kids who solved mysteries with the help of a ghost (naturally). In the show, Alex was a "gifted code breaker." That's hot to a pre-adolescent nerdy girl! Plus, Bambi eyes. Look at him! So adorable.
SO CUTE. But he never solved the mystery of why we aren't married. Call me, Alex! I mean, David.
Devon Sawa
Every strong relationship is built on seeing a cute guy on-screen for about two seconds. That's what happened when I saw Devon Sawa in Casper—he appears right at the end of the movie as the real-boy incarnation of the titular ghost. You might also remember him from 1995 friendship flick Now and Then.
Now he's all grown up. Where did all that beautiful hair go :(
Elijah Wood
If you really could get married to someone just by wishing on all your heart that you were, then I'm probably married to Elijah Wood. I spent hundreds of hours watching Lord of the Rings and gazing lovingly at The Little Hobbit Who Could.
Unfortunately, now he is a DJ. I have just wish-divorced Elijah as of this moment, but I wish him all the best.
Aw, I love it when two of my husbands hang out together.
Gary Barlow
Give me a minute...I'm just recovering from this glorious denim vest and pant combo. This is Gary Barlow, whom you might remember from...
...the British band Take That. Do you know the break-up song "Back for Good"? That's them. Other fans loved the pixie-like Mark Owen (on the left) or future bad boy Robbie Williams, but I loved Gary. He had the soul of a poet and the hair of a chia pet.
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