CelebsNews

The 2008 AfterEllen.com Hot 100

Around this time each year, the various American men’s magazines release their lists of the hottest/most beautiful women, and every year, lesbian and bi women are left puzzled at many of the women they choose. So last year, we offered AfterEllen.com readers an opportunity to nominate the women you found most attractive, and the results were interesting – and decidedly different.

We opened up the poll for the second annual AfterEllen.com Hot 100 in early May, and received over 100,000 votes from lesbian and bisexual women around the world – again with different (and sometimes surprising) results.

Though many women from our first annual AfterEllen.com Hot 100 made the list again this year, there are a lot of new faces – like Gossip Girl‘s Blake Lively, Battlestar Galactica‘s Grace Park, and openly bisexual singer Missy Higgins. A few non-surprises? The woman who made Maxim‘s 100th spot, Tila Tequila, wasn’t even close to making our list, and their number-one choice, swimsuit model Marisa Miller, barely received any votes from AfterEllen.com readers. In fact, just like last year, only two of Maxim‘s top 10 showed up anywhere on our list.

On the other hand, FHM‘s No.1 hottie, Megan Fox, made our list by a lesbian country mile, proving there are some women that straight men and queer women agree on.

After disregarding multiple votes from the same IP address, tossing out nominations for “my girlfriend”, and then counting the remaining votes, we discovered the number-one hottest woman this year according to lesbian and bi women is … Tina Fey! Coming in a close second is The L Word‘s Jennifer Beals, followed by our own AfterEllen.com vloggers Jill Bennett and Bridget McManus, and finally, out actress/musician Leisha Hailey (which means three out of the top five are openly gay).

The woman who made perhaps the biggest jump in rank this year is actress Sara Ramirez, who rose from No. 80 in 2007 to No. 8 in 2008, proving that playing gay can be good for your career! (OK, so the voting was closed before her character came out on Grey’s, but we lesbians have excellent gaydar, even for fictional TV characters.)

Other stats about this year’s list? There are 18 women of color – a definite improvement over last year – and 21 openly gay/bi women on the list (seven of whom are AfterEllen.com vloggers), which is more than double the number on last year’s list. We’ve put asterisks next to the names of the women on the list who are openly gay or bisexual. (There may be other women on the list who are queer, but we’re only noting the ones who are out.)

Our list includes women from all over the world – from countries as diverse as Canada, England, France, India, Mexico, Norway, and Spain – and women who vary in age from 18 to 57 years old. Although the vast majority of women on the list are actors or TV personalities, there are some musicians this year, as well as a few writers, a chef, and an athlete.

There are some similarities to the 2007 AfterEllen.com Hot 100. Many of the same women made both lists, and like last year, many of the women on this year’s list have played lesbian or bi characters on-screen, or expressed support for gay rights off-screen. (What can we say, we like women who like us!) Angie Harmon is once again the only openly conservative Republican to make our list – she even moved up in rank quite a bit this year- which is consistent with one of the prominent themes of the 2008 Hot 100: we really do love the bad girls! We also love the smart ones – or at least, the ones who play smart women on TV.

The following pages provide photos for all 100 women in ascending order according to your votes, with some further details provided about the first 25. We’ve also linked each woman’s name to other articles about her on AfterEllen.com, in case you want to do some more reading about them, and we’ve listed each woman’s rank on the 2007 list below her name.

This year, in addition to the photos, we’ve created a video countdown of all the women on the list with commentary provided by various lesbian and bi women (and a few token straight women) that AfterEllen.com readers know and love. You can watch the video countdown here as it’s rolled out in installments each day this week through Thursday.

And when you need a break from looking at all the hot women, check out our brother site’s list of the hottest men according to gay and bi men, on the AfterElton.com 2008 Hot 100 – you might even see some lesbian-ish men there!

Now on to your votes for the hottest women of 2008!

1. TINA FEY

Last October, Tina Fey mentioned the fact that she was No. 7 on last year’s Hot 100 on Late Night With Conan O’Brien, and a mere nine months later, she’s riding high as No. 1 on the 2008 AfterEllen.com Hot 100. Coincidence? We don’t think so. Take one part Fey’s support of the LGBT community, add her critical and comedic success in 30 Rock and Baby Mama (not to mention her hilarious Saturday Night Live sketches), mix it all together with some awesome black-rimmed glasses and bicurious shoes, and you’ve got a new lesbian icon. Smart, sexy, funny and down-to-earth: That’s what lesbians like!

2. JENNIFER BEALS Always intelligent, poised and on the best-dressed lists, Jennifer Beals has also become an advocate for LGBT rights through her role as Bette Porter on The L Word. The biracial actress told AfterEllen.com last month at the San Francisco GLAAD Awards, “I feel connected to the LGBT community by virtue of having always felt ‘other.'” Beals has made Bette one of The L Word‘s sexiest characters, whether she’s having a fling with her intern, being a demanding professor or reuniting (finally!) with Laurel Holloman’s Tina. Given that next year will mark the last season of The L Word, we won’t be surprised if Beals gives Tina Fey some competition for the No. 1 spot in 2009.

3. JILL BENNETT * What’s better than a good lesbian film or television character? A good lesbian film or television character actually portrayed by an out lesbian actor! Hot 100 newcomer Jill Bennett first came to our attention when she co-starred with lesbian favorite Mariel Hemingway in 2006’s In Her Line of Fire, then landed a memorable role as demonic hottie in here! TV’s supernatural soap opera Dante’s Cove. Her status as an internet sensation was sealed this year with the popularity of her AfterEllen.com vlog We’re Getting Nowhere, and with her portrayal of carnivorous, gun-toting seductress Andrea in the bawdy web series 3Way. Sexy, smart and unapologetically out since day one of her acting career, Bennett is a brink-of-fame actress whom AfterEllen.com readers can take full credit for discovering.

4. BRIDGET MCMANUS* Who’s our favorite flexible, flirty and funny lesbian? Comedian Bridget McManus, of course! The 28-year-old former All American cheerleader came to the attention of AfterEllen.com readers after a guest appearance on the vlog We’re Getting Nowhere. You demanded more McManus, and the hit AfterEllen.com vlog Brunch With Bridget was born. Broadcasting each week from her bed in Los Angeles, the professionally random McManus talks to her female guests about a variety of topics and ends each episode by cajoling them into a “pillow fight to the death.” She also made a memorable cameo as Rhonda the Rapid Delivery girl on the web series 3Way, and can be seen this summer in a very brief appearance in the Angelina Jolie blockbuster Wanted. Look for her in the upcoming comedy documentary, Laughing Matters: The Next Generation, and prepare to tell the rest of the world that you knew her way back when.

5. LEISHA HAILEY* Last year’s No. 1 hottie moves down a few spots this year, but that doesn’t mean that Leisha Hailey is any less adorable these days. Though her L Word character, the bubbly Alice Pieszecki, went through some ups and downs last season, Hailey’s career is on an upswing. Having just wrapped up a tour with her band, Uh Huh Her, Leisha’s preparing for the band’s first album to debut in August, and she’s also signed on as a spokesperson for Olivia. Openly gay, a killer guitar player, and simultaneously sweet and edgy? That’s hotness personified! 6. ELLEN PAGE The fact that Ellen Page didn’t even rank on last year’s Hot 100 is just a sign of how meteoric her rise to stardom has been in the wake of her Oscar nomination for Best Actress in Juno. That role – of a sarcastic, unexpectedly pregnant teen – put Page on the Hollywood map, but it was the character’s down-to-earth personality (OK, and maybe her sensible shoes) that made queer women sit up and take notice. It didn’t hurt that Page lampooned the rumors about her being gay in a hilarious Saturday Night Live skit. Contrary to the stereotype, being “hot” to lesbians clearly includes having a sense of humor.

7. SARAH SHAHI Though her onscreen fiancé Shane (Kate Moennig) has already moved on, many of us are still waiting for Sarah Shahi’s character, Carmen de la Pica Morales, to strut back into her life on The L Word. It’s a testament to Shahi’s acting chops, yes, but also to her sheer animal magnetism. But she threw her lesbian fans a bone when she signed on to play a cop in Life, sporting aviators, a service revolver and a dysfunctional personal life – just like we like ’em! Look for her next in the upcoming feature-length film, The Adventures of Beatle Boyin, in which she plays a “stripper/hooker” and the title character’s lesbian love-interest.

8. SARA RAMIREZ Sara Ramirez may be TV’s newest queer character, but the Grey’s Anatomy star was sexy to lesbian and bi women even before she played gay. The Mexican-American actress and Juilliard graduate has recorded a Spanish-language PSA about homophobia for GLAAD, won Tonys for her musical talents on Broadway, and is proud “to represent a group of women who aren’t stick-thin.” Her character’s bisexual awakening on Grey’s last month couldn’t have come at a better time, given the dearth of queer women on network TV, and it made Sara even hotter. So hot, in fact, that if it wasn’t for her heterosexual lifestyle, Sara just might be the perfect woman.

9. KATE MOENNIG Ah, Shane … um, Kate Moennig. Both the actor and the character are sexy, tomboyish and speak with a low-key self-confidence that sends many a woman’s heart aflutter. Is it a surprise that Liz Feldman couldn’t tell the difference between them? Say what you will about Shane’s hair, but Moennig has turned her L Word character into an icon for heartbreakers everywhere.

10. LENA HEADEY Ever since she stole the bride’s heart (and many a female viewer’s as well) in Imagine Me & You, British actor Lena Headey has found new and different ways to tantalize us. She’s played a sexy, greased-up Queen Gorgo in the battle epic 300, and reprised the legendary cinematic role of badass pistol uzi-packing mama Sarah Connor for television in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Off-screen, Headey is a vegetarian, a practitioner of yoga, and is studying boxing, proving that in both film and in real life, she seems to know exactly what lesbians like. 11. ANGELINA JOLIE* Her wild days may be behind her now that she’s a mom of four (and expecting two more!) and a Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N., but Angelina Jolie will always have a soft spot in the hearts of many lesbians and bisexual women because of her candidness about her own bisexuality. From her early days as the tattooed tomboy Margret “Legs” Sadovsky in Foxfire to her global stardom as the buxom Lara Croft in Tomb Raider or the deadly hot assassin in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Jolie has never backed down from tough-girl roles. And let’s be honest: We’ll never forget her in Gia.

12. JODIE FOSTER* The two-time Oscar-winning actor has long been a lesbian icon, given that she has consistently chosen to play complicated, strong women, and she got our attention again last year with her role in the revenge drama The Brave One, in which she sported a tomboyish ‘do and a fierce attitude. Though she has rarely revealed much about her private life aside from a few recent revealing comments, in public Foster has always been smart, sophisticated and someone to reckon with. And then there’s that gravelly voice …

13. LAUREL HOLLOMAN* Back in 1995, Laurel Holloman hit our radar in her first cinematic role as naive butch lesbian teenager Randy Dean in The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love, but she really proved herself to be an actor of many layers when she she signed on to play Tina Kennard on The L Word. Over the last five years, Holloman’s Tina has evolved from a passive lesbian wife to an angry-but-empowered woman betrayed, to a pregnant lesbian seductress, a cheating bisexual movie exec, and back to Bette’s wary but wiser object of desire all over again. The beautiful blond actor has definitely done her part to personify the lesbian definition of a MILF!

14. MANDY MUSGRAVE She made a monochromatic splash as Misty Monroe, a gun-wielding punk in Angela Robinson‘s Girltrash. But most of us know Mandy from her work on the groundbreaking teen drama South of Nowhere. In her turn as queer teen rebel Ashley Davies, Musgrave made many of us wish we’d come out in high school (and temporarily question own integrity – but she’s actually 21 years old, we checked!). Her cameo as a lesbian tart in the web series 3Way was a pleasant surprise, and while SoN is soon to be a distant memory, Musgrave’s spirited performance as a husky-voiced lesbian Romeo to Gabrielle Christian’s dewy-eyed lesbian Juliet has already gained her the kind of iconic lesbian status that lasts a lifetime.

15. KATE WINSLET Kate Winslet received one of her five Oscar nominations for her work in the highest-grossing film of all time (Titanic), was nominated for an Emmy (Extras), and even won a Grammy (for the children’s spoken-word recording Listen to the Storyteller). But the 31-year-old British actress isn’t on this list just because she’s an overachiever. She took a tabloid to court for libelous statements about her “dieting,” then donated the settlement to an eating disorder charity, and she’s currently working to bring the story of the world’s first female circus tiger tamer, Mabel Stark, to the big screen. Talented, outspoken and gorgeous, Winslet can crack her whip on us anytime! 16. LUCY LAWLESS The self-described “ball buster” earned her legions of lesbian fans by playing Xena, the Warrior Princess, and she has kept them happy by saying things like “I thought you were going to introduce me as Xena, where no man has gone before” – and by playing the sexy (and bisexual?) Cylon D’Anna Biers on Battlestar Galactica. Lawless is hot because she’s adventurous, loves her fans, and can rock a leather outfit like nobody’s business.

17. ELLEN DEGENERES* America’s most popular television host just turned 50 and looks as fresh as ever in her stylish blazers and button-downs. She’s out and proud and newly engaged to Portia de Rossi. When she’s not winning Emmys, she’s hosting the Oscars or needling folks like John McCain or Laura Bush about their lack of support for gay rights in a funny but subversive way. She’s living the lesbian dream, and there’s nothing hotter than that!

18. MARISKA HARGITAY As Detective Olivia Benson on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Mariska plays a tough broad with a badge, a brave spirit and a great leather jacket. She can also pull off a short pixie ‘do better than most lesbians can. But what really makes her attractive is her heart: Off-screen, Mariska heads up the Joyful Heart Foundation, an organization that provides support for women who have been sexually assaulted.

19. PENÉLOPE CRUZ The Spanish actress has given us all a new reason to become bilingual. From her award-winning role in the drama Volver to her comedic (and lesbian subtexty) turn in Bandidas with BFF Salma Hayek, this star of both American and Spanish-language films keeps us guessing as to what she’ll be doing next. Fortunately for us, her latest film is one in which she and Scarlett Johansson share a lip-lock. But you already know all about that.

20. ROSE ROLLINS The L Word got infinitely better when Tasha was introduced. Rose Rollins plays the ex-military soft butch lesbian with a quiet intensity, and her role as Tasha led to playing Monique in the web series Girltrash, which has only given lesbian fans more reason to love her A+ acting skills. When it comes to Rose, we want more! 21. RENEE O’CONNOR Six years after Xena: Warrior Princess went off the air, Renée O’Connor is still on our minds. Active in charity work, Renee heads up the Renée O’Connor Outreach Fund, which helps give money and support to families overwhelmed by bills from a serious illness. She’s a fixture at Xena fan conventions, and just when we thought she couldn’t get any hotter, she’ll be playing a lesbian in a multi-episode arc on Lifetime’s hit show Army Wives when it returns later this month. The summer just got even hotter!

22. JORDANA BREWSTER This Brazilian-American actress with gorgeous features started her career in the soaps, and gained more exposure in films in the 1990s like The Faculty and The Fast and the Furious. But lesbians know her best as the “evil” lesbian agent who stole our hearts in D.E.B.S. We’ve always been a sucker for the bad girls …

23. MARY-LOUISE PARKER An Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner, Mary-Louise has kept herself busy in the entertainment business. Although we fell in love with her in 1991’s Fried Green Tomatoes and loved her as a sexy political operative on The West Wing, we’re thrilled we get to see her hilarious facial expressions and fearless acting skills regularly now on television. On Weeds, she plays a single mom of two who will do anything to keep her family on the right track. In real life, she’s a single mom of two who also manages to star on a fabulously funny cable show. Hot mama!

24. CHRISTINA COX Christina Cox first made a splash with lesbians as the butchy girl in 1999’s Better Than Chocolate, and this year, she kicked some undead ass while wearing a sexy ponytail and glasses as Vicki Nelson on the Lifetime series Blood Ties. But Cox cemented her place in our hearts in 3Way‘s show-within-a-show, Ladycops, which spoofed her role as a closeted lesbian cop in Nikki & Nora, the best lesbian pilot that never got picked up.

25. GABRIELLE CHRISTIAN South of Nowhere would be, er, nowhere without 23-year-old Gabrielle Christian. As the teen drama’s protagonist, Spencer, Christian’s portrayal of a teenager struggling with her sexuality has been realistic and moving, and her on-again, off-again relationship with Mandy Musgrave’s Ashley has been one of the sexiest on TV. Off-screen, Gabi works tirelessly to raise money for her mother’s SIDS charity, and she recently became the spokesperson for the organization FAIR Fund, which works to stop child trafficking. The cousin of late actor Spencer Tracy (of Hepburn and Tracy fame), Christian will have to take on other roles when SoN wraps up later this year, but she proved she can do that when she showed up on CSI: Miami and Numb3rs earlier this year. Something tells me we’ll be following her wherever she goes. 26. KATE WALSH

27. NATALIE PORTMAN

28. ELIZA DUSHKU

29. MIA KIRSHNER

30. OLIVIA WILDE 31. KEIRA KNIGHTLEY

32. PIPER PERABO

33. KATEE SACKHOFF

34. JESSICA ALBA

35. EVANGELINE LILLY 36. CATE BLANCHETT

37. ELIZABETH MITCHELL

38. LAUREN GRAHAM

39. PORTIA DE ROSSI*

40. KATE BECKINSALE 41. EMILY BLUNT

42. RACHEL SHELLEY

43. BLAKE LIVELY

44. SALMA HAYEK

45. GILLIAN ANDERSON 46. ANGIE HARMON

47. MARNIE ALTON

48. MISSY HIGGINS*

49. LEIGHTON MEESTER

50. RACHEL WEISZ 51. SCARLETT JOHANSSON

52. EMMA WATSON

53. JORJA FOX

54. CHARLIZE THERON

55. STEPHANIE MARCH 56. JACKIE WARNER*

57. MAEVE QUINLAN

58. MEGAN FOX

59. ALYSON HANNIGAN

60. SANDRA OH 61. JESSICA BIEL

62. LUCY LIU

63. SOPHIA BUSH

64. ALICIA KEYS

65. AMBER BENSON 66. KATHERINE HEIGL

67. TEGAN AND SARA QUIN*

68. CARLY POPE

69. EMILY DESCHANEL

70. RACHEL MCADAMS 71. KRISTEN BELL

72. CAT CORA*

73. JENNIFER GARNER

74. KARMAN KREGLOE*

75. MILLA JOVOVICH 76. HALLE BERRY

77. MAURA TIERNEY

78. KATE MCKINNON*

79. P!NK

80. MICHELLE PARADISE* 81. MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ

82. GRO HAMMERSENG*

83. CLEA DUVALL

84. NICOLE KIDMAN

85. PADMA LAKSHMI 86. ELIZABETH KEENER

87. ERIN DANIELS

88. DANI CAMPBELL*

89. KRISTANNA LOKEN*

90. GRACE PARK 91. MERYL STREEP

92. NAOMI WATTS

93. DARA NAI*

94. SANDRA BULLOCK

95. IDINA MENZEL 96. ROSARIO DAWSON

97. CATHY DEBUONO*

98. MISSY PEREGRYM

99. MARION COTILLARD

100. JENN* That’s it for this year’s list – let us know in the comments which women on this year’s list are your favorites, which ones surprised you, and which ones you want to learn more about.

And don’t forget to watch our 2008 Hot 100 Video Countdown!

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button