Every Sexiest Man Alive Who Has Played a Doctor on Screen

From Patrick Dempsey's 11-season tenure as McDreamy on 'Grey's Anatomy' to Brad Pitt's turn as Dr. Anthony Fauci on 'SNL,' these Sexiest Men Alive all played doctors on screen

Meet PEOPLE's Sexiest Doctors Alive! Well, the Hollywood version, that is.

This year's Sexiest Man Alive, Patrick Dempsey, found one of his most beloved characters in Grey's Anatomy's Dr. Derek Shepherd, and he is in good company, as many of the previous Sexiest Men Alive also scrubbed in for a role.

From Dempsey's 11-season tenure on the long-running medical drama to Matthew McConaughey's turn as a charming pediatrician and beyond, here are some of the sexiest onscreen doctors.

Patrick Dempsey

In arguably his most beloved and well-known role, this year’s Sexiest Man Alive played Dr. Derek Shepherd on Grey’s Anatomy for 11 seasons before his character’s heartbreaking death. While it had been years since he had appeared on the long-running medical drama, during season 17, McDreamy returned for some special cameos. 

"No one knew until I showed up on set that day," Dempsey said of the surprise at the time. "And then we were really concerned that someone would take a picture and it would be out somehow, but we managed to keep it a secret, which was pretty phenomenal."

Denzel Washington

Though PEOPLE’s 1996 Sexiest Man Alive made his big screen debut in 1981’s Carbon Copy, his career really took off when he landed the role of Dr. Philip Chandler on St. Elsewhere — a part he played for all of the show's six seasons from 1982 to 1988.

Paul Rudd

PEOPLE’s 2021 Sexiest Man Alive stepped into the role of Dr. Isaac "Ike" Herschkopf on the 2021 series, The Shrink Next Door, in which he played a therapist to Will Ferrell’s Martin "Marty" Markowitz.

Brad Pitt

In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, PEOPLE’s two-time Sexiest Man Alive portrayed Dr. Anthony Fauci on Saturday Night Live, addressing the American public as the then-leader of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

George Clooney

George Clooney, who was crowned PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man in 1997 and 2006, appeared as Dr. Doug Ross on the medical drama ER starting in 1994. Twelve years after the show wrapped, the cast came together for an epic Zoom reunion and Clooney admitted that his wife, Amal, is not Dr. Ross’ biggest fan.

Matthew McConaughey

For the 2001 romantic comedy, The Wedding Planner, PEOPLE’s soon-to-be 2005 Sexiest Man Alive was tapped for the role of Dr. Steve “Eddie” Edison — a pediatrician who falls in love with Jennifer Lopez’s Mary Fiore.

Richard Gere

Not only has Gere been named sexiest twice (once in 1993 alongside Cindy Crawford as the sexiest couple, and again in 1999 solo), he’s also played a doctor more than once! In 2000’s Dr. T & the Women, he portrayed a successful gynecologist, and in the 2008 film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ Nights in Rodanthe, he played Dr. Paul Flanner.

Harrison Ford

1998's Sexiest Man Alive Ford is another who has put on a white coat more than once for a role. In 1988's Frantic, he played Dr. Richard Walker, a doctor whose wife is abducted from their hotel while they're in Paris for a medical conference.

In another ill-fated tale, 1993’s The Fugitive (above), his Dr. Richard Kimble is wrongfully arrested for murder in the death of his wife. And in 2010, he starred alongside Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell in Extraordinary Measures, in which he played a scientist recruited to help two parents find a cure for their children's rare illnesses.

He's a doctor again in his latest role, bringing laughs as therapist Dr. Paul Rhoades on Shrinking.

Pierce Brosnan

In the 2021 horror film, False Positive, 2001’s Sexiest Man Alive portrayed a sinister gynecologist.

Hugh Jackman

In 2006’s The Fountain, which takes place in the past, present and future, 2008’s Sexiest Man Alive played varying roles — depending on where in time he was — but in present day, was a neurosurgeon on a journey to save his wife.

Jude Law

2004’s Sexiest Man Alive played psychiatrist Jonathan Banks in the 2013 thriller, Side Effects, alongside Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum (a fellow Sexiest Man!) and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Tom Cruise

In the 1999 sexual drama, Eyes Wide Shut, PEOPLE’s 1990 Sexiest Man Alive played Dr. Bill Harford opposite his then real-life wife, Nicole Kidman.

Ryan Reynolds

Before he launched into stardom, the Sexiest Man Alive of 2010's big break came on the sitcom, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, from 1998 to 2001. On the show, Reynolds played Michael “Berg” Bergen, working at a pizza parlor and becoming a med student.

Patrick Swayze

1991’s Sexiest Man Alive, the late Swayze, stepped into the role of Dr. Max Lowe in 1992’s City of Joy. In the film, Dr. Lowe brings his medical training to Calcutta after a tragedy in his operating room in Houston.

Mark Harmon

Harmon was named Sexiest Man Alive in 1986, right around the time the actor ended his tenure as Dr. Robert Caldwell on St. Elsewhere — where he appeared for three seasons alongside fellow Sexiest Man Alive, Denzel Washington.

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