Male Actors Who Are Definitely Taking Off Their Shirt In Movies
There is one ironclad rule of Hollywood cinema: If your leading man has insane abs, you absolutely must show them off. However, there are some men who do it more than others and have become known as the great shirtless actors of cinema.
These stars aren't afraid to pop off their tops during a romantic moment, a shirt-ripping fight sequence, or even for just a bit of eye candy. Many are all but guaranteed to take off their shirts in whatever movie they're in. For some, it's an opportunity to showcase the results of all their hard work in the gym. For others, their shirtlessness is played up for laughs. There are also those rare few who integrate their disrobing into their ab-tastic characters so thoroughly it becomes part of the narrative.
Whether it's to play a bare-chested medieval fantasy warrior, a flawlessly toned American psycho, a dance-trained male stripper, or a charming yet mischievous surfer dude, there are a few Hollywood A-listers who seem downright allergic to T-shirts.
- Photo: Thor: Ragnarok / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures1295 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 4 min.
Hemsworth's shirtlessness is often used sparingly, more as a seasoning than a main ingredient.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 8
Signature Shirtless Scene: In Thor: Ragnarok, after getting absolutely savaged in a gladiatorial fight against the Hulk, Hemsworth's god of thunder wakes up shirtless and dazed.
It's the best view audiences get of Hemsworth's abs, and one that quickly became the standard by which his (and other MCU) shirtless scenes are judged.
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- Photo: Baywatch / Paramount Pictures2205 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 18 min.
Efron's average increased dramatically after the first few years of his career when he moved into more dramatic roles and raunchy comedies.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 13
Signature Shirtless Scene: In Baywatch, Efron's shirtlessness is essentially its own storyline. The pinnacle of his bare-chested performance in the action-comedy comes when he successfully completes a Ninja Warrior-inspired obstacle course, including a salmon ladder and dangling rings that he soars through like a pro.
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- Photo: The Wolverine / 20th Century Fox3204 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 9 min.
Many of Jackman's shirtless moments occur during fight scenes, which can be lengthy, depending on the movie.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 17
Signature Shirtless Scene: For as long as Jackman's played the savage X-Men hero Wolverine, he's always been ripped and had no problem showing it off. However, he kicked things to another level in 2013's The Wolverine, where he got into competitive bodybuilder shape for the character's bloody romp through Japan.
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- Photo: Magic Mike / Warner Bros. Pictures4179 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 13 min.
Early in his career, Tatum appeared in films that essentially cast him to play just a super-handsome shirtless guy - which pushes his average up significantly. The man is definitely comfortable in his own skin.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated):16
Signature Shirtless Scene: Tatum has never been one to hide his body, but his work as a male stripper in Magic Mike will always be his legacy. The scene when he and his fellow strippers perform a number at the Xquisite Strip Club set to a dubstep version of "It's Raining Men" is a shirtless symphony.
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- Photo: Crazy, Stupid, Love. / Warner Bros. Pictures5176 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 6 min.
Gosling hasn't made shirtlessness his main acting trait, but significant scenes in Crazy, Stupid, Love (CSL) and The Place Beyond the Pines push his average up a bit.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 8
Signature Shirtless Scene: There's one particular scene in CSL that will forever be remembered as the moment Gosling went from a romantic leading man to a true Hollywood heartthrob.
In the scene, Gosling's character Jacob has taken Hannah (Emma Stone) back to his house, where she asks him to take off his shirt. After he reluctantly obliges, Hannah famously says of his washboard abs, "Seriously? It's like you're Photoshopped!"
- Photo: American Psycho / Lions Gate Films6155 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 4 min.
More than any actor on this list, Bale is willing to take his body to extremes for a role. His shirtlessness varies based on his weight and body type for each movie, and it's often used to communicate something about the character he's playing.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 13
Signature Shirtless Scene: In addition to his intense dedication, Bale is best-known for his wild weight fluctuations for his roles. The 6' actor allegedly dropped down to an emaciated 121 pounds for The Machinist, then packed on nearly 100 pounds of muscle to play the buff Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins. He also bulked up significantly to play the overweight former Vice President Dick Cheney in Vice.
By far, Bale's most famous - and creepiest - unclothed performance can be found in American Psycho. As the bloodthirsty and self-obsessed Patrick Bateman, Bale is regularly shirtless while doing hundreds of sit-ups, delicately applying a face mask, basking in a tanning bed, and staring at himself while sleeping with an escort. His egomaniacal character made shirtlessness a core aspect of his personality.
- Photo: Fight Club / 20th Century Fox7164 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 10 - 15 min.
Pitt isn't always shirtless, but when he is, it becomes a focal point of the scene.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 11
Signature Shirtless Scene: Pitt's well-toned body has often been used to convey his Adonis-like qualities, but his most famous shirtless role subverts his attractiveness by covering his shredded abs in grime, sweat, and blood.
As Tyler Durden in Fight Club, Pitt is regularly beating and getting beaten by other burly, disaffected, and disillusioned men in the basement of Lou's Tavern.
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- Photo: The Twilight Saga: New Moon / Summit Entertainment8160 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 22 min.
Lautner hasn't been in a lot of films, but he's shirtless so very often in the Twilight Saga.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 6
Signature Shirtless Scene: In the first film in the Twilight franchise, Lautner plays the werewolf Jacob, rocking long hair and a svelte frame. In The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Lautner returns, this time with major abs and almost no shirts at all.
According to the filmmakers, there's an in-universe reason why the werewolves in the movies never have shirts on: They mostly live in poverty and don't have money to replace their shirts every time they uncontrollably turn into hairy rage monsters. So they opt to save their clothes for special occasions and just walk around in jean shorts.
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- Photo: Black Panther / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures9125 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 17 min.
Jordan's shirtless boxing in both Creed films and his role in Black Panther pushed the average way up.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 4
Signature Shirtless Scene: For a cinematic highpoint of Jordan's shirtlessness, one has to turn to the scene in Black Panther when Jordan's Erik Killmonger fights with T'Challa for the right to rule Wakanda.
Killmonger marks his body with ritual scar tattoos, which filmmakers created using silicone molds that took several hours to apply each day.
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- Photo: The Fighter / Paramount Pictures10144 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 3 - 5 min.
While he doesn't go shirtless quite as often as some other similarly ripped actors, when he does, he seems to bask in the glory of his own six-pack.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 10
Signature Shirtless Scene: Even before he became a Hollywood star, Wahlberg had no problem popping his top as the rapper Marky Mark. He transitioned from Calvin Klein ads to a starring role in Boogie Nights - though the scene he's most remembered for in that film has nothing to do with his well-developed torso.
Wahlberg's most impressive shirtless scene is featured in The Fighter. The Boston-born actor plays boxer Micky Ward, who lets himself go after stepping away from the ring for a while, but then gets ripped when he returns to the sport. Wahlberg's physical transformation is remarkable, and possibly played a part in the Oscar nomination he received for his performance in the film.
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- Photo: Terminator 2: Judgment Day / TriStar Pictures11133 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 20 min.
His work in the Conan films really bumps up his average.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 13
Signature Shirtless Scene: In Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Schwarzenegger as the T-800 time travels to modern-day Los Angeles without a stitch of clothes. He walks into a biker bar, beats everyone up, and makes his famous request: "I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle."
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- Photo: Fool's Gold / Warner Bros. Pictures12123 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 3 - 5 min.
McConaughey has some great abs, and many of his roles - particularly in his early career - involved showing them off. However, they aren't the central thesis of his acting, so his shirtless scenes are usually intermittent and relatively brief. (Surfer, Dude is an outlier that had to be ignored as to not radically offset the range.)
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 15+
Signature Shirtless Scene: While there are countless scenes to choose from, when most people think of shirtless McConaughey, they picture him in Fool's Gold opposite Kate Hudson. Rocking his lengthy blond locks and impressive abs, the actor stars as a treasure hunter named Finn who apparently hates shirts.
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- Photo: Enter the Dragon / Warner Bros.1398 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 10 - 20 min.
Lee was always either getting his shirt ripped off, clawed off, or punched off in fight scenes. In fact, a lot of his movies are basically long strings of amazing, shirt-destroying fight scenes.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 4 (out of 5)
Signature Shirtless Scene: In Enter the Dragon (Lee's last film before his untimely passing at the age of 32), the martial arts master faces off against the villainous Han, who is armed with a giant metal claw. As a shirtless Lee fights and chases Han through a hall of mirrors, he gets repeatedly sliced and diced. Despite the numerous bloody claw marks across his chiseled torso, Lee never slows down.
It's one of the most well-known and mimicked climaxes in action movie history, and it has become a go-to visual reference when people think of the late martial arts legend.
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- Photo: Rambo: First Blood Part II / TriStar Pictures14102 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 25 min.
Between the Rambo sequels, the Rocky franchise's boxing matches, and Bullet to the Head, Stallone doesn't limit his shirtless scenes to just when his character is sleeping with ladies or lounging around. His shirtlessness is often a full-on character trait.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 29+
Signature Shirtless Scene: Stallone's impossibly ripped upper body became a symbol of loud American ultra-patriotism in the 1980s. This is clearest in Rambo: First Blood Part II, where his striated physique helps him defeat the Vietnamese-Soviet forces, and in Rocky IV, where he ends the Cold War by punching Ivan Drago (the physical manifestation of the USSR) into submission.
- Photo: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy / DreamWorks Pictures15114 VOTES
Avg. Shirtless Time Per Movie: 2 - 3 min.
Ferrell's shirtlessness is frequently used to add some self-effacing comedy to his various self-important characters - but it's rarely more than a sight gag.
Number Of Movies In Which He Goes Shirtless (Estimated): 9
Signature Shirtless Scene: While tossing off his clothes, Ferrell delivers one of Old School's most famous lines: "We're going streaking!" However, it's his wildly gratuitous and hilariously ineffective attempt to seduce Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) in the first Anchorman movie that has cemented itself in the shirtless collective consciousness.
As it turns out, the world really did appreciate those two tickets to the gun show.
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