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Why are we so obsessed with blue eyes and what makes their colour so special? It turns out that if your iris is a shade of blue, you share a gene mutation with a Stone Age man from the Mesolithic period.
The well-preserved remains of the man, found in modern day north-west Spain, has lead scientists to believe that he is earliest person to be found with the gene mutation that results in blue eyes. The man had both the dark-skinned genes of Stone Age people found in Africa, but was more closely related to our Scandinavian friends in Europe. If your pupil is surrounded by a sea of blue, then scientists believe that you’re a descendant of this Mesolithic man.
Blue Eye Facts
- According to a study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh, light-eyed women tend to handle pain better than women with dark eyes. Maybe there is some truth to the urban myth that women with blue-eyes handle childbirth better than others!
- Studies have suggested that people with blue eyes are better strategic thinkers, and are more likely to succeed academically than their brown eyed counterparts.
- Berkeley University conducted a study with both brown eyed and blue eyed children, and found that the blue eyed children grew tired of trying news things quicker than the brown eyed children. Keep that in mind next time you’re introducing your blue-eyed mate to a new activity!
Is There A Link Between Blue Eyes & Personality?
People with blue eyes are said to be more egocentric, competitive and sceptical than those with brown eyes. Scientists believe that this is due to their evolutionary roots. Blue eyes are genetically rarer, so those lucky enough to have them have developed a competitive edge in order to survive. There is an old French nursery rhyme that says people with blue eyes go to heaven and people with green eyes go somewhere significantly hotter – let’s hope it’s just a story for all the sake of all the non-blues!
Here’s something to make your pupils dilate, no matter what colour eyes you have! We’ve complied 31 of our favourite blue-eyed male celebrities for you to swoon over. Has your favourite fella made the list?
31. Jeremy Meeks
Name: Jeremy Meeks
Notable achievements: Jeremy Meeks is a living testament to the old adage that people can change. A former member of the Crips with convictions, police posted his mugshot on Facebook in 2014. It went viral and he quickly became known as ‘Hot Felon’. When he was done serving his 27-month sentence, a contract with White Cross Management was waiting for him! People often ask how can a black guy have blue eyes? It’s possible, despite being so rare, due to either genetic mutations or Caucasian heritage.
30. Michael Ealy
Name: Michael Ealy
Notable achievements: You’ll know American actor Michael Ealy from films like Barbershop and 2 Fast 2 Furious, television series like Sleep Cell: American Terror and Almost Human and he was Beyoncé’s male co-star in her Halo music video. He’s on the ‘hot guys with blue eyes’ list, and he’s here to stay!
29. Scott Disick
Name: Scott Disick
Notable achievements: Long live Lord Disick! Scott and Kourtney didn’t always see eye to eye, but the Lord and his son Mason have recently recorded the sweetest message for Kourtney ahead of her 40th birthday. “We love you so much. We appreciate everything you do and do for us. And you are a wonderful, wonderful mum” said Scott. Awww, that’s what we like to see, happy families at last!
28. Ian Somerhalder
Name: Ian Somerhalder
Notable achievements: Ian’s most famous for his role in the television series The Vampire Diaries, and it’s not hard to see why! Aside from having bucket loads of acting talent, Ian’s piercing blue eye colour makes him looking convincingly vampiric.
27. John Barrowman
Name: John Barrowman MBE
Notable achievements: What, apart from holding a Most Excellent Order of the British Empire? The Scottish-American actor, singer, presenter and author is musical theatre veteran and most famous in the United Kingdom for his role on Doctor Who as Captain Jack Harkness.
26. Chris Pine
Name: Chris Pine
Notable achievements: We can’t talk about men with blue eyes without talking about actor Chris Pine! If you didn’t geek out watching him in the Star Trek reboots, you definitely loved him in Wonder Woman.
25. Logan Lerman
Name: Logan Lerman
Notable achievements: That baby face and those baby blue eyes eyes – who doesn’t love Logan Lerman? He describes himself as “the black sheep” of his family, because he’s one of the only people not have gone into the medical profession. We’re glad you pursued acting Logan, The Perks of Being A Wallflower wouldn’t have been half as good without you!
24. Brad Pitt
Name: Brad Pitt
Notable achievements: Where do we even start? We first met the dashing Brad when he played cowboy hitchhiker in Thelma & Louise. We bawled our eyes out watching him in Legends of the Fall, and privately we felt that Mrs & Mrs Smith was too hot to be screened in the cinema. As far as celebrity goes, Mr. Pitt is it! And he’s got the blue-eyes to prove it!
23. Niall Horan
Name: Niall Horan
Notable achievements: ‘Irish eyes are smiling‘, as the song goes, and these Irish eyes are as blue as can be! Singer Niall Horan rose to prominence as a member of One Direction, but now his singles like This Town and Slow Hands are all over the top 20.
22. Paul Walker
Name: Paul Walker
Notable achievements: The world sadly lost the brilliant, blue-eyed Paul in 2013, when he died alongside his friend and driver Rodger Rodas in a car accident. Paul was best known for his role as Brian O’Conner in the Fast And Furious franchise, and was undoubtedly taken from us too soon.
21. Lucky Blue Smith
Name: Lucky Blue Smith
Notable achievements: Don’t act surprised that this model made the list, Blue is his middle name after all! Scouted at the age of 10 and signed to an international model agency by age 12, you can’t pick up a copy of Vogue, GQ, Elle, Marie Claire, any magazine of note, without seeing Lucky’s pretty face.
20. Leonardo DiCaprio
Name: Leonardo DiCaprio
Notable achievements: How did this man only win his first Oscar for The Revenant? Leonardo DiCaprio is an acting heavy weight, environmentalist, philanthropist and film producer, and at age 44 is still one of the best looking men on the planet.
19. Justin Timberlake
Name: Justin Timberlake
Notable achievements: First he was part of NSYNC, one of the most successful boy bands of all time. Then, he went solo and hit us with the FutureSex/LoveSounds album in 2006. Over the course of his career, he’s sold over 32 million albums and 56 million singles globally – and he’s found time to act in films like The Social Network and Friends With Benefits.
18. David Gandy
Name: David Gandy
Notable achievements: The model’s break out shoot was for Dolce & Gabbana fragrance ‘Light Blue’. Coincidence? We think not! At the time, waif-like male models had been having a moment, so David’s 50-foot billboard in Times Square had the world asking who is this well built man with the dark brown hair and blue eyes? Since then David has only gone from strength to strength, writing for British Vogue and GQ as well as running his own production company.
17. Hugh Grant
Name: Hugh Grant
Notable achievements: It was Four Weddings and A Funeral that saw Hugh blow up internationally, and if you tell me you didn’t fancy him as Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones, you’re obviously lying. He may be approaching 60, but Hugh’s still got it going on.
16. Nicholas Hoult
Name: Nicholas Hoult
Notable achievements: Big-budget productions, small independent projects – Nicholas Hoult does them all. We loved him as Tony Stoneham in the coming of age series Skins, and this year he knocked it out of the park in the historical comedy-drama The Favourite.
15. Jared Leto
Name: Jared Leto
Notable achievements: Judging by Jared’s reaction to this Gucci coat, we can assume he’s got a thing for green. That doesn’t change the fact that this Joker has a pair of the most soul-searching blue eyes the world has ever seen.
14. Tom Felton
Name: Tom Felton
Notable achievements: Altogether, say it with me now – “Potter!” Once the villainous Draco Malfoy, Tom Felton has gone on to appear in a string of successful films and has has also carved out a career in the music industry. Slytherin house colours may be green, but Tom’s eyes are definitely Ravenclaw blue!
13. Jude Law
Name: Jude Law
Notable achievements: Jude has a long list of accomplishments on both stage and screen, he’s been a staple of period dramas, a sex symbol in his own right and he’s played both Alfie and Albus Dumbledore? Don’t talk to me about range unless you’re the blue-eyed hunk that is Jude Law!
12. Benedict Cumberbatch
Name: Benedict Cumberbatch
Notable achievements: Banister Crumblebench. Buttercup Cumbersnatch. Bodysnatch Cummerbund – face it, you still know who I’m referring to, don’t you? Despite the Internet having zero respect for the man’s name (check out the Benedict Cumberbatch Name Generator if you don’t believe me), we love Benedict for his powerful portrayals of Sherlock Holmes, Alan Turing and Julian Assange and his undying respect for his female co-stars.
11. Daniel Radcliffe
Name: Daniel Radcliffe
Notable achievements: You’re a blue-eyed hottie Harry! Daniel Radcliffe could easily have gone off the rails like many child-stars before him, but instead he’s gone on to tread the boards in controversial plays like Equus, appear in several independent and blockbuster films, and support many LGBTQ charities and causes.
10. Daniel Craig
Name: Daniel Craig
Notable achievements: Here’s another Daniel who’s British, blue-eyed and the star of a multi-million dollar franchise. We all remember Daniel leaving the water in Casino Royale wearing those tight-blue trunks, and we’re not likely to forget his bright blue eyes in a hurry either.
9. Liam Hemsworth
Name: Liam Hemsworth
Notable achievements: He started off on Ramsay Street, playing Josh Taylor in Neighbours, then went on to play Gale Hawthorne in the nail-biting Hunger Games franchise alongside Jennifer Lawrence. Liam and his brothers Chris and Luke are the perfect example of blue eyes running in the family.
8. Chris Hemsworth
Name: Chris Hemsworth
Notable achievements: The tried and tested Australian method of starting off on Home & Away sure worked for Chris Hemsworth, who started out playing Summer Bay resident Kim Hyde and now plays Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The blue eyed babe and his beautiful family live in Byron Bay, and we can’t wait to see Chris’s latest work Dhaka, which is currently in post-production.
7. Jake Gyllenhaal
Name: Jake Gyllenhaal
Notable achievements: You can that the blue-eyed gene is strong in the Gyllenhaal family! Acting is in Jake and sister Maggie’s blood; with a director father and screenwriter mother what else were the siblings going to do for work? Jake is set to star alongside our very own Nicole Kidman in the upcoming HBO series ‘Lake Success’.
6. Henry Cavill
Name: Henry Cavill
Notable achievements: He’s been voted ‘World’s Sexiest Man’ twice and came third on Empire’s list of ‘The 100 Sexiest Movie Stars’. The British actor is best known for playing Clarke Kent in the DC Extended Universe, and he currently lives in South Kensington with his glorious fluff ball Kal, an American Akita.
5. Michael Fassbender
Name: Michael Fassbender
Notable achievements: His film debut was in the Spartan war epic 300. Since then, Fassy has earned a reputation for taking on gritty, challenging roles, playing IRA activist Bobby Sands in Hunger. His depiction of a sex addict in Shame earned him multiple awards, and he was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in 12 Years A Slave. Oh, did we mention he has the blue eyes of a God?
4. Zac Efron
Name: Zac Efron
Notable achievements: Who knew that we’d all end up thirsting so hard for Troy from High School Musical? Yet here we are. We’re all eagerly awaiting for Zac’s chilling new Netflix film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile to drop on 3 May.
3. Cillian Murphy
Name: Cillian Murphy
Notable achievements: Since his lead role in the terrifying end of the world flick 28 Days Later, we’re really warmed to Cillian Murphy. The blue-eyed Irish man does one hell of a convincing Brummy accent, he’s been playing Birmingham native Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders since 2013.
2. Paul Newman
Name: Paul Newman
Notable achievements: American actor, producer and philanthropist Paul Newman has some of the most famous blue eyes the world has ever seen. He once joked “If my eyes should ever turn brown, my career is shot to hell.”
1. Frank Sinatra
Name: Frank Sinatra aka ‘Ol Blue Eyes’
Notable achievements: Of course Frank Sinatra is number one our list, he’s known as Ol Blue Eyes of course! His bright blue peepers and heavenly voice garnered him thousands of loyal fans all around the world, and he remains one of the most popular and influential artists of the 20th century.
