23 celebs who went from twink to twunk we can’t stop thirsting over

While some folks may joke about twink-death, the evolution from twink to twunk is one of our favorite journeys to chart. Obviously, it’s not the only way to inspire thirst in the gay population, after all, we love our Bears and forever twinks, too (shoutout Troye Sivan)!

But recent years have seen a growing pipeline in Hollywood, with so many popular twink actors deciding to hit the gym and become the twunks we know them as now. Fans have absolutely loved seeing so many performers share their transformations, especially since they often come with said twunks sharing this impressive journey through thirst traps online.

Twink death is coming, but some muscly stars got ahead of the curve and ditched the title all on their own. Keep scrolling to learn which celebrities have transformed from twinks into twunks before our very eyes!

Zac Efron

No conversation about twinks turning into twunks is complete without discussing the blueprint: Mr. Troy Bolton himself, Zac Efron. While the mid-2000s featured him mainly as a boy-next-door-styled heartthrob, demanding movie roles brought the twunk out of him, with Efron making waves as one of the most muscular actors in Hollywood by 2012. He’s certainly graduated from twunk to daddy territory nowadays, but that doesn’t mean the man shouldn’t be appreciated for paving the way for twink transformations.

Kit Connor

Most viewers were introduced to Kit Connor as Heartstopper’s Nick Nelson, with fans adoring this complete sweetheart of a character, and then getting shocked when they visited the actor’s Instagram and saw just what a jacked powerhouse he was in real life! Connor’s path to being a twunk was an unfortunate one; he initially began working out due to fans criticizing him for not looking as buff as Nick from the Heartstopper comics. Luckily, the young performer has turned the gym into a nurturing space, developing a good relationship with his (super muscular) body and spreading a message of body positivity for twunks everywhere!

David Archuleta

Whether he’s belting his heart out on American Idol or posting spicy pictures online, LGBTQ+ music lovers just can’t seem to get enough of David Archuleta. It’s why so many were watching intently as the musician began to share progress pictures of himself working out. A love for fitness saw him start to hit the gym more and more, with the ‘Creme Brulee’ singer quickly abandoning his status as a twink to become one of the music industry’s premier twunk artists!

Nicholas Galitzine

From Red, White, and Royal Blue to Bottoms, fans knew Nicholas Galitzine as the cute blonde who couldn’t stop starring in LGBTQ+ movies…and then, he got cast in the upcoming He-Man revival. Gone was the floppy-haired Twink, and in his place was a shockingly shredded Twunk ready to fight by the power of Grayskull! It was a total physical shift from anything viewers had seen him in before, and while it may have robbed fans of the twink we all know, it gave them the superpowered twunk Galitzine is now.

Tyler Posey

Wolfpack, rise up! Because nobody transformed from a twink to a twunk like Tyler Posey after the first season of Teen Wolf; in that inaugural installment, Posey had none of the muscles and abs he’s known for today. He initially looked like your typical twink, but the rising demands of the series pushed him to basically become a werewolf in real life. Funnily enough, he won’t be the only shapeshifting twunk to show up on this list…

Jonathan Bennett

While many fans fell in love with him as Aaron Samuels in Mean Girls, Jonathan Bennett has spent the past decade making his mark in countless other ways — including the steamy workout pictures that fill his social media. The gay actor/author has been completely open about his personal life with his husband, which includes treating fans to the intense transformation he went on from lanky leading man to the mature twunk he is now.

Elliot Page

Elliot Page is a talented actor, an absolute trailblazer, and a fierce advocate — he’s also one of the poster boys for twinks turning into twunks! Fans have been in awe of the physical fitness journey the man has been on recently; he’s shared how transitioning has not only boosted his mental and physical health but has allowed him to engage in fitness like he never has before. It’s a legitimately beautiful reason for his departure from twink to twunk, and it just so happens to come with some truly stellar thirst traps!

Will Poulter

Few moments in the film industry have been as shocking as watching the awkward guy from We’re The Millers become the buff twunk that Will Poulter is today. The man has explained that his physical transformation is all due to one company: Marvel. Becoming a part of this cinematic universe seems to require an extreme amount of muscle, a requirement that Poulter completely exceeded to play the shining Adam Warlock and leave his Twink self in the dust!

Russell Tovey

Few twunks have garnered as much global attention as the UK’s Russell Tovey. Originally gaining fame as the timid Twink werewolf George on Being Human, the past decade has seen the man get more and more beefy (to the delight of his many fans). He’s discussed how fitness is actually a coping mechanism; a brutal attack at 18 left him traumatized and feeling weak. The gay actor uses the gym as a way to feel more secure and confident in his body, a transformation that has not only helped him become an international advocate but has also made him one of the leading figures of the Twink-Twunk pipeline!

Tom Holland

A list of former twinks could never be complete without your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Tom Holland! The lovable superhero has made comic fans swoon ever since he first entered the MCU, an entrance that coincided with the young man deciding to ditch his Twink identity for a ripped Twunk one. Like others on this list, this was due to the physical demands of being a Marvel superhero, a title he doesn’t take lightly. It’s a commitment that not only makes him one of the best Spider-Men cinema has ever seen, but has created the twunk appearance fans are obsessed with now!

Taylor Lautner

Most people decide to become a twunk simply because they want to — other times, it’s because they want to keep their job! Such was the case of Taylor Lautner, who was told he wouldn’t be able to return as Jacob Black in the Twilight franchise if he didn’t bulk up. It’s safe to say the man wanted to keep his job, because by the time he returned in New Moon, gone was the twinky Jacob of the first film. In his place was a bulky werewolf who broke ground in terms of twunk representation (and acted as a gay awakening for countless fans!).

Tom Daley

Olympic gold medalist Tom Daley used to fit neatly in the twink category, but as he gotten older, and bulked up to perfect his diving game, Daley is now firmly in the twunk camp — and we’re not mad about it! Daley has always been fit, but his baby face and lean frame had people considering him a twink for years, it’s only more recently that he started to gain attention for his twunk physique.

Chris Colfer

Chris Colfer was the quintessential twink on Glee when he played gay glee club member Kurt Hummel. Since portraying that iconic character, he’s gone on to continue acting and has become a New York Times bestselling author — a decidedly adult career trajectory. But beyond aging out of being a twink, Colfer has also gone viral recently for showing off his surprising gym gains that have people calling him a twunk.

James McAvoy

James McAvoy started his career while he was still a teenager, when his slender frame and rounder face made him a instant twink fave despite being straight. But then in 2016 he starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s Split where he played someone with dissociative Identity Disorder and one of his personalities was a jacked man named the Beast. This was the world’s first introduction to twunk McAvoy, but he has continued to show off his muscular physique ever since. Whether he’s showing off his thick thighs in tiny rugby shorts or taking his shirt off in movies like Speak No Evil, it’s clear that he’s turned into a twunk.

Henry Cavill

Henry Cavill has been famous for his muscles for so many years that it’s easy to forget he used to be a rosy-cheeked twink. He starred in a slew of historical dramas in the early 2000s where he looked like the perfect twink, including The Count of Monte Cristo, Red Ridding Hood, and Tristian + Isolde. In the early days of his career, Cavill was slender and baby faced, it wasn’t until later that he bulked into the superhero-bodied twunk that we know today. Now, when you think of Cavill, you’re probably picturing him with endless muscles and a chin that could cut glass. His roles in the Superman franchise and The Witcher has him cemented as a twunk in everyone’s imaginations.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Aaron Taylor-Johnson captured people’s hearts as a baby-faced teenager in his first major role, Nowhere Boy. Back then, he looked like a quintessential twink — despite being straight — but like so many others on this list, a role in a superhero movie ended up being his twink to twunk pipeline. Taylor-Johnson had been bulking up for a while, but his role in Marvel’s Kraven pushed him firmly into his twunk era. It’s the perfect film to watch if you love a muscular man, since he’s shirtless for a lot of it!

Michael Cimino

Michael Cimino may be straight, but he played the ultimate twink in Love, Victor when he was still a baby-faced young man. But since then, he’s made a complete transformation from twink to muscular twunk. Lately, instead of fans pointing out how cute he is, he’s been going viral for his sexy gym selfies, showing off just how much he’s changed over the years.

Keiynan Lonsdale

Out gay actor Keiynan Lonsdale started his career in Hollywood looking like a twink prototype while starring in shows like Dance Academy, where he played a ballet dancer, to The Flash, where he starred as Kid Flash, and the role he’s probably most famous for, Love, Simon. But in the years since he started acting, Lonsdale has put on muscle mass while still managing to play with femme and androgynous aesthetics in the way he dresses.

Charlie Hunnam

Charlie Hunnam started his career as a literal twink on the original British Queer as Folk, where he played 15-year-old Nathan Maloney. The gay series launched his career, but he jumped from twink to twunk when he became popular in the United States as the muscular biker Jackson “Jax” Teller on Sons of Anarchy. But during the press tour for his most recent role where he starred Ed Gein in Ryan Murphy’s Monster series, it became clear that Hunnam has now progressed all the way to daddy status.

Connor Storrie

Actor Connor Storrie, who is starring in the new gay sports romance series Heated Rivalry, may be portraying buff hockey player Ilya Rozanov now, but he didn’t always look like a twunk. These days, Storrie is all hard lines and big muscles, but before he rocketed to stardom, he was a model. The 25-year-old actor had long hair, a much leaner physique, and posed in androgynous photoshoots.

Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan Bailey may be going viral every other day for his bulging biceps and bulging…other body parts, he was once a young actor with fewer muscles who looked like a quintessential twink. Long before Wicked or Fellow Travelers, Bailey was in shows like Leonardo, Broadchurch, and W1A. Years later, we got the chance to see him shirtless on Bridgerton, where he bulked up and had clearly turned from twink to twunk. Since then, he has only driven gay fans feral with his daddy energy in Jurassic Park: Rebirth and the muscles he’s constantly showing off during press tours.

Michael B. Jordan

Michael B. Jordan may be best known as a muscular action star, but he started out his career as a soap opera star on All My Children, where he looked like an adorable twink. Even though he started getting muscular when he starred in Friday Night Lights, he was still in his twink era. But by the time he starred as the villain Killmonger in Black Panther and a boxer in Creed, it was clear he had graduated to being the hunky twunk we know today.

Jake Gyllenhaal

From October Sky to playing an emo teen in Donnie Darko, young Jake Gyllenhaal exemplified the twink look. But it’s been years since he first crashed onto the scene and since then he’s taken on roles that have forced him to bulk up and turn himself into a total twunk. For roles in movies like Southpaw, Prince of Persia, and Spider-Man: Far From Home, Gyllenhaal had to pack on the muscle, but it was his role as a bouncer in Road House where he cemented his twunk status.