12 Classic Shirtless Scenes from the 2000s We'll Never, Ever Forget

They sure don't make movies like they used to...

The shirtless scene is a classic trope in popular television and film.

Although casting directors in the 2000s frequently failed to cast diverse leading actors, these iconic barechested scenes have been seared into the vault of our collective gay minds forever and ever...

12. Sean Faris & Cam Gigandet, Never Back Down (2008)

Since both leading actors spent most of this melee movie shirtless, it was hard to pick a scene. Here’s the first one, in which both amateur fighters peel off their top layer before brawling.

11. Channing Tatum, She’s The Man (2006)

I went to a boarding school myself, and the shirtless/sweatpants combo is definitely a dormitory classic. Tampons to soak up nosebleeds, however, were not a "thing," Viola.

10. Tom Welling, Smallville (2001-2011)

Clark Kent goes shirtless numerous times over the course of this television series's 10 seasons, but as singer Jewel puts it, the first cut is always the deepest.

9. Tyrese Gibson, 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

The Fast and the Furious franchise offered a few shirtless scenes, but this is the cream of the crop because 1.) There's some action (punching a car window) and 2.) Gibson’s smile and abdominals are goals AF.

8. Chris Evans, Not Another Teen Movie (2001)

Chris Evans might as well be considered the king of the shirtless scene, having stripped down for Cellular (2004), London (2005), The Fantastic Four (2005), and The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007). This is one of his most iconic shirt-free moments, and thanks to Captain America, it's far from the last.

7. Taylor Lautner, New Moon (2009)

I’m not trying to start anything, but I think it is fair to say that most of us were (and still are) Team Jacob.

6. Mario Lopez, Nip/Tuck (2006)

Okay, you’re right. Technically Nip/Tuck was a television series. And technically this is also a butt scene, but really, who’s counting?

5. Christian Bale, American Psycho (2000)

Let’s play a round of Hot or Not?

-Tighty-whities?
-The ice-face mask?
-Watching a man’s morning routine? 

4. Will Smith, I Am Legend (2007)

If the sweaty pull-ups weren't enough, the German Shepherd (Sam) jogging on the treadmill next to a superhuman Will Smith will seal the deal.

3. Ryan Kwanten & Nelsan Ellis, True Blood (2008-2014)

True Blood added a healthy amount of homoerotic scenes to a decade that flirted with the idea of male/male intimacy. This classic scene is, as Lafayette puts it, "going to make me clutch my pearls!"

2. Gerard Butler and Company, 300 (2006)

I remember watching this movie with my high school sports teammates, who didn’t seem to mind the gratuitous abs and leather speedos. If only those bros knew what really went on in Sparta...

1.Daniel Craig, Casino Royale (2006)

The scene of the decade. Bond’s iconic ocean dip could be to thank for the shorter (and tighter) men’s swimwear that followed a decade later, while simultaneously introducing a younger generation to their first "Yes, daddy!" awakening.