Dear Gossips,

We are in the final week of Michael B Jordan’s reign as PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive. The SMA of 2021 should be announced soon and in the past I’ve run down a list of possible candidates with what I think their odds are of securing the title. There was a time, though, a few years ago, when the pop culture relevance of the SMA title was starting to diminish. MBJ being named as SMA definitely restored some of that former glory and I wonder whether or not this year’s SMA will carry forward that momentum.

One of the factors behind the SMA downswing period was that there were some stars who just weren’t interested. The best example of this is Ryan Gosling. Ryan could have been the Sexiest Man Alive several years ago but it’s long been reported that he’s turned it down – multiple times. That totally tracks. Ryan Gosling has never been interested in that kind of fame, and can you actually picture him submitting to an interview about his sexiness and posing for a photo shoot to highlight his sexiness? Besides, even if he has changed his mind about it (doubtful), there’s no professional gain for him to do it right now for publicity anyway. It’s still months yet before he has to promote a project.

That said, there is another Canadian… who is my choice and my prediction this year:

Keanu Reeves.

Is Keanu interested in that kind of fame? Well, no. But there’s also always been a fun, who-gives-a-sh-t energy to Keanu that could work here. And it’s not like it would hurt him. Like it wouldn’t make anyone less interested in seeing John Wick. As uncool as PEOPLE Magazine is, it wouldn’t make him any less cool. In fact, the unexpectedness of it might even add to his coolness. Look how he made it work in Always Be My Maybe.

The Sexiest Man Alive has to be recognisable, familiar for all quadrants. PEOPLE is a mass market taste, never niche. Like, I know, if it were up to certain corners of the internet, and Kris Jenner, Pete Davidson could be a possibility. Kris, clearly, has decided on this new project right now – and we’ll get to that later today. That said, Kris hasn’t had the runway so far to make Pete the SMA; Pete’s only been in the Kardashian orbit for a week. And even though the 20-year-olds are horny for him, that’s not the PEOPLE buyer.

Is Keanu though? Well, yeah. After a 30+ year career, who hasn’t bought into Keanu Reeves? He covers the Point Break generation, the art house indie crowd, he brings in the video gamers and the graphic novels now that he’s in that lane himself, he’s got the dude vote, he’s got the comedy vote (Bill & Ted), few actors of his cohort are as unproblematic as he is (and there’s no reason to believe that will change) – the man is an icon! And he just happens to be coming back into the culture in a big way as we move into the holiday season with one of the culture’s most highly anticipated franchises: The Matrix.

The Matrix Resurrections is premiering in just a few weeks, expected to be a holiday blockbuster. Keanu and Neo will be taking over at Christmas and promotion should be starting soon. Keanu showing up on the cover of PEOPLE would be a hilarious way to kick that off…right?! If I were marketing this movie, I’d be pushing for it; it’s unconventional in the convention, and I know, I know it’s still a longshot, mostly because it doesn’t seem like this is how he wants to spend his time, LOL, but I’m not sure it’s an automatic no from him. Keanu has never been predictable so this is not impossible, at least in my opinion. It’s actually kinda Matrix, if you think about it – alternate realities and identities, Keanu serving blue pill energy.

Do you have a prediction? Let me know!

Yours in gossip,

Lainey

Keanu Reeves Gossip

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