While we certainly don't overlook the sex symbols accepted within the mainstream of pop culture, gay men also like to take a look forward and pay notice to the hunks on the rise, the sex symbols who haven't been given the recognition they deserve. Thus, we thought it might be fun to put together a list of sexy men who deserve to be better recognized for their sexiness, including plenty of men AfterElton.com readers have recognized in the Hot 100 List.

Charlie Hunnam

Producers haven't underestimated the appeal of handsome and charismatic British actor who first got noticed as the young Nathan on the original Queer as Folk; he's been cast in a number of series that played off of his charm and good looks since QaF ... though all of those series are, at best, as a "Brilliant but Canceled" series (if not just plain canceled). Perhaps that will start to change with his upcoming fx series Sons of Anarchy where he plays a new father who joins a biker gang. If not, we'll always have Hunnam's memorable scenes with Aidan Gillen.

Cristiano Ronaldo

If there was more of an audience for soccer in the states, Ronaldo probably wouldn't belong on this list; whenever he's on the field it's hard not to be transfixed by the 23 year-old Portuguese footballer (except for when he's playing for Portugal for the Euro Cup and he has to compete for attention with Deco) but here the mainstream is only just noticing David Beckham's good looks. In the meantime, however, he's certainly gotten noticed by the gay blogosphere, including AfterElton readers who voted him twice into the AfterElton Hot 100.

James Purefoy

Gay audiences probably first noticed Purefoy in Bedrooms and Hallways, where Purefoy made time in the sauna a very uncomfortable situation for a gay man played by Kevin McKidd. Purefoy certainly has been busy (including a role on HBO's Rome as legendary lover Mark Anthony) but for some reason that one role that makes everyone remember all his other sexy performances hasn't happened yet.

Taye Diggs

This fall it looked like the talented Taye Diggs would finally get some due recognition for his sexiness and talent. After all, he had a role in the Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice, and look at what Grey's did for Patrick Dempsey. Unfortunately, the WGA Strike wrapped up the season early, leaving some much-due buzz delayed for another season.

Paul Rudd

Rudd's sexiness has probably gone underappreciated because of the roles he's taken. He may have first caught our attention as Alicia Silverstone's dreamy stepbrother in Clueless but lately his biggest hits have been in comedies that call for him to underplay his looks like Anchorman and The 40-Year Old Virgin. Still, having been voted into the AfterElton Hot 100 twice, it's not going completely unnoticed.

Summer TV has traditionally been a wasteland of reruns and reality shows. But lately the warmer months have become a time when the cable networks roll out their signature scripted series and the broadcast nets air edgier or quirkier fare. In the tradition of my earlier look at the men of the summer movies, here are some of the guys bringing the heat to the small screen.

Matt Keeslar
on: The Middleman (currently airing, ABC Family)

Alright, so Keeslar has been on my gay pop culture radar for some time for his roles in films like Splendor, Psycho Beach Party and Urbania. (And then there's that Dune mini-series....) For a little while, we didn't see much of Keeslar, but he's hard to ignore on the ABC Family series The Middleman. With a rapid-fire wit that rivals Buffy's best moments, The Middleman's quickly become one of those shows I can't wait to see and Keeslar only gets sexier for me when I realize what great comedy chops he has.

Frederick Weller and Christian De La Fuente
on: In Plain Sight (currently airing, USA Network)

I was surprised when USA's latest procedural series (about US Marshalls working the witness protection program) turned out to be far more addicting than most of USA's shows. Maybe it's the guest stars, which have included the likes of Dave Foley and Missi Pyle. But a definite part of it is getting to see Weller and De La Fuente (who gay audiences probably remember best for playing gay on The Class) in supporting roles every week.

Grant Show
on: Swingtown (currently airing, CBS)

Alright, the pornstache really should be a turn-off, but there's something about Show's performance on Swingtown that totally makes me look past it. And I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how far his character goes when his wife's ex-boyfriend comes to town.

Dillon Casey and Lucas Bryant
on: MVP (currently airing, SOAPNet)

Business-wise, I have no idea why SOAPNet is airing this Canadian hockey soap opera, which got canceled after ten episodes. On the other hand, a quick look at the guys makes me understand why they couldn't resist airing it. Much like the Brit sports soap Footballers' Wives, there are good number of locker room scenes on MVP and that means plenty of scenes with Casey in a towel. Anything less would be a waste of a good six-pack!

• Does Sonic Lipstick go with my skin tone?:
  The LA Times chatted with Russel T. Davies about his role in bringing the Doctor Who to its current level of success. There's a little bit in the article for every fan of a Doctor Who franchise but I'm most excited about the news that The Sarah Jane Adventures will show up on The Sci-Fi Channel in April. I really liked what we saw of Sarah Jane Smith in "School Reunion" (the Doctor Who episode that also gave us a baddie played by Anthony Steward Head), so I've been hoping that SJC wouldn't be the only Who spin-off not to make it stateside. The article also confirms earlier reports that the fourth Doctor Who season will arrive on The Sci-Fi Channel in April.
  

• Then again, I could see Hollywood deciding to cover him up in a wetsuit:
  I remember back when I played the Hollywood Stock Exchange, that proposed Submariner movie seemed like an odd idea that wouldn't get past the concept stage. However, the film seems to be moving forward after all: late last week, comic blogs were buzzing over news taht Jason Statham discussed playing the Altantean Prince. I was never a big fan of the grumpy gus that Namor usually was, so the best part about this news? An excuse to post pictures of Statham!

  

  If Statham swims as gracefully as he delivers a flying kick, he'll make a great Namor ... and, if I remember right, this is a production of Lionsgate, who struck a deal with the Writers' Guild. If I'm right on that account, this production won't be affected by the writers' strike.
  

• Too bad you can't fly a rainbow flag over your ship:
  For those of you are playing the recently-launched Pirates of the Burning Sea, the crew at GayGamer have formed a gay pirate society. Go out there and plunder yourselves some booty together.
  

• A new Calibur of video game stud:
  Namco just released new screencaps from the fourth Soul Calibur game and ... well, I'll admit I haven't played Soul Cailbur since encountering the first installment was in arcades, but when did the game start having guys as hot as these new characters?

  

  Between this and guys found in the Virtua Fighter and Mortal Kombat (ah, original edition Johnny Cage) series, I'd say Capcom is falling behind ... Will Ryu and Guile ever look this good?
  

• The Middleman cometh:
  A while back, I mentioned that ABC Family was looking at adapting indie comic The Middleman as a series with gay-fave Matt Keeslar in the lead role. This week, ABC Family announced that they're going ahead with the series. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait for the writers (and for SAG, probably) to get a fair deal before any news on when the show will make its debut.
  

You might remember how Matt Keeslar felt like an ubiquitous presence at indie film houses in the late 90's and at the turn of the century. Keeslar was in his fair share of gay films, such as Greg Araki's three-way romance Splendor, the film adaptation of Charles Busch's Psycho Beach Party and, most notably, from his steamy love scenes with Dan Futterman in Urbania. Gay sci-fi fans probably also remember him from the Sci-Fi Channel's mini-series adaptation of Dune.

Of late, however, Keeslar hasn't been quite so omnipresent. A look at his IMDB profile shows that Keeslar took a break in 2002 (shortly after his high-profile turn in Scream 3), as there's a gap in his history from 2002's Live from Baghdad until an appearance in an episode of the Tim Minear-produced The Inside in 2005. Since then, he's acted in a few badly-reviewed movies (funny, I don't remember him in Art School Confidential, but then again I don't remember much more about that one beyond Max Minhgella's dreamy eyes) but has mostly appeared in TV series such as Ghost Whisperer, Masters of Horror, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and NUMB3RS.

Keeslar's latest has him playing the main role in Jeckyll, a remake of the classic story written and directed by the same guy who create the web soap The Spot. We welcome him back and look forward to seeing him more often.

Of course, any excuse to post pictures of Keeslar is a good one. Check out more after the jump!