SCANDAL and FELICITY Star Scott Foley Is Kinda Cute

Scott Foley is getting a TV second coming lately, with his role on SCANDAL. But I will always think of him at Noel from FELICITY, one side of the pained love triangle that was at the center of that show's existence. I was sorta hooked on this show for the first season or so. I know--it was a little cheesy, a little ridiculous, but it was J.J. Abrams pre-LOST and had its charms to say the least. At the end of the show's 4 year run, FELICITY chose Ben (sorta) but now it looks like she chose wrong. 

In a new spread for some towel company called Charisma (!) that was featured on Logo's blog, Foley shows he is quite an equal match to the hunky Ben (played by Scott Speedman). So I would say that qualifies Noel not just for the Hi-Fi Bri Kinda Cute hall of fame, but sorta elevates him to "Kinda Hot" as well. Just make sure you watch the somewhat cheesy video too of a behind the scenes look at his shoot. It's a borderline SNL-skit about how much Scott likes fancy towels and how he never feels sexy, except when his wife tells him. Oh yeah, he has a wife. Well as Billy Wilder once wrote, "Nobody's perfect." :)

Nate Silver Is Kinda Cute

In the nervous months leading up to this year's Presidential elections, my friends were all freaking out. They said it's gonna be close, Obama might loose, panic, scream, etc.  However, I was relatively certain this was not going to be the case. Why? I was following Nate Silver's weekly 538 blog on the NY TIMES website.  Silver, a super-nerdy statistician, predicted the final electoral results with 100% accuracy in the end. And now he is a superstar.  Oh yeah, and he's also gay.

Silver officially came out in a piece published in the UK's Guardian today. It turns out this 34 year old wunderkind is also kinda cute, too, so I'm adding him today to the Pantheon of "Kinda Cute" here on Hi-Fi Bri. You can read all about Nate and his mastery of the Presidential numbers game here. Before he got into politics, Silver was a baseball stats geek and before that gamed online poker sites for more then 400K. So let's do the math here...young + smart + gay + rich + kinda cute = total husband material. 

WNBC's Ben Aaron Is Kinda Cute

I had not come across any "Kinda Cute" candidates in a while. In fact, I was losing hope for this increasingly rare feature here on Hi-Fi Bri. Then, I was watching something called LXTV on NBC over the weekend when they had this handsome young man doing a story about an exercise convention.  And you know what? This Ben Aaron is Kinda Cute!

Ben is a feature correspondent for NBC, usually seen on the 5pm faux news show they now do which is lifestyle/ entertainment fluff. But Ben delivers the fluff in an amusing, sorta wacky way which makes it somewhat more watchable. That's for sure!  As to whose team he actually plays for, I found a lively debate as to whether he is gay or straight, possibly fueled by his "dance walking" segment below.  There is no official word on this topic from Ben either way so I'll let you be the judge on that one.

After doing some Googlin', I found a Huffinton Post QA he did with more details on this goofy and charming up n comer. I found out that Ben is an Emerson graduate who is actually a radio man at heart.  As I used to do radio, this was exciting news to find out that we have so much in common! ;)  A phrase I often heard in my radio days was "that guy has a face for radio", referencing the sometimes not so cute folks behind the mic (ie. Rush Limbaugh). Well, Ben clearly did not have a face for radio and got on TV in Phoenix and then LA and now is hitting the big time at WNBC in New York.  I look forward to seeing more of him as I'm sure his own talk show is not far away.

First-Time Oscar Nominee Bret McKenzie Is Kinda Cute

I've slacked a bit on my semi-irregular "Kinda Cute" feature here on the blog. But today, I was inspired to get it going by Bret McKenzie, who you may know as the star of a daffy, little HBO show called FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS.  I always thought he was quite cute and scruffy on that show, as him and his partner wrote songs and kicked about the East Village with their rag-tag team of friends.

But as of this week, Bret is a first-time Oscar nominee for his awesome song "Man or Muppet" from THE MUPPETS movie.  Does this make him cuter? No, it just gives me a timely tag to feature him today!

The New York TIMES caught up with Brett by phone down in New Zealand, where he is originally from.  He seemed pretty surprised and delighted about the nod for his original song.  He was even more excited by his unusual chances of winning.  This year, there were only two nominees for best song, the other from the movie RIO. So Bret has a 50/50 chance of winning. So I look forward to his charming acceptance speech...and how he looks in a tux!

Florida's Newest Senator Is Kinda Cute

I had never heard about Senator Marco Rubio (R) and maybe neither have you.  He is only 39 years old and was elected in a surprise 3-way race for an open Senate seat in Florida.  He aligned himself with the Tea Party ideas without actually identifying himself as a card-carrying member.  (That means he's smart!) And since taking office less than 3 months ago, he has been keeping a very low profile....taking cues from the experience of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in their Senate terms.

However, suddenly Sen. Rubio is everywhere as he takes on Congress over his main issue; spending.  He appeared on the front page today of the NY TIMES in an article about his increasingly visibility as a promoter of fiscal responsibility and cuts as debate on the hill over the budget heats up. After some TV appearances and op-eds this week, there is some talk he may be angling for a VP slot in 2012. Though I cast my vote for him in the Kinda Cute column, he would be running as a Republican.  Since I haven't voted Republican since....well....ever, that rules that out.

New TV Host Ignatiy Vishnevetsky Is Kinda Cute

You are probably wondering, OK....who the heck is Ignatiy Vishnevetsky?  You are probably not wondering why he is kinda cute, as that is pretty obvious.  :) As to who he is exactly, Ignatiy is a big film nerd from Chicago who got his start working at a video store there, founded a movie site called MUBI and now is the new co-host of "At The Movies" on PBS.

I caught the new iteration of the show that originally starred the inimitable Siskel and Ebert.  The show was languishing until last year when Ebert decided to take the show over as producer and hire new talent.  The new movie review duo was going to be Christy Lemire, from the AP, and Elvis Mitchell, from NPR.  Mitchell was dropped (or quit?) and critic Ignatiy got a film critics' role of a lifetime...all at the ripe age of 26.

The show started airing on PBS a couple weeks ago and, having seen the 3 episode on Friday, it's not too bad.  They had a nice choice of indie films and the rapport was intelligent and sharp, with some disagreements but nothing stagey.  Ignatiy has grown a half-beard to try and age-up a bit.  He doesn't need it though. He speaks commandingly of his love for cinema and has the breadth of knowledge for this sort of gig.  So the fact that he is also kinda cute too boot is merely a bonus.

Josh Groban Is Kinda Cute Singing Kanye's Tweets

Since officially moving to New York last fall, classical singing superstar Josh Groban seems to be working on something of a personal makeover.  He's scruffier now, has shorter hair, a new wardrobe and even funky glasses on occasion.  And lately he loves to make fun of himself too....first with some appearances on GLEE and now with a comic bit from Jimmy Kimmel in which he sings the tweets of Kanye West.

It's funny stuff and is kinda like the reverse of long-ago TONIGHT SHOW host Steve Allens' schitck where he would read the lyrics of rock'n'roll songs as serious poetry.  Anyway, Josh is major trending topic on Twitter today so people seem to like the new sillier Groban. The question is will it sell more copies of his new album?

Former AT&T Commercial Guy Matt Bush Is Kinda Cute

If this guy looks familiar you may recognize him as the weird kid in the AT&T Rollover commercials from a few years back.  His name is Matt Bush and he has been a busy little actor since then, starring in a few feature films (an summer romp set in 1985, "Adventureland") and TV pilots.  Now one of his shows has gone to air and it premiered last night on TBS.  It's called "Glory Daze" and is about a bunch of guys starting college in 1986.  So what...is Matt Bush the look of the 80's or something?

While the music was awesome as they cranked out the hits of my college years ("Girls On Film"!), the show was somewhat lackluster.  However, things got slightly more funny whenever Matt showed up to say something weird or do something crazy.  Unfortunately, he was not cast as the lead but more of a goofy sidekick, a Jewish kid named Eli who gets incredibly stoned in the pilot.  But his best moment was the introduction of his character.  In one of the show's many nods to 80's films, Eli is shown dancing in his underwear ala Tom Cruise in "Risky Business".  I know.... not a highly original idea but Matt made the most of it.

The scene is the second up in the preview clip below. Anyway, you will surely be seeing more of Matt in the future, hopefully on shows that are a little more interesting than this retro rehash.

The Prince of Sweden Is Kinda Cute

This weekend the Princess of Sweden married her former personal trainer in the biggest European royal wedding since Charles and Di.  After exchanging "ja's" and even shedding some tears, Daniel Westling became officially known as HRH Prince Daniel, Duke of Vastergotland.  And now I'm unofficially crowning him Kinda Cute.


Unfortunately, the AP, AFP and Reuters declined to cover the event due to restrictions by the Swedish government.  So there is a real dearth of adorkable photos of Prince Daniel.  The Washington Post website has a slideshow of Getty images that are lovely and give a good sense of the Prince's, well, prince-liness.  He was just a commoner but look at him now...a real live Disney character! 


Congrats to the royal couple and here's hoping that their royal marriage truly lasts forever after.

Bryan Greenberg Is Kinda Cute

OK--before you say anything I know that Bryan Greenberg is more than cute.  He's, in fact, pretty damn hot.  


However, I put him in my collection of Kinda Cute guys for a couple reasons.  One, despite an expansive career that includes two network TV shows, a movie opposite Meryl Streep and an HBO series, no one really knows who he is.  Two, in utter contradiction to his serious good looks, Bryan seems to always be stuck playing guys who are only supposed to be Kinda Cute.  He's always being cast as a sensitive novelist (ABC's October Road), or a sensitive painter (PRIME w/Meryl and Umma) or a sensitive fashion designer (HBO's How To Make It In America).  Then there's the regular Joe supporting roles he used to specialize in, like on the CW's One Tree Hill. And even a quasi-nerd in The Perfect Score.  


So, memo to H'wood: Bryan Greenberg is hot. He has a body like a Greek God.  Someone needs to cast him as a hot dude, like a male supermodel, dangerous spy or a porn star or something really juicy.  No more Mr. Nice Guy for Bryan.  Once he gets that role, I guarantee that everyone will know his name.  In the meantime, I'd recommend checking out PRIME which was a very sweet/goofy love story where he falls for one of his therpaist mom's patients.   And you can see him weekly on the new HBO show How to Make It In America, which is also very good.

That Geek From Big Bang Theory Is Kinda Cute

If you've ever watched BIG BANG THEORY, CBS's nerdy version of FRIENDS, the geekiest of all the grad school geeks is an adorkable skinny dude named Sheldon. Played by actor Jim Parsons in true Niles-style, he's actually supposed to be straight but reads very gay and, of course, is kinda cute too. Like the erstwhile nerd poster boys from the early-aughts DJ Qualls, Parsons continues the American tradition of skinny nerds with balloonish heads. He's almost a real life Charlie Brown. The sweet loser you just want to make a winner, you know?

Anyway, he was recently on The Tonight Show, looking quite slick in a suit while discussing Barbies too. Awwww. I always thought he was kinda cute on BIG BANG but, all Hollywooded-out for Conan, he was borderline hot. Hair/makeup can do wonders...even for a geeky guy.

Indie Filmmaker Richard Kelly is Kinda Cute

I wouldn't say I'm a rabid fan of "Donnie Darko", the 2001 indie sensation starring a then-unknown Jake Gyllenal in a story about....well, I still don't know what it was about. But I kinda enjoyed it's weird, moody style even though it was pretty damn confusing. Something about a schizo high school student who dreams of a big scary bunny that causes a plane crash leading to the end of the world. I do remember there was all this cool 80's music...like real college radio stuff by Joy Division and Echo & The Bunnymen. That I appreciated.

"Donnie Darko" was written and directed by Richard Kelly and, given the subject matter and the artsy feel of the film, I imagined it the feverish work of some real Tarantino-like film geek. Apparently not. Here's a picture of Mr. Kelly (on the left...why are director's always pointing?) from a profile in yesterday's New York TIMES and, suprisingly, the director of this super dark movie is kinda cute. In fact, he might even be borderline hot. Regardless, I am adding him to my Kinda Cute pantheon anyway because he is certainly not how I expected the director of that film to look. To use a pop culture analogy, it's sorta like the reverse of the Susan Boyle effect.

Anyway, "Donnie Darko" developed a cult following and Kelly made another movie called "Southland" which I believe was also about the end of the world, though I didn't see it. Now, he's traded up and done a big studio movie which sounds semi-intriguing. It's called "The Box" with Cameron Diaz playing some suburban mom in the 70's gets a million bucks if she hits a big red buttton that will randonly kill someone in the world. Weird, right? But at least it sounds like it has a plot so I think I'll check it out.

TIMES Reporter Jeff Zeleny Is Kinda Cute

OK--you're all like, uh, who the hell is Jeff Zeleny? He's a reporter for the NY TIMES who has been covering the Obama Administration since the beginning of the year. Just yesterday, he wrote about the White House intervention in the NY state governor's race.

Zeleny has also has been popping up as a talking head on chat shows this year due to his higher profile gig in DC. I saw him on PBS's Washington Week In Review a few months ago but he's also been on Charlie Rose, giving an extensive interview about Rod Blagojevich whom he covered in his years working for the Chicago Tribune. In fact, that's where I got this kinda cute still from.

Despite having asked an infamous silly question at Obama's first press conference, it's clear to me that Zeleny has a future in broadcast journalism. He's that geeky-cute, know-it-all kinda guy who doesn't lord his knowledge over you but simply tells you what he knows with a winning smile. And here's the real kicker...he's apparently gay. At least that's what the Internets say when you Google him.

In fact, my Googling turned up the surprising coincidence that there was another gay blog that called him "kinda cute" earlier this year. Damn! But fortunately, that blogger has a boyfriend and I'm single so, for anyone paying attention, I saw him first. :) Regardless, I can guarantee you'll be seeing more of Jeff Zeleny in the future.

That Bearded Guy On "Mad Men" Is Kinda Cute

I never particularly noticed actor Michael Gladis as one of the ad boys on AMC's brilliant, Emmy award winnning series "Mad Men". But as I work my way through Season 2 via DVD, I find myself intrigued and somewhat drawn towards his character, the debonair, nattily dressed junior adman "Paul Kinsey". Maybe it's just the new beard, which gives him a sort of early Orson Welles quality. Or maybe it's the way his character is so 60's-style suave, drinking brandy at a party or puffing on a pipe in the office. He's also the one guy on the show who seems to have aspirations outside of advertising, as he pecks away on his Great American Novel using an IBM Selectric (stolen from the office even!). Finally, he's causing a stir at Sterling/Cooper with his new relationship with a black woman. So Paul seems to be the new, subversive bad boy of the bunch. And he's kinda cute too.

The British Foreign Secretary is Kinda Cute

After being advised by a number of friends and writers that I need to feature more "cute guys" on my blog, I am caving. Sorta. As a semi-irregular feature, I will be posting about slightly unconventional hotties, like the gentleman pictured here.

This is David Miliband, the current British Foreign Secretary. For real! You wouldn't know it from this picture of him leaving 10 Downing Street for vacation. It looks more like something from the J Crew catalog.

Anyway, I happened upon an interview with him this weekend on a chat show (as they say in the UK), and found him to be incredibly charming and kinda cute. He's been in the UK government for almost 15 years, starting under Tony Blair and is reportedly very Blair-like. He is one of the youngest Foreign Secretaries and the first British cabinent member to have a blog. I'm in love already--except for one tiny little problem. He's married. Ah well....nobody's perfect.