Courtesy of Darlene Marshall comes this link from Canada.com – Men with deeper voices are seen as more potent and virile, and in one study, produced more children.
So if you imagine the dialogue spoken aloud as you read a romance, do you have a particular voice in mind? And what male in your opinion does have the sexiest voice?
Richard Burton reading Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas *ecstatic sigh*
Jeremy Irons has the most gorgeous voice. Okay, it sounds utterly depraved, but still sends shivers up the back of my neck.
I can’t say I imagine the voices of the characters in the books I read. As to sexy voices James Earl Jones and Patrick Stewart’s are my favorites. If had to name a third, Sean Connery
Alan Rickman, Vin Diesel, Keifer Sutherland, Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas….
Gerald Butler… but does he have a deep voice? Maybe I am thinking of his Scottish brogue. I loved, loved him in Dear Frankie.
I always describe my male leads as having deep voices. My man has a deep voice. It’s a turn on.
I’ll second KTG – Vin Diesel and Keifer Sutherland have great voices. Also Dane Cook and the guy from Dirty Jobs.
I actually read almost exactly the same words the other day in an interview with George Clooney—the (male) interviewer was trying to account for his sexiness. Uh, the voice is just a part of it, dude.
In season 7 of Buffy, I was transfixed by DB Woodside’s voice. Mmm. And I’d definitely second Patrick Stewart. Mmmmm.
Oh, and Hugh Jackman, especially as Wolverine. Ha. Ma. Na.
And I tell you what, I have a George Martin CD of various celebs covering Beatles songs, and Sean Connery does In My Life—speaking it, not singing it. Dear God!
And yes, I do sometimes imagine the hero’s voice when I’m reading, but usually I’m thinking about accent, rather than tone. I do write heroes with voice in mind sometimes—most specifically I’ve done Hugh Jackman a few times.
(oh God, I wish THAT was true!)
sigh… Sam Elliott
Jack Davenport. I have an audio of him reading Jack and the Beanstalk and it’s still hot (which should I be alarmed as he’s reading a children’s story?)
Jack Davenport’s voice is velvety smooth. It’s dark chocolate covered sinfully delicious.
Jack Davenport reading Laura Kinsale’s Shadowheart would be pretty hot.
And Alan Rickman as well for Alan Rickman is hot.
Michael Wincott. You remember him? He was Guy of Gisborne on Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and the villain on The Crow. His voice is so gravelly it sounds broken. *shivers*
And depraved Jeremy Irons? Nice!
Liam Neeson.
Absolutely, djh, Sam Elliot is the king of sexy voices. I’ll watch whatever crap movie he’s in just so I can hear him talk. (I quite like to look at him, too.)
I second Patrick Stewart and Sean Connery.
And wow—somebody else knows Michael Wincott? He’s also voiced threatening villains in cartoons and video games.
Honestly, though, I’m surprised somebody hasn’t shown love yet for Lando Calrissian—aka Billy Dee Williams. I think he’s got about the most ultra-male voice I’ve ever heard.
Another good one is Clancy Brown, playing the Kergan in Highlander. Granted, he’s Mr. Krabs now on Spongebob, but the Kergan was one of those roles you don’t forget easily.
“Hi, I’m Candy.”
“Yes, you are.”
::ulp::
Another Alan Rickman fan here! Russell Crowe, too, has a voice that makes me want to throw my panties at the screen. Yum! There’s a scene in Gladiator when he makes this low growl deep in his throat… Hoo boy.
Sean Connery
Vin Diesel. I don’t necessarily find him attractive but his voice is HOT.
Alan Rickman & Sam Elliot also have great voices.
two words: Clive Owen.
I was watching Sin City last night and I swear to god, I got pregnant just by listening to him.
(I shouldn’t kid about being pregnant. I can already hear my mother screaming, “BUT YOU’RE NOT MAAAAAAAARRIED!”)
Another two words: Kevin McKidd.
He was brilliant in Rome. And if you’re a horror film fan… Dog Soldiers.
Oh when he says, “Short. Controlled. Bursts,” I just… start lactating.
Yanno, Alan Rickman just doesn’t do it for me. His voice is too cakey. A deep voice should have gravitas, should carry without having to shout. And I tell you, sitting in the balcony at the Barbican when he was playing Anthony (opposite Helen Mirren as Cleopatra), I couldn’t hear a damn thing.
Of course, it can go the other way and you end up with Brian Blessed.
Robert Downey Jr. is a package of sexiness, and I’ve always loved his voice (he sings well too). Sean Connery—yes. Alan Rickman and Jeremy Irons—oh yes.
Gregory Peck.
On the other end of the spectrum are two hotties who have decidedly unsexy voices: Rufus Sewell and Ed Norton. It’s a testament to their other attributes that they come off so well.
I second the Clive Owen nod. His voice is amazing! Every time I hear it I get weak in the knees.
Oh yeah, deep voices do it for me. A little gravel in them is good too.
My hubby sounds exactly like Christian Slater (even the funny way they say their s’s). Much to his chagrin~he hates the man! LOL
any country music fans out there? Trace Adkins, Josh Turner. *sigh*
The guy from THE UNIT, on the All State commercials?? sexy.
I’ve been reading the posts (all good), but I can’t help but imagine what a romance would sound like if the hero sounded like the ultimate voice, Mr. Barry White.
Hero: We got it together, didn’t we baby?
Heroine: We? It was MY vagina what saved everything.
Hero: Yeah, we definitely got our thing together, don’t we baby?
Heroine: NOT that mistress of yours.
Hero: Isn’t that nice? I mean really when you sit and think about it, isn’t it really nice?”
Heroine: Or that guy’s slutty wife or that other mistress of yours, the one with the *air quotes* heart of gold. No, it was the glory of my dewy girl parts! MINE. But do I get any credit? Any respect?
Hero: I can easily feel myself slipping more and more away to that simple world of our own.
Heroine: You lousy sonofabit—You can?
Hero: Nobody but you and me. We got it together baby.
Heroine: Shit, maybe we do.
Hero: *violins swell, bass guitar thumps significantly* My first, my last, my everything!
Heroine: My hero.
Maybe it’s best just to stick with Alan Rickman.
Hugh Laurie, Vin Diesel, Tony Curran, Mike Rowe, I’m trying to think of more american men with cool voices… Ugh, I can’t… to early.
A good number of the choices are men from other countries. Why is it that we do like accented voices better?
I second Barry White and add Samuel Jackson and Kris Kristofferson.
Many, many good nominations here; I second Clive Owen, George Clooney, Dennis Haysbert (there was a time on Now and Again when he randomly sang a song to himself, and I about died), and Mike Rowe (who’s a trained opera singer, believe it or not).
I also mention Kevin Conroy, who’s been doing the voice of Batman for virtually every Warner Brothers animated project since the early 1990s, including Justice League and Batman Beyond. And though I find the voiceovers on Heroes tedious and unnecessary in terms of the story, Sendhil Ramamurthy has a wonderful voice. (Also, he is very pretty.)
I melt for some of the anime voice actors.
James Lyon/Price – does Nobutsuna Naoe’s voice in Mirage of Blaze.
Crispin Freeman – does Hagi’s voice in Blood Plus and several other characters on a lot of anime.
Beautiful voices that make me melt.
I’m so glad that somebody else remembers Michael Wincott- what a great voice!
That is one thing that bothered me about Viggo Mortenson’s Aragorn. I love me some Viggo, but he sounds funny when he tries to bellow or raise his voice. I’m not sure I would have followed him up to the Black Gate in that last movie. Sean Bean, on the other hand…
“One does not simply walk into Mordor.”
“In that case- why don’t you carry me, big fella?”
Someone earlier said Gerard Butler, but I’ve heard him speaking in a variety of roles, and I don’t really categorize his voice as “deep.”
Now, if you want a Scotsman with an absolutely beautiful deep voice, the choice for me is Dougray Scott. (“Prince Henry” in the movie “Ever After). I could sit and listen to Dougray Scott read the user manual for Microsoft Word and be turned on.
Oh my, Sam Elliot does it for me. As well as Patrick Stewart and Sean Connery. My husband does a fairly good impression of Connery. It makes me all tingly. TMI?
No one’s mentioned Daniel Craig yet. Mmm.
I know there was someone of whom I said recently “He could recite a shopping list to me,” because his voice was so sexy, and can I remember who the hell it was? No. Dammit. Dammit all to hell!
A big “me too!” on Alan Rickman (I love that scene in Truly Madly Deeply when he recited “La Muerta”), Jeremy Irons, Gerard Butler, Hugh Jackman, Keifer Sutherland, Crispin Freeman (Yay, I’m not the only one), and Mike Rowe.
I’d add Gregory Peck to the list.
And Richard Armitage. If you don’t know who he is go and watch North & South (the 2004 one) RIGHT NOW.
“I don’t want to possess you. I want to marry you because I love you!”
*dies of Armitage lust*
My fiancé has the best voice. It’s a radio announcer baritone that he can make 8-ball if he wanted to; that, and he’s very well spoken.
I also second Sean Connery. He gets a bonus for the Scottish accent, which leads me to nominate Craig Ferguson as well.
I also second George Clooney, whose voice has a touch of gravelly roughness but still passes because he takes after his father with the broadcaster voice.
And I’d like to nominate Robby Benson, voice of the Beast and with eyes so blue. I can’t believe no one has brought his name up yet!
Word up on Sean Bean, dillene. And on whoever mentioned Russell Crowe, his voice is like someone beating you with velvet ropes.
Gareth Thomas and Paul Darrow for me (for the 95% of readers who went “huh?”, the male leads in the 70s BBC sf show Blake’s 7).
Security word, I kid you not, is wish69 (falls over laughing)
Jason Statham – *sigh*
Oooh Sean Bean….sigh. When he speaks in his natural Sheffield accent I go all weak at the knees. He can drag me down a Yorkshire coal mine any day.
My Top 10? Ok! In no particular order.
Jason Statham
Vin Diesel
Michael Wincott
Ron Perlman
Alan Rickman
Michael Dorn
Clive Owen
Sean Connery
Hugh Jackman
Nate Dogg
Has anyone mentioned Ciaran Hinds yet? Because if nobody has mentioned Ciaran Hinds yet, then let me take this opportunity to mention Ciaran Hinds. I don’t know if you’d call his voice especially deep, but it is very…*cough* commanding.
There has to be a certain quality to a voice besides deepness to do it for me. I mean, Kelsey Grammer has a deep voice, but it’s so pompous that I don’t really find it sexy.
Oooh! I’ll take your Ciaran Hinds and raise you a “You pierce my soul.”
Add to that an Alan Rickman reciting Shakespearean sonnets, and you have one happy Stephanie.
And, I have to admit, I do like voice of the guy who does the Allstate commercials.
I’ll also throw Samuel Ramey in here—he’s an opera singer, and a true bass.
Yeah, deep voices. However, about half the time I hear romance novel heroes in my boyfriend’s voice, and he’s a tenor. *shrugs* It’s sexy to me. 🙂