PEOPLE’s World’s Most Beautiful<\/a> is a celebration of the stars who are redefining beauty, living life on their own terms and inspiring us all along the way.<\/p>\n Launched in 1990, the franchise has featured some of Hollywood’s top leading ladies \u2014 including inaugural cover star Michelle Pfeiffer<\/a>, as well as Julia Roberts<\/a>, Beyonc\u00e9<\/a>, Kate Hudson<\/a> and more \u2014 talking about the things that make their world beautiful \u2014 from marriage, to motherhood and even some tough life lessons.<\/p>\n As we celebrate Anne Hathaway<\/a> as PEOPLE’s World’s Most Beautiful cover star for 2026, look back at all the cover stars that came before her.<\/p>\n 01 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Eleven PEOPLE editors decided to put out a list of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World, taking submissions from readers, fellow staffers, casting directors and modeling agents. Pfeiffer, then 32, received the top honor, though PEOPLE editors wrote they learned three things from the process: “That there is no such thing as perfect beauty. That people have blessedly different ideas about what’s beautiful. And that most people are beautiful in some way, and that’s about as beautiful as anybody really needs to be.”<\/p>\n 02 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Editors called the 23-year-old “a Botticelli beauty,” and model maven Eileen Ford seconded that superlative. ”She is one of the few new great beauties,” she said. “She doesn’t look like she’s been dragged through the mud like a lot of them now do.”<\/p>\n 03 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The actress, then 29, was fresh from her second Oscar win for Silence of the Lambs <\/em>when she appeared on PEOPLE’s Most Beautiful issue. Sharing the honor were Mel Gibson, Elizabeth Taylor<\/a> and Denzel Washington.<\/p>\n 04 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Revlon model Crawford<\/a> was a mere 27 \u2014 and married to Richard Gere \u2014 when she appeared on the cover. Her fellow cover models were Whitney Houston, Andrew Shue and Catherine Deneuve.<\/p>\n Crawford split from Gere in 1995 and found her happily ever after in Rande Gerber, whom she married in 1988. The pair’s two children \u2014 Presley and Kaia<\/a> \u2014 who have followed in their mother’s footsteps.<\/p>\n 05 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The actress<\/a>, then 32, was still married to Dennis Quaid and promoting the film When a Man Loves a Woman<\/em> when she made the cover of PEOPLE’s 50 Most Beautiful issue. Daniel Day-Lewis, Toni Braxton and \u2014 whoa! \u2014 Joey Lawrence (then on Blossom<\/em>) also appeared on the cover.<\/p>\n Though Ryan split from Quaid in 2001, their son Jack<\/a> has taken over the acting reins, starring in films The Boys, Novocaine, Companion <\/em>and more.<\/p>\n 06 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n She was only 30 (and four years into a romance with Michael Keaton) when her role as Monica Gellar on Friends<\/em> landed the actress<\/a> the cover (with Halle Berry and George Clooney).<\/p>\n 07 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The actor, then 40, had just earned his Oscar wins for Best Director and Best Picture for Braveheart<\/em> when he appeared on the cover (alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Brad Pitt and Brandy) for a second time.<\/p>\n 08 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Cruise<\/a> was 34 \u2014 and still married to Nicole Kidman \u2014 when he graced PEOPLE’s 50 Most Beautiful cover with Toni Braxton (her second appearance) and Drew Barrymore.<\/p>\n 09 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n He was the king of the world at 23, starring in the mega-hit Titanic<\/em> and on the cover of the Most Beautiful issue. Sharing the cover were Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.<\/p>\n 10 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The actress was 41 when she graced PEOPLE’s cover a second time. Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck also shared it.<\/p>\n 11 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Fresh from three hit films \u2014 Notting Hill, Runaway Bride <\/em>and Erin Brockovich<\/em> \u2014 Roberts<\/a> was only 32 when she appeared on the 2000 cover, alongside George Clooney and Faith Hill.<\/p>\n 12 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The new mom<\/a> to son Dylan, then 9 months old, was 31 and the star of Traffic<\/em> when she landed the cover of PEOPLE’s 50 Most Beautiful issue, alongside Katie Couric<\/a> and Benicio Del Toro.<\/p>\n 13 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n One year after her divorce from Cruise, Kidman<\/a>, then 34, had just won a Golden Globe Award (and scored an Oscar nod) for Moulin Rouge.<\/em> Her fellow cover stars were Josh Hartnett and Jennifer Aniston.<\/p>\n 14 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The actress<\/a>, then 36, had just made history as the first-ever Black actress to win an Academy Award for Best Actress (for Monster’s Ball<\/em>) and was about to reprise her role as Storm in X2: X-Men United<\/em> when she graced the cover. Also on the cover were Britney Spears and George Clooney (his third appearance!).<\/p>\n 15 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The actress talked with PEOPLE about the end of Friends<\/em> \u2014 and her life with then-husband Brad Pitt. Sharing the cover with Aniston, then 35, were Beyonc\u00e9, Johnny Depp and Pitt.<\/p>\n 16 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The 37-year-old star’s twins, Hazel and Phinnaeus<\/a>, were just 5 months old when Roberts landed her next WMB cover, which declared her a “Hot Mama!”<\/p>\n 17 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Jolie<\/a> was 30 when she pulled double duty for the cover, which doubled in size from 50 to 100 Most Beautiful. Then pregnant with daughter Shiloh, the actress was named among the world’s Most Beautiful, and she, with then-partner Brad Pitt<\/a> and children Zahara and Maddox, were called the World’s Most Beautiful Family.<\/p>\n 18 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The newly single star \u2014 Barrymore<\/a> had just split from longtime boyfriend Fabrizio Moretti \u2014 appeared on PEOPLE’s Most Beautiful cover for the first time at age 32. In an unprecedented move, she posed without makeup for a photo shoot featured inside the issue. Also posing sans makeup: Jessica Biel, Rihanna and Jessica Alba.<\/p>\n 19 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Hudson’s<\/a> four-year-old son Ryder dominated the conversation when the actress was named Most Beautiful at age 29. Sharing cover space with her: Halle Berry and Patrick Dempsey.<\/p>\n 20 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n With cancer behind her, Applegate<\/a>, then 37, was radiant on her PEOPLE cover, shared with Jennifer Lopez, Robert Pattinson and Cindy Crawford, among others.<\/p>\n 21 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Lopez’s<\/a> cover reveal was extra-special: it happened during American Idol<\/em>, which she was judging at the time. The mom of two, then 41, was joined by Mila Kunis and Ryan Reynolds<\/a> on her issue.<\/p>\n 22 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The singer<\/a> arrived to her cover shoot in a helicopter \u2014 and obviously the glam didn’t stop there. The new mom, 30, didn’t share her cover space with any other beauties \u2014 but her issue did include an ode to the “beauty of the photobomb,” likely a first.<\/p>\n 23 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Paltrow’s<\/a> message on natural beauty (and staying fit) was a simple one. The mother of two, then 40 \u2014 and joined on the cover by fresh faces Jennifer Lawrence and Kerry Washington \u2014 also touched on the topics of motherhood and cooking with her late father.<\/p>\n 24 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: People<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The inspiring Oscar winner \u2014 joined on the cover by Julia Roberts (again!), Jennifer Lawrence and Julianna Margulies \u2014 was a fun pick in part because of her amazing fashion sense. The then-31-year-old played dress-up in a bunch of gowns in a seriously glam video, and was filmed meeting her beauty icon, model Alek Wek.<\/p>\n 25 of 36<\/p>\n “That’s ridiculous,” was the 50-year-old’s reaction to earning the title that year. “What is beautiful is the honor of being Louis’ mother,” she added of parenting her then five-year-old son. “Be a good person, be a good mom, do a good job with the lunch, let someone cut in front of you who looks like they’re in a bigger hurry. The people I find most beautiful are the ones who aren’t trying.”<\/p>\n 26 of 36<\/p>\n Earning the title for a second time gave the 47-year-old actress “this sort of very excited, teenage-y kind of moment,” she told PEOPLE<\/a>. Her interview touched on aging \u2014 “It’s funny, it’s a really quick transition from not a care and now all of a sudden, we’ve got to really be mindful of what we put inside our bodies,” she said.<\/p>\n 27 of 36<\/p>\n Covering the issue for a record fifth time (her 2010 cover was shared with Sandra Bullock’s baby news), Roberts told PEOPLE she was “flattered” by the title and believed the best is yet to come<\/a>: “I think I’m currently peaking.”<\/p>\n 28 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: Peggy Sirota<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In 2018, PEOPLE shifted the title from “Most Beautiful” to the “Beautiful Issue” \u2014 and Pink<\/a>, 38, was the perfect person to usher in the new era. The mom of two talked about raising her children \u2014 Willow and Jameson \u2014 who joined her on the cover to be strong and how life with husband Carey Hart involves laughing a lot.<\/p>\n “[We] try not to take life too terribly seriously,” she said. “It’s all about our family unit and time spent together, and much less about external stuff.”<\/p>\n 29 of 36<\/p>\n Growing up in West Virginia, 2019 cover star Garner<\/a>, then 47, insisted her own style could initially be described as “band geek-chic,” she joked to PEOPLE<\/a>. “I was so not one of the pretty girls that I just bypassed insecurity and didn’t see myself as attractive at all. It was not part of my life.”<\/p>\n Yet the actress was grateful to her family for keeping her so grounded. “I felt good about myself back then! That is the lucky trick,” she added. “Looks weren’t a big deal in my family. I don’t think my parents ever said ‘You’re pretty’ and so we just didn’t think about it.”<\/p>\n 30 of 36<\/p>\n Clockwise from top: Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn and Rani Hudson Fujikawa cover PEOPLECredit: Coliena Rentmeester<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n For the first time ever, three generations of women were featured on the cover. Goldie Hawn<\/a> joined her daughter, second-time cover star Kate Hudson and her then-18-month-old, Rani Rose. “My mom gave me the floor to be able to feel confident enough to go out and feel like my life could be my own,” Kate told PEOPLE<\/a>. “Mom was my greatest cheerleader. And it just made me think about Rani\u2026going, ‘I hope I give her that kind of confidence,’ you know?”<\/p>\n 31 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: Mike Rosenthal<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In another family-focused moment, Teigen<\/a>, 35, shared the 2021 cover with her kids Luna, 4, and Miles, 2 (plus, in a separate shot, her mom!). In her cover story<\/a>, she touched on a range of topics, including her parenting philosophy with husband John Legend.<\/p>\n “I’m an open, free spirit and I love kids to be kids. For us, kindness is such a big thing. When you meet our kids, they’re very warm and friendly,” she told PEOPLE. “You instill those things in them, but for the most part let them be creative and wondrous and spirited and curious beings.”<\/p>\n 32 of 36<\/p>\n Credit: Andrew Eccles<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n When Dame Helen Mirren<\/a> learned she’d been chosen as the cover star of PEOPLE’s 2022 Beautiful Issue,<\/a> “I was absolutely sort of gobstruck, as we say in England. I never considered myself ‘beautiful.’ And [at] my age! So I was amazed,” the then 76-year-old Oscar winner said.<\/p>\n It’s not a false play at modesty, she made clear: “Don’t get me wrong \u2014 I love beauty and I love looking at beautiful things. But I don’t like the word beauty [as it’s] associated with the beauty industry\u2014makeup and products, skincare and all the rest of it \u2014 because I think it excludes the vast majority of us who are not beautiful.”<\/p>\n 33 of 36<\/p>\n Melissa McCarthy for PEOPLECredit: Ruven Afanador<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n After Melissa McCarthy<\/a> heard the news that she had been chosen to star on the cover of<\/a>PEOPLE’s 2023 Beautiful Issue<\/a>, her first thought was, “Did my mom and my dad have the two main votes?”<\/p>\nMichelle Pfeiffer, 1990<\/h2>\n
Julia Roberts, 1991<\/h2>\n
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Jodie Foster, 1992<\/h2>\n
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Cindy Crawford, 1993<\/h2>\n
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Meg Ryan, 1994<\/h2>\n
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Courteney Cox, 1995<\/h2>\n
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Mel Gibson, 1996<\/h2>\n
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Tom Cruise, 1997<\/h2>\n
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Leonardo DiCaprio, 1998<\/h2>\n
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Michelle Pfeiffer, 1999<\/h2>\n
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Julia Roberts, 2000<\/h2>\n
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Catherine Zeta-Jones, 2001<\/h2>\n
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Nicole Kidman, 2002<\/h2>\n
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Halle Berry, 2003<\/h2>\n
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Jennifer Aniston, 2004<\/h2>\n
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Julia Roberts, 2005<\/h2>\n
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Angelina Jolie, 2006<\/h2>\n
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Drew Barrymore, 2007<\/h2>\n
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Kate Hudson, 2008<\/h2>\n
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Christina Applegate, 2009<\/h2>\n
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Jennifer Lopez, 2011<\/h2>\n
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Beyonc\u00e9, 2012<\/h2>\n
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Gwyneth Paltrow, 2013<\/h2>\n
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Lupita Nyong’o, 2014<\/h2>\n
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Sandra Bullock, 2015<\/h2>\n
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Jennifer Aniston, 2016<\/h2>\n
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Julia Roberts, 2017<\/h2>\n
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Pink, 2018<\/h2>\n
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Jennifer Garner, 2019<\/h2>\n
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Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson & Rani Rose Fujikawa, 2020<\/h2>\n
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Chrissy Teigen, 2021<\/h2>\n
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Helen Mirren, 2022<\/h2>\n
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Melissa McCarthy, 2023<\/h2>\n
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