23 of millennials' most notorious first celebrity crushes

Danielle Fishel is beautiful, but it was her character, Topanga Lawrence, on Boy Meets World that made many millennials stop dead in their tracks every Friday night as part of the TGIF block of classic programming on ABC. What made her stand out in a sea of ‘90s supermodels and pop stars was that she was: 1. About the same age as most viewers, and 2. She wasn’t dumbed down like some female characters at the time. Topanga was a beauty with a brain, and many were enamored with her from the second they saw her, and wished they could be Cory Matthews

There is no single character in the ‘90s that millennials could agree is Devon Sawa’s best, because he managed to win over their hearts pretty early in his career across only three movies. There was Junior in Little Giants, Scott Wormer in Now and Then, and, of course, Casper. He was only the titular character for maybe three seconds, but those few moments seared their way into the brains of a generation, making him first crush royalty.

Brandy had a couple of things going for her. There was Moesha, a show in which she starred as the lead, a teenage girl who many revered for being outspoken about what she wanted in life, smart, and an all-around great friend to those around her. Then there was the fact that she was an amazing singer who had hit after hit at the time, which made her the apple of everyone’s eye.

Was it weird that millennials collectively wanted to marry a man named “Uncle Jesse?” Just a little, but look at John Stamos?

Every millennial remembers the first time they saw the video for “...Baby One More Time.” They resonated with her in class boredom, dropped their jaws when she shimmied down that hall, and later dreamed of her as their baby at least once.

On TV, Marques Houston was pretty catching no love as the annoying, pint-size neighbor on Sister, Sister. A sort of Urkel to the twins, Houston’s Roger was often told to go home. That is up until the fourth season of the show. That summer break did a lot for Roger, both on and off the show, as people started to take note. However, those who were up on Houston outside of his acting knew all too well what he was capable of as they crushed on him before the tunes because of his part in the group Immature, a.k.a. IMX.

Millennials who crushed on Alicia Silverstone's Cher Horowitz from Clueless likely grew up to love women like Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton. Although Cher had quite the heart and wasn’t as shallow as one might think, her shell is still the most popular girl in school, which can often be what some find the most attractive about people: their social power.

Many words have been penned about Jonathan Taylor Thomas, otherwise known as JTT, because he is to millennials what Michael J. Fox was to Gen X: just the cutest thing they’d ever seen up until that point. He owned Home Improvement, was the voice of young Simba in The Lion King, and starred in a handful of family-friendly movies, where he beautifully mastered being both the boy next door and the bad boy. He was like bad boy lite, and millennials ate him up!

Some millennials remember Rachel Leigh Cook from a tiny movie by the name of Carpool, where she was the HBIC of the van. However, most fell for her in She’s All That; some before the magical makeover in which only her glasses were removed, and a new wardrobe was set in place, and some after.

All it took was for Joey Lawrence to say “whoa” one time, and a generation was in love.

One of the best R&B singers of the ‘90s, Aaliyah, just had that rare it factor that made her that girl. She truly was one in a million.

Not to get general, but because millennials grew up during the Disney Renaissance, a.k.a. the best era of Disney animation, they had a lot of princes to choose from in the case of 2D loves, from Prince Eric to Aladdin to Tarzan at the end of the ‘90s.

It was impossible to watch Saved by the Bell and not walk away from that show having a crush on someone. However, it was head cheerleader Kelly Kapowski who likely made the most hearts pitter-patter.

Crushes like JTT and Devon Sawa were for millennials when they were kids. People like Mekhi Phifer were for when they got a little older and started being into those who were too old for them!

Pamela Anderson isn’t just one of the first women millennials crushed on; she is one of the most notable figures in ‘90s pop culture. Pamela Anderson in that red Baywatch swimsuit was and will forever be iconic.

Will Smith has always given off class-clown energy, and with a sense of humor being one of the most sought-after qualities in a partner, it’s no wonder a number of millennials ripped out pictures of him from magazines for their walls. Plus, they could count on him every summer to deliver a theater-worthy experience.

Sarah Michelle Gellar was for those whose crushes possessed both beauty and brawn due to her bađassery in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Being veterans of the Boy Band War of ‘99, the one where teens and tweens were told to choose between NSYNC and Backstreet Boys, meant that a lot of those people grew up with a boy band member as their first love, or, rather, obsession. There were, of course, the outliers who went against the grain, loving others like 98 Degrees and O-Town, but they were all part of the boy band wave that engulfed many, many millennials in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s.

Jennifer Love Hewitt played both sides of the field because, on one hand, she was the typical girl next door with those big doe eyes, but on the other hand, she was a bombshell in her own right.  

Ryan Phillippe in Cruel Intentions. That is all.

Let's not forget how imperative wrestling was to millennials, with some of sports entertainment's biggest stars coming from the ‘90s, including Trish Stratus, a clear-cut baddie in the ring.

Millennials know they are far too old for Leonardo DiCaprio now, but that doesn't change the fact that once upon a time, they would have given anything to lie on a floating door in the middle of the Atlantic with him.

Amy Jo Johnson is her name, but to a generation of kids, she was simply Kimberly, the Pink Power Ranger in The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and if millennials were surveyed, those who fancied girls would all have her in their top five crushes growing up.