Johnny Whitworth

At the age of 16, Johnny Whitworth won YM MAGAZINE's initial "Young and Modern Man" contest in 1991. Within two years, the Charleston native had begun his showbiz career making a guest appearance in the pilot of the short-lived ABC sitcom "Phenom." After landing a recurring role as a boyfriend of Julia Salinger (Neve Campbell) on Fox's "Party of 5" (1994), Whitworth made his feature film debut as a youth who works at McDonald's in the comedy "Bye Bye, Love" (1995) and that same year brought charm to his role as a would-be artist working at a record store in "Empire Records."

Reportedly, the actor turned down a number of roles, attempting to avoid typecasting as the boyfriend or the heartthrob. He chose a grittier role as a brooding teenager who becomes orphaned in Martin Donovan's muddled "Someone Is Waiting" (1997). Whitworth fared better with a breakthrough performance as a leukemia victim whose condition could have been avoided in Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of John Grisham's "The Rainmaker" (1997).