Top 15 Hottest Actresses Who Played Cheerleaders

There are only a few things in life that are certain. The sun rises in the morning, and the sun sets at night. Every day people are born and every day people die. And don’t forget taxes. Other than that, life can be sort of a crapshoot.

Except, one of the other things that is for certain in this world is that guys really like cheerleaders. It doesn’t matter if you are a jock, a nerd, a stoner, or one of those weird guys that thinks about cars all the time; you like cheerleaders.

I don’t know if it is the costumes they wear, the fact that they are almost always totally cute or just the fact that they are jumping up and down and acting like idiots and smiling all the time, but whatever it is guys like it. And it is not just that guys like cheerleaders, women like them, too. Even the most radical feminist out there wanted to be a cheerleader at some point- if they said they didn’t….well, they lied.

Hollywood knows it, too. They’ve been putting actresses into tight letter sweaters and miniskirts since movies were invented.  And it doesn’t matter if it’s comedy, horror, teen movies or even serious drama: cheerleaders have a way of making it onto the silver screen and the small screen.

So let’s take a look at some of the hottest cheerleaders that were ever on film or television, and were played by some of the hottest actresses around. Some of them are only known for their role as a cheerleader, while others you will be surprised ever played a cheerleader at all. Either way, the upshot of this piece is that you get to look at a bunch of women dressed like cheerleaders, and that is never a bad thing. So here are the 15 hottest actresses that once played cheerleaders.

15. Gabrielle Union

If you didn’t know, Gabrielle Union is really hot. She had been in a few movies before her big cheerleader roles in She’s All That and 10 Things I Hate About You, but the role that busted her out was as a cheerleader in Bring it On which came out in the year 2000. If you never saw that movie, you were either too young, or you didn’t have a girlfriend in the year 2000, because if you did, she would have forced you to go to that movie. Gabrielle has been in a lot of big roles since and also has snared a few rich and famous basketball players in her day. She used to go out with Jason Kidd, and now she is married to Dwyane Wade, who used to play with Lebron. Hopefully by the time you read this Lebron will have lost the championship. Go Warriors!

 

14. Selena Gomez

So I am sure you think of many things when you see Selena Gomez. She is one of the biggest female stars in the world at this point.  You probably think of her singing career, first, then maybe you think of some acting roles, then you start to think about how hot she is and then you probably start wondering whether or not you can beat up Justin Bieber because it would impress her and if you impressed her maybe she would go out with you.  No? Am I way off? Anyway, the one thing that you probably never thought of when it came to Selena was that she was a cheerleader. But she was. She played a cheerleader on a couple of episodes of the Disney show Wizards of Waverly Place. So now you know and you can add the words “cheerleader” to your Selena Gomez daydream.

 

13. Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Next on our list of totally hot actresses who rocked a cheerleader outfit on film is Mary Elizabeth Winstead. While anyone who knows of Mary Ellen knows she is hot, she does a particularly hot take on the cheerleader in peril (we all love those, admit it) in the cult classic Grindhouse, which is a movie directed by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. The movie pays tribute to the exploitation films of the ’70s, and if the thought of Mary Elizabeth in something like that doesn’t make you want to go see it then you are simply not a man. There, I said it.  Mary Elizabeth has been in many movies, mostly of the horror and scream queen variety but she has also had some mainstream roles. She is married to a guy that she met when she was 18, which I think you guys will all agree is totally lame, at least where she is concerned.

 

12. Kirsten Dunst

Now when we think cheerleaders many of us think Kirsten Dunst. Not just because of her roles as a cheerleader, but because she simply just looks like a cheerleader. Kirsten was also in Bring it On, along with Gabrielle Union; in fact I am going to let out a little secret, that movie is just filled with hot women in cheerleader outfits. It was truly the perfect date movie. Your girlfriend was all happy you went to the movie with her, while in the meantime you get to see a bunch of chicks dancing around dressed like cheerleaders. The whole situation is why the phrase “win-win” was invented.  But I digress. Kirsten is a huge star and has been in tons of movies including Spiderman, of course, but hey, Kirsten – you will always be a cheerleader to me, and that is all that really matters.

 

11. Christina Milian

Most of you know Christina Milian, also known as Christina Flores, as a singer.  She signed with the legendary label Def Jam when she was just 19, and has had a lot of success since then as a singer and a recording artist. She also appeared on The Voice and on Dancing With The Stars. By the way I have a secret. I have never watched Dancing with the Stars, not even once. I just put that in there because it seems other people do. But I digress. Christina is on this list for a reason, and that reason is she also is an actress and appeared as a cheerleader in the movie Love Don’t Cost a Thing. I can not speak to her ability on Dancing With The Stars, but I can say that if you saw Christina in this movie you would know that she has moves, lots of them.

 

10. Naya Rivera

Naya is a ridiculously attractive woman who has been acting since the age of 4. If you are totally hot, and have been acting since you were a child then the odds are that at some point you are going to play a cheerleader. And guess what? Naya did just that. She not only played a cheerleader, but she played one on the TV show Glee which is one of the most popular shows in recent memory. She was engaged to Big Sean at one point, but it did not last.  She says she is a Christian, but keeps it under wraps because “it’s hard and sort of sad that you do feel the need to tread lightly when you say, ‘Yes, I do go to church and I do read the Bible,’ because once you do that, people will be like, ‘Why are her boobs out? Why is her midriff showing? Why is she playing a lesbian?'”

 

9. Sophia Bush

Sophia Bush is another hot actress who played a cheerleader. As most of you know, she did so in the TV show One Tree Hill.  She has been involved in the world of theatre since high school where she caught the acting bug. “Part of my school’s requirement was to do a play. I was really irritated because I wanted to play volleyball and I had to go and do this play. But there was a moment after the performance when I realized I had gone and been somebody else. I thought, ‘If I could do this for the rest of my life, I am set.’ It was like love at first sight,” she once said.

Sophia uses her fame to fight for the causes she believes in. In particular she is an activist for the environment. She has made many different websites’ most beautiful lists.

 

8. Ashley Tisdale

Ashley is yet another on this list who has been acting since she was a child. I mean I guess it makes sense, right? Cheerleaders do tend to be mostly roles for high school girls, or sometimes for women that are of college age. After that, it gets a little creepy, I mean, sure, being on the Dallas Cowboys’ cheerleading squad is cool, in a way, but it still becomes a little odd as an adult. The ones that really confuse me are cheerleaders at things like D-League basketball games. Pro tip for the ladies: stop cheerleading in your teens, the older you get the odder it seems. Ashley was a cheerleader in the TV show Hellcats which aired on the CW network. Ashley looked super hot on that show, but apparently that was not enough to keep it rolling as it did not last very long.

 

7. Nina Dobrev

Nina played a cheerleader on The Vampire Diaries,  a show in which she was one of the main characters. It is rumored that she will return this year, but that is not certain. She said at the end of 2015 that she was done with the show but there has been a lot of talk about the fact that she is going to be coming back.  Nina was born in Bulgaria. This gives her pretty much everything wrapped up in one package that a nerd is into. She plays a cheerleader, is in a show about vampires, and to top it all off, she is foreign. Nina, stop it, you are killing us! Regardless, she makes a totally cute cheerleader and as far as this article is concerned, that is all that really matters.  She is also known for being on the TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation and had a big role in the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

 

6. Eliza Dushku

Another ridiculously hot woman who played a cheerleader is Eliza Dushku. She was also in Bring it on. Are you starting to see a pattern here? When you now hear the words Bring it on, do you think of really hot women dancing around in cheerleader outfits? If you don’t, then you need to check your pulse to see if you are still breathing. Eliza is cool in pretty much anything she does; I mean, how many women were the stars of Bring it on, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel? If you can’t figure it out, I will tell you right now. Eliza. She is it; there is no other.  Do you need any more cool cred for Eliza? Well if you do she also starred in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and does a lot of voices for video games.

 

5. Alyson Michalka

Another extremely good looking cheerleader is actress and singer Aly Michalka, who was on the TV show Hellcats. Aly is not only an actress but is also a singer, and a successful one at that. She performs with her sister under the name Aly and AJ. Her sister is also extremely hot. I am going to guess that they came up with that name when they were performing in front of their grandparents when they were 8 years old in the family rec room.  I am also going to guess that they perform in cheerleaders’ outfits, but that is probably not all that likely. Aly is married and is a practicing Christian. She and her sister both appeared on some episodes of MTV’s Sweet 16 show. Aly is a natural as a cheerleader. We thank the producers of Hellcats for finding her and putting her in front of the camera in that outfit.

 

4. Minka Kelly

In a list full of women who looked incredibly good playing a role as a cheerleader, Minka has to be near the top of that list. In fact, she kind of needs to be at the top of any list of women who look good. And that name, how could you not fall for a cheerleader named Minka? But I am getting ahead of myself here. Minka was on Friday Night Lights, which was one of the best and most popular shows on television for years. She also dated Derek Jeter for quite awhile; he was one of the best and most popular baseball players for years. If you want to know which she enjoyed more you will have to ask her yourself. Minka is the only child of Rick Dufay who played in Aerosmith for a while in the ’80s. Her parents broke up when she was young and she was raised by her mother.

 

3. Dianna Agron

Glee was too big of a show to just have one cheerleader on this list, so we bring you another actress turned cheerleader, Dianna Agron. She made her debut on CSI, but soon grabbed her big role in Glee, where she had the role of the ultimate mean cheerleader.  Which brings me to a point. What is the only thing hotter than a totally cute  and nice cheerleader? We all know the answer to that – a totally cute, mean cheerleader of course. If you wonder why that is, you need to go talk to a therapist. I don’t have enough time right now to walk you through this whole thing, I still have a few more hot cheerleaders to write about.  Regardless, Dianna looked and acted fabulous in this role, even though I am sure that in real life she is totally nice.

 

2. Megan Fox

Megan Fox is known for many things. She is married to Brian Austin Green for one thing, she is thought of as a major sex symbol, is a huge movie star and is also known for saying outlandish and controversial things. She is also known, and rightfully so, for being totally and completely gorgeous. What she is not known so much for is her role as a cheerleader. In the movie Jennifer’s Body, Fox plays a ridiculously hot cheerleader who is possessed by a demon, and ends up killing all sorts of her male classmates. Sounds kind of horrible right? Oh, it was, it was. It got terrible reviews. But hey, do you want to see a good movie or do you want to see Megan Fox running all around in a cheerleader’s outfit for two hours? You do not need to answer that, I already know what you are going to say.

 

1. Hayden Panettiere

As most of you know, Hayden played a cheerleader on the TV show Heroes, which is a show that tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities change them and those around them. Hayden managed to change the lives of many people that watch her, simply because she looked so darn cute playing a cheerleader. She played Claire Bennet, who was a high school cheerleader who could spontaneously regenerate.  In the real world, she is in a relationship with boxer Wladimir Klitschko, and has a child with him. She has suffered postpartum depression, and has been public about it, which obviously takes some guts. I am sure we are all sorry that Hayden had a bit of a hard time for a while, but one thing is for sure, she made a fantastic cheerleader, and as far as this list goes, that is all that matters.