January 4th’s “HOT or NOT?” candidate is Paula Patton. You voted. She’s:

Paula Maxine Patton (born December 5, 1975) is an American actress. She is known for her appearances in the films Idlewild (2006), Déjà Vu (2006), Mirrors (2008), Swing Vote (2008), Precious (2009), Just Wright (2010), Jumping the Broom (2011), and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011).

Her first acting role was a small part in 2005′s Hitch, which starred Will Smith and Eva Mendes. She followed that with a small part in the drama London and appeared alongside OutKast members Andre Benjamin and Big Boi in Idlewild.

Patton’s big break came in 2006 when she landed the pivotal role of Claire Kuchever in the science-fiction thriller Déjà Vu, starring Denzel Washington and Val Kilmer. She played television reporter Kate Madison in 2008′s Swing Vote. She appeared in the film Mirrors, alongside Kiefer Sutherland, in 2008. She also appeared in her husband Robin Thicke’s “Lost Without You” video in 2006. In Precious, Patton plays Blu Rain, a teacher at an alternative high school in New York. There she encounters and mentors the main character, Precious.

In fall 2010, Patton was announced as succeeding Sharon Stone as the new full-time assistant district attorney on the NBC legal drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. However, Patton landed the lead female role in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and thus her role on SVU was reduced to one episode. She was replaced by Melissa Sagemiller.