I am unashamed to admit that every year the one magazine issue that I look forward to is the Vanity Fair Hollywood issue which features photographic portraits of the years leading film men and women taken by the fantastic but financially challenged Annie Leibowitz (how someone of her talent has got in to the mess she is in is beyond me but that is another tale). In lieu of last years issue where Barack Obama usurped the usual actors cover I was having high hopes that this year would be a return to Hollywood form.
(from left to right Abbie Cornish, Kristen Stewart, Carey Mulligan, Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Hall, Mia Wasikowska, Emma Stone, Evan Rachel Wood, Anna Kendrick)
This year however the problem isn’t that it isn’t Hollywood enough, the problem is that the hot new Hollywood is apparently a mixture of white, skinny girls. There is nothing diverse in this cover, in fact with a quick glance it is hard to distinguish some of the faces and it is because of this that this cover has come under fire.
Zoe Saldana is an example of someone who has had an exceptional break out year having starred in two of the years biggest hits (Avatar and Star Trek), although Saldana featured on the 2008 Hollywood Issue cover there have been others such as Scarlet Johansson that have appeared on two consecutive issues. Another young actress with a break out performance of 09 is Gabourey Sidibe who is one of the featured portraits within the magazine but has not been included on the cover, for what reason one must ponder on whether it was a conflict of the image that they wanted to portray.
Aside from the questions of image the Hollywood issue as shot by Annie Lebowitz has been a tradition of 15 years, one that doesn’t always focus on hot new talent but also looks to old Hollywood (Jack Nicholson and Sophia Loren). The covers of the past 15 years feature many faces that have had successful careers and several who’s names and faces I don’t recognise (Alice Braga, Marley Shelton, Norman Reedus), some have appeared multiple times (Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman) and some are just inexplicable (Michael Rapaport of The War at Home fame). With this years cover some are more established than others and it will be interesting to see who out of the list is here making great movies in 15 years time.
Two of this years cover women are Oscar nominated (Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air and Carey Mulligan for An Education), one features in a multi million dollar franchise and has been acting for most her life (Kristen Stewart), one was a Mean Girl who has since excelled in musicals and is in the film that finally knocked Avatar off the top spot in the US (Amanda Seyfried), one killed zombies this summer and has a voice like Jessica Rabbit (Emma Stone), one is about to go down the rabbit hole (Mia Wasikowska), one was a wrestlers daughter and has interesting taste in men (Evan Rachel Wood), one was a poets muse (Abbie Cornish) and one is the tragic love interest of two Christian Bale’s (Rebecca Hall). So who of these women has a bright future and who do you think has been missed from this list of who will be hot in the next decade?
i feel very disappointed in Vanity Fair for not including Zoe Saldana in their 2010 issue of the new decade of hot new hollywood…ashame on you guys
Comment by laurelle — February 11, 2010 @ 12:29 pm
[...] Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue 2010 [...]
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