Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue is a tradition now three decades old, one that represents both the culmination of the cinematic season and a look at what’s to come. We celebrate—films, shows, performances, and the enduring and powerful impact of narrative storytelling in our culture—and we reflect on what’s new and exciting and different.
We don’t take the celebration part for granted. Since last year’s Oscars, it’s been an excellent stretch at the movies, starting with Anatomy of a Fall’s Palme d’Or at Cannes and keeping the pace through December’s Poor Things. From extraordinary debut films by Celine Song and Cord Jefferson to the pair of big swings that made summer’s box office portmanteau, we’ve relished the range and possibility of contemporary cinema, not just in Hollywood but the world over, and watched the once-separate universes of film and television further cross-pollinate with stellar results. The 11 stars on this cover represent a vibrant selection of our onscreen faves: a group of actors—also moonlighting as directors, producers, writers—who, as David Canfield observes in his cover story, are joyfully seizing the moment, changing their paths and charting new ones. And we have a portfolio titled “The Power & the Glamour,” resurrecting a moniker last seen in VF in 1998, which shines a light on influential voices in the town, from directors Ava DuVernay and Sofia Coppola to best original song nominees Jon Batiste and Mark Ronson to the matriarch of a certain entertainment empire to the chefs and restaurateurs who keep Hollywood fueled up and ready to go.
But there’s no way to fit all our Hollywood coverage into a single issue—and we wouldn’t want it that way. For one thing, it’s multimedia: Gordon von Steiner, who photographed our cover, also directed a suite of videos you won’t want to miss. If you’ve been following VF’s reporting over the past few months, you’ll have read our profiles of stars like Greta Gerwig, Sandra Hüller, and Robert Downey Jr., among others; heard the voices of Colman Domingo, Lily Gladstone, Emma Stone, and America Ferrera on our podcast Little Gold Men; and enjoyed movie reviews, TV recaps, festival dispatches, and red carpet coverage on VF.com. (If you haven’t joined us online, subscribe! It’s the best way to stay up on the town’s biggest personalities and support our journalism in what’s bound to be a newsy 2024.) Awards season comes once a year, but these days, movies and television are at our fingertips 24/7. Given the caliber of work on display, that really is something to celebrate.
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