Selena Gomez, Florence Pugh, Ana de Armas and Austin Butler all put on a glamorous display as they graced the cover of Vanity Fair’s 29th annual Hollywood issue on Tuesday.
The captivating spread showed twelve captivating young stars who are riveting onscreen, driven, and ever-evolving, according to the publication.
The 2023 Hollywood portfolio features Selena, Jonathan Majors, Austin, Ana, Florence, Keke Palmer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Julia Garner, Emma Corrin, Regé-Jean Page and Jeremy Allen White.
Photographed by Steven Klein and styled by Patti Wilson, the portfolio depicts an afterparty scene featuring some of today’s buzziest young actors – all of whom are appearing on Vanity Fair’s coveted Hollywood cover for the first time.
Selena, 30, who stars in Selena + Chef and Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, discusses fame and calls the industry ‘the beast.’
All stars: Vanity Fair has unveiled its after-party themed cover for their annual Hollywood issue, featuring stars (L-R) Selena Gomez, Jonathan Majors, Austin Butler, Ana de Armas, Florence Pugh, Keke Palmer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Julia Garner, Rége Jean-Page, Emma Corrin, Hoyeon and Jeremy Allen White
She admits she spent years feeling distressed by her Disney-cultivated façade. But since her 2018 bipolar diagnosis, and her decision to share her mental health struggles in last year’s Apple TV+ documentary, she now feels liberated.
Talking about feeling trapped by her Disney past, she said: ‘I definitely feel free of it. Sometimes I get triggered. It’s not that I’m ashamed of my past, it’s just that I’ve worked so hard to find my own way. I don’t want to be who I was. I want to be who I am. ‘
And she said she would tell anyone seeking fame: ‘All I can say is, I would love to be there for you if you ever have questions. But this industry is a beast. It’s really scary to see what happens when you’re given so much power and money at a young age. I think it’s extremely scary.
‘The bigger you get, the more humble I would encourage you to be. Hold on to your heart, try to be the best you can be, and be careful about who to trust, because you are who you surround yourself with.
‘My sister’s nine, and thank God she doesn’t want to be in this industry. Actually, that’s her now. What if she tells me in two years she wants to? I can’t even think about it.’
Florence, 27, star of Dune 2 and Oppenheimer, said: ‘When I started out, my grandad would tell me off and say ‘Why are you showing people your ugly spots?”
She was asked about all the drama surrounding Don’t Worry Darling and said: ‘Ideally I don’t really want to be going down the Don’t Worry Darling conversation because this whole release for The Wonder has been so positive and I’ve been really excited to talk about that.
‘I don’t really feel the need to go into the nitty-gritty details of Don’t Worry Darling. So if it’s okay, I’ll probably just let that one sit.’
Lauded: Selena, 30, who stars in Selena + Chef and Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building (pictured with Steve Martin and Martin Short), discusses fame and calls the industry ‘the beast’
Editor in chief Radhika Jones writes in an editor’s letter for the issue: ‘Our dynamic dozen have turned in terrific performances over the past few years, running the gamut from prestige television to indie films to box-office smashes, and they’re racking up award nominations and industry honors–all that goes without saying.
‘What truly sets them apart is their willingness to take risks, surprising their audiences and maybe even themselves with their range and ambition.’
Meanwhile Austin, who has landed a Best Actor Oscar nod for his role as Elvis Presley in the biopic of the same name, revealed that when he first began auditioning for roles as a teenager, he took inspiration from Hollywood heavyweight Leonardo DiCaprio.
He explained: ‘From the very beginning, when I first got on set, it was just a neat thing that I could do as a 12-year-old kid. Then once I started going to acting class and realized there’s a craft behind it—that sort of became this addiction for me. Addiction might be a strong word, but obsession with finding honesty, really.
‘I started looking at a lot of different people’s careers. And Leo, when I was about 15, became that guy, because he’d made that transition. Every film that he chose, you could see the level of passion that he still had for the work.
‘And that’s been a surreal thing, looking back at what my dreams were when I was 15, and then getting to work with the people that he got to work with, getting to be on set with him. There’s a lot of these pinch-me moments in my life and that’s definitely one of them.’
Following his critically-acclaimed performance as The King, Austin is set to star in the Apple TV+ series Masters of the Air and Dune: Part Two.
Austin also feigns using social media despite discussions with his team about how he should be marketing himself, having been inspired by acting legends such as Paul Newman and James Dean.
Screen star: Florence star of Don’t Worry Darling, Dune 2 and Oppenheimer, said: ‘When I started out, my grandad would tell me off and say ‘Why are you showing people your ugly spots?’
The star added that Elvis’ own struggles with Hollywood have made him think twice about working in the industry, adding: ‘I think it’s definitely made me consider who I ask for advice and who I keep close to me.
Meanwhile, Ana has also landed a Best Actress nod for her divisive turn as Marilyn Monroe in the Netflix biopic Blonde, with the Cuba-born star explaining that she fully resonated with the troubled star.
She said: ‘There was a lot there that I could relate to. If you put Marilyn Monroe ‘the movie star’ aside, she’s just an actress trying to navigate life and this system, which is so hard to navigate for
‘On top of that, you add this point of view of Andrew’s, which was to see that through her trauma. I truly thought it was going to do justice to a more dimensional human being, because I wouldn’t want to be remembered just for one thing. I am more than just an actress on the cover of a magazine.’
‘The sad part for me—and the most challenging—is to see not only what happened in the ’40s and ’50s and ’60s but to see patterns continue to happen.
‘It’s definitely made me more protective of myself and set boundaries and know my limits for how much I’m willing to give—and how much I want to keep to myself. But at the same time, it clearly is a place where incredible opportunities happen. I’m very grateful to be working in the industry.’
Emma, who was lauded for her award-winning role as Princess Diana in the fourth series of The Crown, detailed the backlash they received for coming out as non-binary.
They have also starred in feature films Lady Chatterley’s Lover and My Policeman, and appeared onstage in a London adaptation of the Virginia Woolf novel Orlando. They will return to television later this year in the upcoming FX series Retreat, and they have just landed the villain role in Deadpool 3, as well as a spot in the cast of Robert Eggers’s upcoming movie Nosferatu.
Controversial: Meanwhile, Ana has also landed a Best Actress nod for her divisive turn as Marilyn Monroe in the Netflix biopic Blonde, with the Cuba-born star explaining that she fully resonated with the troubled star
They said: ‘Traditionally, being a role model meant being flawless. But now it can also mean sharing your struggles.
‘It’s a really nice shift that a role model has evolved into something which is more about flaws than flawlessness, because I think that’s the reality of most people’s experiences.’
Following his stratospheric rise to prominence with a role in the first series of Bridgerton, British actor Regé-Jean Page confessed that he will never move past the feeling of fear that he may never book another acting job.
The star recently starred in The Gray Man and has landed a leading role in the upcoming film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
He said: ‘I don’t think you’re ever passed that point. I think there’s a healthy amount of wolf-at-the-door that kind of keeps you getting up every morning.
‘And I don’t think that that’s a bad thing. I enjoy the striving. I enjoy the discovery of how high this thing goes, of how far this thing goes, of how wide this thing goes, because it doesn’t just go up. It goes up, down, sideways, and in every other direction. I don’t think I’ll ever stop thinking about the next job.’
On rumours that he’s in the running to be the next James Bond, he said: ‘It’s a conversation people are having, and it’s terribly flattering that they’re having it. I leave them to it.’
While Aaron Taylor-Johnson has long been known as a Hollywood heartthrob, it was his most recent appearance opposite Brad Pitt in Bullet Train that has sent his career soaring to new heights.
But the British star said that even after winning awards and critical praise, it will always be his home life that keeps him grounded.
He said: ‘I’ve seen, especially from Nocturnal Animals, you pick up an award or something, and then the next day it doesn’t really amount to anything. It’s just these materialistic things. What’s real in my life are my kids and my home. Those are my rock and my center.
‘The work is what I enjoy. That’s the creative part of me. That’s the thing that I get the endorphins and the high from—being around great actors, working with directors, digging deep into characters where you’re really feeling vulnerable and on a path. It feels therapeutic.’
He added that he shuns using social media, and only recently got a phone so that his children could reach him during an emergency, saying: ‘Also, I’ve got a teenager. Being a parent that was like, ”I’m going to have it, but you can’t” seemed ridiculous to me. It’s the way it was when we were kids and it was like, ‘I want to smoke.’ And your parent goes, ‘You can’t smoke, it’s bad for you.’ And you go, ‘You smoke a pack a day. Why can’t I have a cigarette?’
As part of the special launch, VF created a dedicated Hollywood issue hub on VanityFair.com.
