Vanity Fair's 2016 Hollywood Issue Cover - A Close Look
Monday, February 1, 2016 at 7:30PM 
Someone's been paying attention to every single media firestorm in Hollywood this past year from ageism to equal pay to diversity. Gracing this year's cover of Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue is political showbiz icon Jane Fonda (2 Oscars), the inspirational crusading awesomeness of Viola Davis (1 phantom Oscar -- well, everyone knows she deserved it!), "the world is round people" diva Cate Blanchett (2 Oscars), and equal-pay-demander Jennifer Lawrence (1 Oscar).
VF's "Hollywood Issue" tradition is one of the key attractions in the showbiz circus of Oscar season. Though the covers aren't tied thematically to the Oscars they usually include current nominees. The primary form is a "predict the future superstars" covers in which they lean into the young in-demand crop who are having good years. The less common form is a survey of A listers and legends and a few people that scream "now" and that's the type we got this year. And girl, it's a beauty.
The only real gripe is that even when the media is actually trying to express diversity (presumably to "help" Hollywood though the media, including this Vanity Fair cover tradition, has its own problems in that arena) they are still thinking in binaries of black and white. Why not include an Asian or Latina actress or let Ellen Page have a place on the cover again since she's still headlining films and working hard to stay in the game after coming out?
Let's take a closer look after the jump...
But we got what we got (and look how savvy/calculated) they were about spreading the women of color out so there's one for each third of the foldout and they aren't just hiding in the last fold out like in years past -sorry about it Angela! )
Of the thirteen leading ladies, we've got two bonafide legends (Jane Fonda and Diane Keaton), two elder titans (Charlotte Rampling and Helen Mirren), two current superstars (Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence), four ascending starlets (Brie Larson, Alicia Vikander, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Saoirse Ronan)... and here's where it gets pointed and fabulous: two acclaimed actors who should be A list film stars and are quite famous and beloved but Hollywood is just not giving them leading film roles (two time Oscar nominee Viola Davis and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o).
Oh...and Rachel Weisz, who doesn't fit any of these categories but is placed dead center once you do the whole fold out of the cover. Hi Rachel!
Clockwise from left:
• Jane Fonda... (78 yrs old, 7 Oscar noms/2 Oscars, 4 Emmy Noms/1 Emmy, 6 Bafta noms/2 Baftas, 2 Tony nominations)
She probably just missed an 8th Oscar nom for Youth and is back to acting work in full force (stage/tv/film) after a looooong initially self-imposed draught. Now someone give her a role good enough to win her a third Oscar!
• Cate Blanchett... (46 yrs old, 7 Oscar noms/2 Oscars, 7 Bafta noms/3 Baftas)
Current goddess of the universe. And Carol
• Viola Davis ... (50 yrs old, 2 Oscar nominations, 1 Emmy, 3 Tony noms/2 Tonys)
It looks like Fences is finally happening and will be a theatrical release for Paramount. But let's not stop there. She should be lined up for a leading film role on every damn HTGAWM hiatus. Viola deserves her own Carol and so maybe she's pitching one right here with...
• Jennifer Lawrence... (25 yrs old, 4 Oscar nominations/1 Oscar, 2 Bafta noms/1 Bafta)
Hollywood's Reigning Princess for the forseeable future
Clockwise from top left:
• Charlotte Rampling (69 yrs old, 1 Oscar nomination, 1 Emmy nomination)
Though this famed British beauty and European movie icon (4 César nominations, 1 Honorary César) has been largely ignored in America of late and always by the Academy, that changed with her total brilliance in 45 Years
• Rachel Weisz (45 yrs old, 1 Oscar, 1 Bafta nomination)
She's yet to find another Constant Gardener (The Oscar) or even another The Deep Blue Sea (Golden Globe nod). Will one of her new films restore some of her star lustre?
• Lupita Nyong'o (32 yrs old, 1 Oscar, 2 Bafta nominations)
If she were white she would have as many films lined up as Margot Robbie or Jessica Chastain after their breakout parts. It's maddening that she's only doing mocap and voice work (Star Wars / The Jungle Book) but we're finally getting her beautiful face onscreen again with the chess drama Queen of Katwe. In the meantime she's hitting Broadway with her acclaimed turn in the Off Broadway play Eclipsed.
• Alicia Vikander (27 yrs old, 1 Oscar nomination, 3 Bafta nominations)
The new 'it' girl is from Sweden and versatile with genre (sci-fi, drama, period piece... can she do comedy). She's holding her face up here because she's got to be exhausted at this point given her workload in 2015.
• Brie Larson (26 yrs old, 1 Oscar nominations, 2 Bafta nominations)
We knew her brilliant work in Short Term 12 would change things and it did. Thank god she lost the role in that sucky Terminator reboot because think what we and she might have missed out on while filming that. Would we have even had Room?
Clockwise from top left:
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw (32 yrs old, 1 Bafta nomination)
She was 2014's exciting breakout (Beyond the Lights/Belle) but 2015 was kind of a wash. We thought her role in Concussion would be good but even in her big Supportive Wife moment the director shot her mostly with her back to the camera (sigh). But she's got a few films on the way so cross your fingers. We'll also get to see her musical theater training put to work in Disney's Beauty and the Beast (alas not as Beauty)
• Dame Helen Mirren (70 yrs old, 4 Oscar noms/1 Oscar, 11 Emmy noms/4 Emmys, 3 Tony noms/1 Tony, 11 Bafta noms/5 Baftas)
Likely just missed her 5th Oscar nod for Trumbo this year but she's always working so it probably won't be too far off.
• Diane Keaton (70 yrs old, 4 Oscar noms/1 Oscar, 1 Emmy nomination, 1 Tony nomination, 3 Bafta noms / 1 Bafta)
Annie Hall herself is doing a voice for Finding Dory but most of her tiny pictures lately haven't broken out of super limited release. Does she have another Something's Gotta Give mainstream hit in her? And also if she is trying to remain invisible under layers and layers of clothing, why is she letting Annie Liebovitz photograph her?
• Saoirse Ronan (21 yrs old, 2 Oscar nominations, 3 Bafta nominations)
About to hit Broadway in The Crucible. Will she add a Tony nomination to her resume as the hysterical vengeful Abigail? And here's a brain-twister: Would she be the frontrunner for the Oscar for Brooklyn if Brie hadn't happened this year... or do you think Oscar would have looked elsewhere given her youth? There's only one Oscar winner who won at 21 (Marlee Matlin) and she didn't seem as young as Saoirse does now back then.
How would you rate this cover on a scale of 1-10 and who would you remove to include your favorite missing actress? Isn't it odd that 3 of them are heading to Broadway this season? Maybe they'll all be in the Tony mix?
Reader Comments (63)
I really like the cover, they can't include EVERYONE we like on it, and any cover with Viola, Lupita, Gugu, Saoirse and Jane F'ing Fonda on it is okay in my book :)
@Paul Outlaw: There are 24 Oscar nominated actresses born between 1972 and 1982 (excluding '72 and '82). If you're talking about only leading nominations, then your number is 14. Four actual winners are missing in your list: Cotillard, Theron, Witherspoon and Swank.
The Academy was never going to reward Octavia and Viola from The Help. I also don't know why Viola is on this cover for TV.
I would really like to see Lily Tomlin on a cover of a prominent magazine sometime. First The Hollywood Reporter, now this.
Also, did they tell Charlotte Rampling to pose as though she's at the OBGYN?
@hcu:
That's why I wrote: "IMDb is telling me..." That number seemed weirdly low, but when I did an advanced search for Oscar-nominated or Oscar-winning actresses born between 1972-1982 only those eight names came up. Hmm. Thanks for the clarification. So now I wish one of two of those ladies could have made the cover as well (along with one or two from the 1947-1965 vintages).
(Besides Viola Davis, 1965, that is.)
I also stand for Rachel Weisz. She really continues to surprise me. Her big scene in Youth was killer.
seems on point: http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2016/feb/02/what-does-vanity-fair-star-studded-hollywood-cover-say-industry
I only recently watched The Iron Lady and Streep was amazing in it. Never though that Davis should have won, she was quite forgettable but after seeing Streep's performance it seems ludicrous that people think Davis should have won.
I love Diane Keaton but she looks like a homeless woman that wandered on to the set and they forgot to photo-shop her out of the picture.
Kudos to Weisz! She's been really busy lately after a few years away from the spotlight. She's got lots of projects in development or already in the can with great directors - she's got an amazing taste and isn't afraid to chase up people she admires to establish collaborations with them - that's how her work with Sorrentino, Lanthimos and Cianfrance (the upcoming Light Between Oceans) came about. Plus she's started producing too. I really hope she finds her spot as a sort of new queen of indie cinema, where she can shine the most and definitely have a more interesting and durable career. It'd be amazing to see her get a Best Actress nom sometime in the future.
Also - Have you seen the series of videos VF's released along with their cover with all these goddesses showcasing their 'secret talents'? Some of them are pretty meh but you get to see JLaw miming, Blanchett doing the splits and Weisz doing an amazing comic vaudeville number.
I'll preface this with my opinion that Streep in The Iron Lady (wonderful performance, terrible film) was superior to David in The Help (good performance, mediocre film).
It's troubling to me that so many comments focus on 'why is TV star Viola Davis there?' before then moving on to Diane Keaton about a paragraph later.
For the record, while Viola may solely be there to promote that she's a black actress in need of more roles (which would be fine by me), isn't she probably there as the only 2016 representative of comic book movies (the biggest box office genre?) So, she's kind of there as a nod to the mainstream public. Irony.
I tend to forget whether the new X-Men movie is out this year or not...
I sometimes imagine a world where Viola is of the same star calibre as Meryl, Helen and Judi, with writers creating entire screenplays as a vehicle for her. Of which there are too many and so she turns half down, so the studios then offer these rejected leading roles to other 50-something actresses of colour.
I can dream.
Man. I love Jenny Larry but if I don't start hearing casting announcements about someone - ANYONE - else soon I'm really going to start to resent her.