The Oscars may still be a little whiter than we’d like in the leading actress and actor categories, but for their 25th annual Hollywood Issue, Vanity Fair is recognizing the new infusion of color on the silver screen with an unprecedented diversity of talent. In what we believe may be the first time in the issue’s history, actors of color actually outnumber their white counterparts on Vanity Fair’s trifold cover.
Seven of the 11 faces featured on this year’s issue are of color, including Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther), Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk), John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman), Tessa Thompson (Sorry to Bother You), and Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians).
After last year’s Photoshop gaffe, the magazine—which now touts Indian-American woman Radhika Jones as its editor-in-chief—also took a break from their longtime partnership with photographer Annie Leibovitz, instead partnering with Oscar-winning Mexican cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki to capture this year’s group shot. Lubezki’s accompanying film footage of the stars seems to suggest this year’s portrait was actually taken with everyone in attendance on set—a rarity in a field of competing schedules and projects.
Inside the issue, some of our faves discuss the changing face of Hollywood, and the rise of television as a medium now respected equally alongside film. Additionally, they spoke on the changing dynamics of race and gender within the industry they call home.
“It is an era of enormous change in the film industry,” read Vanity Fair’s cover story. “Each performer here has a unique Hollywood story that says much about where the business has been—and where it is going.”
And as if these beauties aren’t enough eye candy on the cover, Lubezki blessed us with live footage of Chadwick Boseman, reviving moves we haven’t seen since his turn as James Brown for Vanity Fair’s camera—and showing off his sartorial risk-taking in a Givenchy scarf-necked blouse.
As awards season continues with the SAG Awards this Sunday, we’ll be tuning in to see if any of Vanity Fair’s cover stars walk away big winners. But in the meantime, we’ll give kudos to the magazine for putting diversity front and center.