W's annual Best Performances portfolio it out today; it features basically every human you'd expect to be featured (but WHERE IS SANDY BULLOCK?) wearing beautiful spring 2014 looks. As was the case last year, it was shot by Juergen Teller, and the interviews were conducted by Editor-at-Large Lynn Hirschberg.
There were six separate covers for this issue: one with Jennifer Lawrence, one with Amy Adams, one with Oprah, one with Lupita Nyong'o, one with Cate Blanchett, and one with Matthew McConaughey. Lupita's was — as one might expect — the best. (Jennifer Lawrence looked a bit caught-in-headlights, even for a Juergen Teller subject.)
Here are some of the looks and highlights:
Jennifer Lawrence; Oprah in custom Azzedine Alaïa; Amy Adams in Blumarine.
Jennifer Lawrence, on falling over at the Oscars:
"I was at the Oscars, waiting to hear if my name was called, and I kept thinking, Cakewalk, cakewalk, cakewalk. I thought, Why is 'cakewalk' stuck in my head? And then, as I started to walk up the stairs and the fabric from my dress tucked under my feet, I realized my stylist had told me, 'Kick, walk, kick, walk.' You are supposed to kick the dress out while you walk, and I totally forgot because I was thinking about cake! And that's why I fell."
Amanda Seyfried in Dior; Lupita Nyong'o in Saint Laurent.
Lupita Nyong'o, on impressing her dad:
"When I got the role in 12 Years a Slave, I called my father and said, 'Daddy, I got a part in a movie! Do you know Brad Pitt?' And he said, 'I've heard of him, but I don't know him personally.' I said, 'Well — he's producing this movie, and he's really big in Hollywood.' My father paused and then said, 'So you have a job! Good. Congratulations! And good night!' That call put everything in perspective."
Olivia Wilde in Roberto Cavalli; Lea Seydoux in John Galliano; Scarlett Johansson in Vivienne Westwood Couture.
Scarlett Johansson, on phone sex:
"My character, Samantha, doesn't have a body. She's just a voice. And yet the vocal work was extremely intimate. I spent all of my hours in a little sound booth, and when I spoke the sex scenes, the windows definitely fogged up. Spike [Jonze, the director] knocked on the door and asked, 'Whoa — are you okay?' I said, 'I just want to throw a little heat into this life.' "
Matthew McConaughey in Dolce & Gabbana; James Franco in Gucci; Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Dior Homme with Dolce & Gabbana tie.
Matthew McConaughey, on breaking out of the romcom mold:
"I wanted to shake up my relationship with my career. I didn't want to do romantic comedies or action adventures anymore, so when those projects came in, I said no. For about eight months, I kept saying no, no, no—and then there was nothing being offered to say no to. That was scary, but I was looking to be scared. Finally, the target drew the arrow: I started getting calls to play characters. And here we are."
Idris Elba in Rag & Bone; Jared Leto in T by Alexander Wang.
Idris Elba, on getting too into character:
"I played Stringer Bell, a drug dealer, on The Wire, and the power of that part was amazing. Real drug dealers and thugs would think I was truly a gangster. They gave me a lot of respect— they'd hand me cocaine as a kind of salute. At times I had to remind myself that I was just an actor."
Cate Blanchett in Ralph Lauren Collection; Emma Thompson in Dolce & Gabbana; Julie Delpy in Vivienne Westwood Gold Label.
Emma Thompson, on adapting to life in America:
"I am not quite pro-Disneyland. I first went there as a teenager, and it was a confusing place for a girl from England: Something about the merging of dark, ancient Europe and 1950s America was very strange. I remember my father saying, 'Why do they call them "restrooms" at Disneyland? I don't want to have a rest.' "
Shailene Woodley in Vince; Brie Larson in Balmain.
Shailene Woodley, on breasts:
"When I saw Titanic, I wasn't allowed to look when Kate Winslet took her robe off and posed naked for Leonardo DiCaprio. My parents were in the room, and they made me turn my face so that I didn't see her breasts. We had French doors to our backyard, and I could see the scene reflected in the glass. I remember thinking, Oh, my God—one day I'm going to have those, and it's so exciting."
You can see the rest of the 32 actors chosen and read more quotes here.