Anna Kendrick
Anna Kendrick’s been at this acting business a while (she was a Tony Award nominee at age 12), but still doesn’t chafe at being labeled a “newcomer” following her Oscar-nominated breakthrough performance in Up in the Air. “I’d rather be the new girl than old news,” she says.
Already pinging the public’s radar with her scene-stealing supporting stints in the Twilight saga, Kendrick announced herself with an affecting portrayal of a seemingly hard-driven but vulnerable young corporate downsizer learning life lessons alongside vet George Clooney.
“I’m definitely drawn to girls who are really strong,” she says. “That’s something I don’t get to exercise very often in my own life.” Kendrick’s character deeply resonates with young professionals navigating through life. “It means so much that other people have connected to this thing I feel so personally connected to.”
All the subsequent attention and promotion has earned her as many frequent-flyer miles as her well-traveled character. “Every time I go through airport security I feel like it’s a publicity stunt,” she laughs—but there’s one more trip she needs to make, ASAP. “I should probably go home and see my parents. I think I’m going to get in trouble if I don’t go home soon.”
Tom Ford
Fashion designer-turned-first-time film director Tom Ford’s meticulous attention to the tiniest detail led to the perfectly tailored emotions of A Single Man—whether his actors knew it or not.
For Colin Firth’s Oscar-nominated role as a Brit professor soul searching in ’60s LA after the death of his lover, Ford created a 1957-style Savile Row suit, down to the tailoring information that would’ve been included inside the jacket pocket. “Whether Colin looked inside the jacket pocket or not I don’t know,” laughs Ford, whose touch even extended to stationery and cologne. “The attention to detail was all in support of the story and helping the actors inhabit the characters.”
“I went way out on a limb with this in that I put so much of myself into this film,” says Ford. “It was something I had to make. It was the first purely expressive thing that I’ve ever done. Fashion for me has always been a commercial endeavor—a creative one, but still commercial.”
Fashion still suits him: He’s crafting his next collection while film notions gestate. “I love doing a lot of things at the same time. I find that my mind works better that way,” says Ford. “And it helps with self financing for absolute creative freedom. I need my day job so that I can finance my movies.”
Michael Stuhlbarg
As the first step to finding his much-put-upon character for the Coen brothers’ Academy Award-nominated A Serious Man, Michael Stuhlbarg started sketching him out—literally. Once an aspiring cartoonist, the actor puts pen to paper and draws out his roles.
