Shoot Happens: The Making of Vanity Fair’s 2025 Hollywood Cover

What more can you want from a weekend than seeing Zendaya hum along to Solange and play with her miniature schnauzer, Noon? Over two sunny days in September, VF brought a dozen thrilling actors together at Milk Studios in Los Angeles to shoot the cover for our 31st annual Hollywood Issue. Noon was an adorable, and very chill, plus-one.

Photographer and director Gordon von Steiner shot the cover and George Cortina styled the stars, as they did so memorably last year, and used American Gigolo as an inspiration. The production involved 24 trunks, 50 boxes, 30 racks of clothing, 200 pairs of shoes, four security guards for the dazzling jewelry, and too many nondairy iced lattes to count.

Glen Powell flew in from a set on only one hour’s sleep, said our Hollywood cover has been on his bucket list, then flew out again. Zoe Saldaña confessed she’d been living out of boxes while her home underwent renovation. Lisa, the actor and singer from Blackpink, revealed her love for Pop Mart figures in one of the cheeky “obsession” videos you can find at VF.com, along with Q&As. Nobody’s gauche enough to name a favorite star to work with, but when asked about Nicole Kidman, Cortina said simply, “She’s a dream.”