Tagging Along With Will Smith, Nicole Kidman, and Jessica Chastain

A special delivery from the Vanity Fair Archive View in your browser | Update your preferences     A daily digest of things to discuss over drinks March 26, 2022 Ahead of the 94th Academy Awards, a look back at this year's nominees in V.F. features ranging from 1999 to 2019.   Will Smith Rides High In 1999, on the set of Wild Wild West and at the techno-gadget-packed home in the L.A. exurbs that Will Smith shared with his wife, actor Jada Pinkett Smith, Ned Zeman got the then 30-year-old actor and rap artist's exuberant riffs on being black in Hollywood, making nearly $20 million a picture, and choosing "sexy, cool, or funny." R E A D  M O R E »     The Passions of Penélope In 2009, Penélope Cruz was mining both the Spanish roots that made her an actor and the hard-won Hollywood breakthrough that made her an international star. Ingrid Sischy tapped into the fierce passions of the Oscar-winning enchantress, whether for her directors, her leading men (including Javier Bardem), or the cinema itself. R E A D  M O R E »     Queens for a Day Before American audiences got to know Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, it was her mesmerizing take as another monarch, Queen Anne, in The Favourite, that brought Colman to Oscar's door. R E A D  M O R E »     Nicole Kidman: Shape-Shifter A hit TV show. Film roles only she can pull off. A career that gets even better. Plus ça Kidman. R E A D  M O R E »     Angel on Horseback Long a word-of-mouth director's darling, Jessica Chastain finally made her name—and the awards circuit—with six films in 2011, including The Tree of Life and The Help. But what she really wanted was to disappear. Listening to the then 35-year-old actor spill, Evgenia Peretz discovered that Chastain's skyrocketing career was built on fear, embarrassment, and self-doubt. R E A D  M O R E » Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. Sign Up Now     This e-mail was sent to you by VANITY FAIR. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2022. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.