Some of the biggest stars of the year’s most celebrated shows enter our photo booth—which was inspired by Andy Warhol’s famed series of Polaroid portraits—and share insights into their work
Photography by Davey James Clarke
Adam Scott, “Severance”
“When we started shooting the first season, I got there and saw the sets and how full the world was. And seeing the props and costumes and everything. The thing that first occurred to me was, ‘If I’m gonna do this right, I have to take everything that I’ve learned so far in 32 years or whatever, and I have to use all of it to play the role properly.’ What’s the Liam Neeson thing from Taken? All the skills that I’ve acquired.”
Uzo Aduba, “The Residence “
“From the first script, I could very loudly hear [Cordelia Cupp’s] voice, I could hear her cadence, I could hear how she processed information. There could be a kiss of lipstick on a glass and from that she would be able to extract all of this information about who took a sip out of that glass. Why does she know that? Then I realized: Oh, she processes information quickly. Well, why? She’s really, really smart. Why is she so excited about that thing? Because she loves her job. When those wheels start spinning, that gets me excited to know more about this person and how she came to be.”
Halina Reijn, “Babygirl”
Born in Amsterdam, Reijn began her career as an actress, starring in films such as Paul Verhoeven’s “Black Book,” before moving into writing and directing. Her English-language directorial debut, the 2022 mystery horror comedy “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. “Babygirl” premiered in Venice, where Nicole Kidman won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress.
Patrick Schwarzenegger, “The White Lotus”
The French filmmaker followed up her 2017 debut feature “Revenge” with an audacious tale of self-destruction in which an aging actress (Demi Moore) takes a mysterious elixir that promises to restore her youth. The idea came to Fargeat when she was about to turn 50. “How I felt about my body, how my body was going to be judged … All this, I realized, had such a massive impact on my life and had generated a lot of self-hatred and violence towards myself.”
Alan Cumming, “The Traitors”
“I don’t think there’s ever too much—thus far, anyway—when it comes to my costumes. Some of the ideas, I think, ‘Oh, my God, that’s insane.’ And then the more I think, ‘Eh, fine.’ I don’t believe that less is more, clearly.”
Noah Wyle, “The Pitt “
“I was really moved by the letters I was getting [from ER fans who went into medicine], I was really moved by the stories they were telling me, and I was really bothered that I was no longer relevant. I wanted to inspire another generation to go into this work because we need them. The ones that are there are burning out. And I wanted to both identify the problem that they were telling me and to try to come up with some methodologies and solutions, both practically for hospital flow and emotionally for practitioners’ health, that we could put into the universe as a medicinal aid.”
Ben Stiller, “Severance”
In 2017, while Kapadia was still in film school in India, her short film “Afternoon Clouds” premiered in Cannes. It was the beginning of a fruitful relationship with the festival. She returned to the Croisette in 2021 with “A Night of Knowing Nothing,” which won the Golden Eye for best documentary feature, and again in 2024 with her first narrative feature, “All We Imagine As Light,” which was awarded the Grand Prix.
Billy Bob Thornton, “Landman”
Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise”
Andy Garcia, “Landman”
Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”
“Acting is not a game of golf; it’s a team sport. It’s a proper game of footie.”
Melanie Lynskey, “Yellowjackets”
“I feel really lucky to be on a show where three seasons in, I can still be surprised by the character and the choices being made and the craziness of it all. If I have to get a plumber, I’ll read every review of every single plumber. I don’t make any decision lightly. So it’s fun to play someone who gets 50% of the information and then just acts upon it.”
Uzo Aduba, “The Residence “
“I play this character named Brian and throughout Season 1 his catchphrase was, ‘Everything goes my way.’ Then in Season 2, they started referring to me as a narcissist. They would be giving direction, ‘Don’t forget, you’re a narcissist.’ And I was like, ‘Am I?’ I started to freak out. Had I been layering this in? Is this part of the fabric of my character? After Season 2 came out, a stranger said, ‘I love that show, and I’m a therapist. You, you’re such a narcissist.’ And I was like, ‘OK, I guess I’ve been layering it in.’ I guess a narcissist doesn’t know they’re a narcissist, and an actor playing a narcissist doesn’t know they’re a narcissist. Weird.”
Julianne Nicholson, “Paradise”
“We thought we were making a fun, escapist, sci-if thriller and even questioned the believability of [my politically well-connected billionaire character] Sinatra being in the Oval Office. We had no idea how close we were [to reality].”
Jessica Williams, “Shrinking”
“I started getting therapy in general [when] I was 18. In the beginning, there wasn’t really that much known about [my character] Gaby. They wanted her to be a therapist that felt fun and someone that would make viewers go, ‘Where do I find a therapist like that?’ I think Gaby is the best therapist of the bunch, but I’m so biased.”
Sharon Horgan,“Bad Sisters”
“The show’s about grief and loss in the second season. I’d recently lost my dad. I felt that anything that was emotional I would just go to pieces. … In this [one] scene, my character is dealing with something that’s so huge and awful. How do I make it to the point where I break down? You go into the scene tense and ready for it, but you have to hold it back until you get to that moment. I found that really hard.”
Credits
Fashion Editor: Michaela Dosamantes.
Market Editor Daniel Victoria Gleason
Fashion Assistants Natalia Zamudio
