[READ:] VANITY FAIR: Not Your Average Princesses!

NOT YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESSES!

EMMA WATSON and EMMA STONE – two of the biggest names in Hollywood today – star in an explosive, surprise photoshoot exclusively in this month’s VANITY FAIR, photographed by the legendary ANNIE LEIBOWITZ. After the shoot, both actresses sat down with fashion editor MARY-BETH LAMBERT to talk movies, making it and the unexpected advantages of hand-bras…

EW: Hi! It’s so lovely to meet you!
MBL: The pleasure’s all mine.
ES: Wait, you’re the fashion editor? Oh my God, I recognise you! Mary-Beth, right? D’you remember that shoot we did way back when for – oh, God, I don’t even remember the magazine.
MBL: I remember! And it was Elle, in Canada.
ES: That’s right, Elle. Wow. Time flies. How’ve you been? I mean, you’re here, so obviously life’s working out for you!
MBL: It’s been a good few years. Small world, right?
ES: Yeah. Jesus. Hold on, though, if you’re the fashion editor… does it really count? I mean, can we still be talking to you if we’re not wearing any fashion?
MBL: [laughs] I think it’ll be just fine. I can still ask you which products you’re wearing, ah, above the neck.
ES: Right, sure. Um. I think it’s L’Oreal – mostly. Tell you the truth, I wasn’t paying attention. [yells] Laura? Can you bring the kit over?

We pause for a moment while I take notes. (For those curious, Emma Stone is wearing L’Oreal blush, lipstick and bronzer, with eyelashes by Givenchy. Emma Watson’s style is detailed overleaf.)

MBL: This is a career-first for you two, isn’t it? Posing nude for the first time.
EW: Semi-nude. Sorry.
MBL: No, that’s right! And this entire shoot has been top-secret – but from what I understand, it was your idea, Emma?
EW: Well… after a fashion. I may have got the ball rolling, but credit – or possibly blame – goes to this one over here, to be honest. She’s the one who convinced me this was a good idea.
ES: And I’ve been proved right, haven’t it? Did you get a chance to see the photos yet, Mary? Someone had a laptop with the best ones. And if I do say so myself, we look f-cking decent.
EW: I haven’t looked yet. I think I might wait for the magazine to come out.
ES: Chicken.

Our conversation turns to Emma’s latest film – Beauty and the Beast, which she’s spent the last month busily promoting. Less charitable readers might wonder whether this photoshoot was contractually mandated, but as Emma reveals, the truth is nothing of the sort.

EW: If you’re wondering, ‘why now?’, which I suppose you must be… well, you’re entitled to an answer. And by the time this goes out, everyone will know anyway.
MBL: I’m sorry?
ES: Sorry, Em, mind if I take this one? [to MBL] Some complete c-cksucker hacked her phone last night, and now they’re threatening to leak her private photos all over the internet. Well, firstly, f-ck that with a baseball bat, and secondly, there’s no way anyone should be profiting off Emma’s beautiful body except… Emma.
MBL: Oh my goodness. Emma, is that what happened?
EW: Essentially. And my first thought – as I’m sure most girls’ would be – was to run away and bury my head in the sand until it all blew over. But then Emma, well… Emma Stone reminded me that I have a duty to every young girl out there who’s been threatened with this kind of nasty, blackmailing bullsh-t. And then I realised that I couldn’t very well call myself a feminist while acting like I was ashamed of my body. Of my femininity. It’s a beautiful thing, and even though I wouldn’t have chosen to reveal it to the world quite yet, I see absolutely no reason to be embarrassed about it.
ES: Hear f-cking hear. The only ones who should be embarrassed are those Russian tw-ts who hacked her. Or whoever it was.
EW: Or whoever it was. Well, quite.
MBL: That’s amazing. So this entire shoot is designed to show the people trying to profit from your body that you’re not giving in?
EW: Yes. Let them hack me. Leak away, I don’t care. Those pictures are stolen and they were never intended to be seen by anyone. But, at the same time… I’ve had celebrity crushes. I still have celebrity crushes!
ES: Ryan Reynolds, if you’re listening…
EW: Christ, Emma, didn’t you work with him?
ES: Yup. So?
EW: Anyway… as I was saying. I’ve had celebrity crushes, and I know there will be some people – not many, perhaps, but a few – who are decent enough to respect my privacy, but might be a bit put out about the fact that everyone in the world besides them has seen me naked. Which just seems unfair. So this photoshoot is designed to remedy that.
ES: Basically, if you’ve been holding back from having a wank out of respect for us… consider this official permission. Also, these shots have got twice the t-ts in them, so you’ll have more fun anyway.
EW: …Yes. What she said. I suppose.

As readers will have gathered from the photos on this spread, Emma and Emma have gone for an extremely tasteful, classically-composed, occasionally black-and-white theme. But were there any ideas that didn’t make the cut?

ES: Were there? We threw this thing together pretty quickly, to be honest. I think every time someone had an idea, we ran with it.
EW: Yes. And it definitely wasn’t my idea to do the thing with the mime costume.
ES: Oh, come on, that was hysterical. And I persuaded you to get your bum out!
EW: Just for one shot.
ES: It’s a gorgeous bum. I think it might be my favorite. Probably my favorite photo, as well. Readers, you can send cards and flowers to the usual address.
EW: The hand-bras were her idea, as well…
ES: Oh, sh-t, yeah! I take it back – that’s my favourite shot. [See overleaf.]

It obviously takes a lot of trust to appear together in such an intimate setting. But some readers might be surprised to discover that Emmas Watson and Stone had barely met before last week…

EW: It’s true – we were actually introduced by a mutual friend. Well…
ES: Oh my God, you’re blushing. You’re actually blushing.
EW: Shut up. Well, you’ve probably seen him in the gossip rags by now anyway. I suppose this is as good a time as any to officially introduce my boyfriend – James.

James Jackson appears from the sidelines, looking effortlessly handsome in a simple t-shirt and jeans.

BF: Hi. Nice to meet you.
ES: Wait, let me see what you’re writing – hang on –
EW: Oh, I want to see!
ES: [cracking up] ‘Effortlessly handsome’? Dude, she’s flattering you so hard. And he’s wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans because he doesn’t own anything else. Aren’t you gonna ask what blusher he’s wearing?
EW: You’re just jealous because James can pull off the no make-up look.
ES: Burn. Yeah, I am, actually. Why weren’t you in any of the photos, man? We could’ve used you to cover up a stray nipple.
EW: Maybe we should take a quick one. James?
BF: I’m not sure…
ES: We’re doing it. Oi, Annie?
EW: Just a quick behind-the-scenes one. Please?

The resulting picture can be seen to your left (insert, photographed candidly by ANNIE LEIBOWITZ). We close out the interview by asking a few quick-fire questions.

MBL: What’s your biggest fear?
EW: Oh… God, probably being humiliated in public. Which has now come to pass after all, and I’ve found out the fear was much worse than the thing itself. It’s nice when that happens.
ES: Spiders. Next question.

MBL: Your weirdest experience?
ES: Christ, narrow it down. This year, you mean?
MBL: Sure, let’s go with this year.
ES: I don’t know. You’ll have to give me a minute. Em?
EW: Probably… this photoshoot, to be honest with you. If you travelled back in time and told the Emma Watson of six months ago that she’d be getting her breasts out in a nationally-syndicated magazine…
ES: Nipples and everything.
EW: Yes, nipples and everything – if you’d told me that, I would have seriously questioned your mental health.
ES: I tend to question the mental health of people who tell me they’re time travellers anyway, to be honest.
MBL: What about your weirdest experience, Emma?
ES: Oh, God. Okay. Well… the most I’ll say is that it took place in a warehouse very much like this one. And that it was a f-cking brilliant night out. And… that’s all you’re getting.
EW: This isn’t a warehouse, it’s a brewery, Emma.
ES: The fact that you can tell the difference tells me you don’t drink enough.

MBL: Finally… what’s it like to pose nude with one of the most famous women in the world? And that’s a question for both of you, by the way.
EW: Intimidating. Emma’s a very beautiful girl.
ES: Oh, f-ck off – I was going to say something sarcastic, and now I can’t. Um.
EW: Sorry.
ES: Ah… empowering? Can I say that, without sounding like a complete embarrassment? I know Girl Power was a long time ago, but what the hell, I’m a massive Spice Girls fan. And there’s something about posing with a gorgeous girl like Emma, for no other reason than because we want to, and because it’s fun, and because it feels sexy… those are all good enough reasons to get my tits out, if you ask me. I’ve had a blast. It’s been wicked.
EW: It has, actually. It’s been a lot of fun.

EMMA WATSON and EMMA STONE were talking to MARY-BETH LAMBERT, exclusively for VANITY FAIR.