Julianne Moore Fearless Star By Tom Ford

Julianne Moore

Fearless Star

By Tom Ford

Fearless. That is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Julianne Moore. Of course, the words beautiful, elegant, smart, loyal and steadfast can be used to describe her too.

I was fortunate enough to witness Julianne’s incredible skill as an actress firsthand when we worked together on a film that I directed called A Single Man. I remember looking through the camera lens before the first take and realizing that she projects something very rare; an actual luminosity that is dazzling in life and that can be captured on film. This is the difference between an actor and a star. Julianne’s character off set is just as magnetic as her on-screen presence. She has an inner beauty that will never fade. She is down to earth and real. For my 50^th birthday we went white-water rafting in Idaho, where we had no baths or toilets for five days. She seemed just as comfortable in the wilderness, stripped of the trappings of stardom, as she is in front of camera.

Julianne is one of the greatest actresses working today, but she’s also a wonderful human being. I am honored to call her my friend. 

Ford is fashion designer and director

Time, April 27 /May 4, 2015

Emma Watson Inclusive Inspiration By Bill Abramson

Emma Watson

Inclusive Inspiration

By Bill Abramson

Emma Watson alter’s ego Hermione Granger would doubtless approve of her HeForShe Campaign and its gutsy, smart take on feminism.

It’s especially refreshing to see men invited to join the fight for gender equality, as Watson pointedly did in launching the U.N. effort last fall, telling the men that it’s “your issue too.”

It’s also refreshing to see her vigorous embrace of feminism, which Watson defines as “the theory of political, economic and social equality of the sexes.” And apparently she lives by it. Although she is one of the world’s highest-paid actresses, she has spoken out about the paucity of female directors in Hollywood.

Watson was only 9 when she auditioned for the part of Hermione, and she appeared in every Harry Potter film to the end. She followed Hogwarts with a degree in English Literature from Brown University.

Her HeForShe speech at Davos was an Internet sensation, but unsurprisingly, it drew the typical antifeminist rants and even some threats. Watson chose to highlight the moving letters she has received from fathers who tell her they are investing new hope in the future for their daughters. But she was also frank about the bullying tactics of her detractors and one site that made an empty threat to release nude photos.

Her confident and cool reaction: “If they were trying to put me off, they did the opposite.”

Abramson, the former executive editor of the New York Times, is writing a book about the news business

Time, April 27 /May 4, 2015

Kim Kardashian The First Lady of #Fame By Martha Stewart

Kim Kardashian

The First Lady of #Fame

By Martha Stewart

Kim Kardashian is a media phenomenon. She has 29 million followers on Insagram and 31 million followers on Twitter, and her E? Show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, is considered appointment TV by a large and diverse audience. 

Why? Why? Why? We might ask ourselves. Here are some very good reasons.

Beautiful in an exotic, totally exaggerated way, Kim exudes energy, sexuality, drama, determination, impetuousness and happiness. But sh and her famous, entrepreneurial siblings-shepherded by a savvy, tireless matriarch-have also expanded the very definition of family.

The Kardashians are a totally modern construct. They re a blended family, of Armenian descent, with biracial pairings (Kim is married to Kanye West) and a reportedly transgender parent. They work hard, and they stick together through thick and thin.

Despite the flamboyance, the self-aggrandizement and the self –promotion (Kim set out to break the internet by baring her burn in an extraordinary photograph), Kim comes across as an enviable big sister in a clan where everyone seems to love one another. Are they indeed today’s Brady Brunch?

Where does Kim go from here? There seem to be very few barriers to further explosive success. 

Stewart is the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, an Emmy-winning TV host and a best-selling author.

Time, April 27 /May 4, 2015