We are in awards season whether Covid is cool with it or not, and so W Magazine released its covers in celebration of some of the contenders — a bet they probably had to hedge a few months ago, although I feel like a West Side Story one would have been a good gamble. I might have replaced one of either Cate Blanchett, Lady Gaga, or maybe the Swintons, and plugged in Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, or Rita Moreno — or all three. And then swapped Adam Driver with Andrew Garfield. But in fairness Driver did three talked-about movies this year and one of them involved him raising a puppet as his child, so you know what, let’s give the man a moment. These covers are a real spectrum, too, ranging from straightforward (Denzel) to hella whimsical (SWINTON, et al); we also have lots of flowers as props, two and a half shoulder-touch poses, two face-touches, and several wigs.

W did Q&As of varying lengths with each cover subject: Adam for House of Gucci/Annette/The Last Duel, Babysbreath Callalilly for Power of the Dog (his interview is longest, and is my favorite — he must be fun to talk to), Blanchett for Nightmare Alley, Denzel Washington for The Tragedy of Macbeth, Gemma Chan for The Eternals, Jennifer Hudson for Respect, Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Kristen Stewart for Spencer, Lady Gaga for House of Gucci, and Tilda Swinton and Honor Swinton Byrne for The Souvenir, Part II, which I firmly believe is only included because every living photographer wants a crack at a day on set with SWINTON. Could you blame them?

[Photos by Tim Walker; issue curated by Lynn Hirschberg and styled by EIC Sara Moonves]