Kristen Wiig and Cate Blanchett Play a Mean Rhett Butler for W Magazine

Celebs Give Classic Scripts a Performance Makeover

Published On
Jan 19, 2016

Editor's Pick

W Magazine and sister Conde Nast publication Vogue have been skillfully extending the content of their print versions through brilliant online videos featuring the subjects of their stories -- and we're having a ball over it. For example, Vogue just asked Derek Zoolander 73 questions as part of its cover story featuring Ben Stiller and Penelope Cruz.

To complement W's "Best Performances" portfolio in its February issue, Editor-at-Large Lynn Hirschberg asked 29 of the actors featured within, including Kristen Wiig, Bryan Cranston, Cate Blanchett, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Bradley Cooper, Jake Gyllenhall and Amy Schumer, to recite the best lines from familiar films.

The first movie the magazine revisited was "Gone With the Wind." Ms. Hirschberg asked the stars to reverse gender roles; men were to play Scarlett O'Hara while the women played Rhett Butler. The best takes, in our opinion, happened when the celebrities stepped out of the film's framework to imagine totally different scenarios altogether, as when Ms. Wiig loses her train of thought, or sees a cute boy, while reciting Clark Gable's most famous movie line, or when Samuel L. Jackson reads Vivien Leigh's words as if he were wondering where to get a sandwich.

W has followed with more films in which the actresses play Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry and men portray Cher from "Clueless." The videos were created by W Magazine and Conde Nast Entertainment's video storytelling platform The Scene.

The film is featured here with permission of W Magazine. Follow the whole series on W's Casting Call page.