Annie Leibovitz described her difficult role in persuading stars to pose for her “Disney Dream Portraits” series, saying, “Nobody ever wants to be Cruella De Ville … actresses always want to be princesses.”
The famed photographer told a packed audience at Cannes Lions yesterday she had no trouble persuading Scarlett Johansson to be Cinderella, while Rihanna, when approached, also wanted to be a princess.
Discussing her seven-year campaign to transform stars into fairy-tale characters, Leibovitz took the stage with McGarryBowen co-founder and chief creative officer Gordon Bowen and Disney Parks and Resorts’s Leslie Ferrar. Leibovitz said, “Scarlett was so funny. I didn’t know if she’d wear a tiara, but she was, like, ‘Give me that tiara, I have wanted to be Cinderella ever since I was a little girl.’ She owned Cinderella.”
Bowen added, “And it wasn’t the usual tiara you can buy at Disneyland, it was custom made by Harry Winston.”
Leibovitz continued, “Every celebrity wants to be a princess. I went to Rihanna, and she said, ‘I want to be a princess.”
She said of working with Julianne Moore on “The Little Mermaid,” “That was one of the more emotional shoots. She did it because her daughter’s favorite movie is ‘The Little Mermaid.’