Fascinating faces of 2021: The year's breakout stars, icons and pivotal artists

GREAT PORTRAIT photography is a partnership between photographer and subject. In 2021, some of the year's most intriguing cultural figures partnered, however briefly, with L.A. Times photographers to make a series of compelling portraits. This collection of some of our favorites captures moments of glamour, whimsy, contemplation and playfulness by the icons, breakout stars and artists who helped make this a year to remember.

MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS, photographed by Jesse Dittmar

Williams, beloved for his roles in “The Wire,” “Boardwalk Empire” and “Lovecraft Country,” spoke with Michael Ordoña for the Aug. 26 Envelope. The stories photos were taken Aug. 16, just three weeks before the actor's death on Sept. 6.

KATE WINSLET, photographed by Greg Williams

Winslet spoke about the all-encompassing nature of her Emmy-winning “Mare of Easttown” role with Glenn Whipp for The Envelope, Aug. 12, and with Meredith Blake about her accent on the series for the May 3 issue of Calendar.

OLIVIA RODRIGO, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin

Rodrigo, who is up for seven Grammys in 2022, talked with Mikael Wood about the song “Hope Ur OK” and her debut album, "Sour," for the Dec. 9 issue of The Envelope. Her hit song "Drivers License" was Spotify's most streamed song of 2021 and “Sour”was its most streamed album.

CLINT EASTWOOD, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin

For the Sept. 12 issue of Sunday Calendar, the five-time Oscar winner spoke with former Times film critic Kenneth Turan about directing and starring in this year's "Cry Macho" and riding a horse on camera at age 91.

KID CUDI, photographed by Myung J. Chun

Rapper Kid Cudi talked with Keith Murphy about his music, working with Kanye West and his role in the Adam McKay-directed film "Don't Look Up" for the Nov. 7 issue of Sunday Calendar.

CHLOÉ ZHAO, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin

Not only did Zhao helm the big-budget Marvel movie "Eternals," which brought in more than $401 million at the worldwide box office, she started the year with a string of awards, culminating in the Oscar for her much more intimate film "Nomadland." She talked with Mark Olsen as part of the director's roundtable for the Jan. 28 edition of The Envelope, with Glenn Whipp for the April 8 issue of The Envelope and to Christi Carras for a Nov. 4 Calendar story.

JON BATISTE, photographed by Devin Oktar Yalkin

After Batiste learned he had been nominated for 11 Grammys he sat down with Rob Tannenbaum to talk about his "We Are" album, his contributions to the soundtrack for "Soul" and his day job as bandleader for "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" for the Dec. 9 issue of The Envelope,

JARED LETO, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin

For the second year in a row Leto is in the awards conversation for another transformative role, that of the overlooked paunchy, balding Paolo Gucci in "The House of Gucci." Earlier in the year he was nominated for a supporting actor Screen Actors Guild Award for his weight-gaining role as a disturbed murder suspect in "The Little Things," He talked with Michael Ordoña for The Envelope's actors roundtable, Dec. 30.

DUA LIPA, photographed by Christina House

Before winning the Grammy for pop vocal album, Dua Lipa talked with music critic Mikael Wood about her album "Future Nostalgia" for the March 7 issue of Sunday Calendar.

ISSA RAE, photographed by Myung J. Chun

Issa Rae spoke with Danielle Broadway for the Dec. 12 issue of Sunday Calendar about shooting her just-concluded series "Insecure" in South L.A.

SARAH PAULSON, photographed by Mariah Tauger

P

Paulson talked with Yvonne Villarreal about playing Linda Tripp in the FX series “Impeachment: American Crime Story” for the Aug. 29 issue of Sunday Calendar

ANNABELLE GURWITCH, photographed by Mel Melcon

Gurwitch spoke with Margaret Wappler about divorce, Stage 4 cancer, humor and her memoir "You're Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility" for the Feb. 28 issue of Sunday Calendar.

CHRIS ROCK, photographed by Jesse Dittmar

Rock spoke with Sonaiya Kelley about producing and starring in the horror film “Spiral: From the Book of Saw” for Sunday Calendar, May 16.

ANDY SAMBERG AND CRISTIN MILIOTI, photographed by Brian van der Brug

"Palm Springs" stars Samberg and Milioti spoke with Michael Ordoña for the Jan. 7 issue of The Envelope.

ADDISON RAE, photographed by Jason Armond

Rae talked with Amy Kaufman for the Aug. 30 issue of Calendar about transitioning to an acting career after achieving fame on TikTok.

PIPILOTTI RIST, photographed by Madeleine Hordinski

Times art critic Christopher Knight called the COVID-delayed opening of Rist’s first West Coast survey show, “Big Heartedness, Be My Neighbor” — at MOCA in Los Angeles through June 6 — “enchanting” and “worth the wait.” The Swiss artist Rist spoke with Carolina A. Miranda for Sunday Calendar, Sept. 12.

RUTH NEGGA, photographed by Jason Armond

Negga talked about her role in Rebecca Hall's "Passing" with Sonaiya Kelley for the Nov. 16 issue of Calendar.

QUESTLOVE, photographed by Kent Nishimura

Ahmir Khalib Thompson, best known as Questlove, spoke about the prevalence of stories about Black suffering and slavery and why he felt compelled to make the music documentary "Summer of Soul." He talked with Rob Tannenbaum for the July 4 edition of Sunday Calendar.

DAVID CROSBY, photographed by Robert Gauthier

Joe Hagan spoke with Crosby for the March 7 issue of Sunday Calendar about the making of his first solo album, 1971's "If I Could Only Remember My Name." He recorded it not long after his girlfriend Christine Hinton was killed in a car accident and friends like Jerry Garcia showed up to support him.

JASON SUDEIKIS, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin

Sudeikis talked about “Ted Lasso” and more with Glenn Whipp for The Envelope, Aug. 19.

SYMONE AND GOTTMIK, photographed by Christina House

It was clear early in Season 13 of "RuPaul's Drag Race" that the eventual winner, Symone, and Gottmik, who tied on the show for third, were breakout stars. The two Los Angeles drag queens talked with contributor Isabelle Kliger for the April 18 issue of Sunday Calendar.

SACHA BARON COHEN, photographed by Russell James

Two movies,”Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” earned Cohen double Oscar nominations in 2021. He talked with Glenn Whipp about playing Abbie Hoffman in “Chicago 7” for The Envelope, Jan. 14.

THUNDERCAT AND FLYING LOTUS, photographed by Genaro Molina

Grammy winner Thundercat (Stephen Bruner)

and self-described "escapist creative" Flying Lotus (Steven Ellison) spoke with August Brown about their collaborations for the March 7 issue of Sunday Calendar.

AWKWAFINA AND KUMAIL NANJIANI, photographed by Mariah Tauger

Awkwafina and Kumail Nanjiani spoke about their respective roles in the Marvel movies "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" and "Eternals" with Jen Yamato for the Aug. 29 issue of Sunday Calendar.

ANDRA DAY, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin

Day spoke with Briana Younger for the April 25 issue of The Envelope about playing Billie Holiday in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.”

STEVEN YEUN, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin and Christina Hous

Yeun, the first Korean to be nominated for a lead actor Oscar, spoke about his role in “Minari” with Glenn Whipp for the Feb. 18 issue of The Envelope.

DANNY TREJO, photographed by Mel Melcon

Trejo spoke about his memoir “Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood” with Daniel Hernandez for the July 4 issue of Sunday Calendar.

ANYA TAYLOR-JOY, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin

Taylor-Joy, one of Hollywood’s busiest actors, took time out to speak with Glenn Whipp for The Envelope, Aug. 26.

ZIWE, photographed by Michael Nagle

Even before Ziwe's much-discussed guest appearance on "Succession" — in which Jeremy Strong's Kendall Roy appears on a show similar to her own late-night Showtime series — she was talking about world domination with Meredith Blake for the May 9 edition of Sunday Calendar.

T.C. BOYLE, photographed by Myung J. Chun

Boyle discussed his 2021 novel "Talk to Me," about an interspecies love triangle and of good intentions pitted against human folly, with contributor Mark Athitakis for the Sept. 12 Sunday Calendar.

SUZANNA SON, photographed by Celeste Sloman

Son talked with Josh Rottenberg about her breakout role in Sean Baker's "Red Rocket" for the Dec. 15 issue of Calendar.

JENNIFER HUDSON, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin

Hudson, an Oscar contender who participated in The Envelope actress roundtable released Dec. 16, spoke with Lorraine Ali about portraying Aretha Franklin in the film “Respect” for the Aug. 8 issue of Sunday Calendar.

JUNG HO-YEON, PARK HAE-SOO and LEE JUNG-JAE, photographed by Myung J. Chun

'Squid Game" stars Lee, Park and Jung talked with Robert Abele for the Dec. 16 issue of The Envelope.

NATANAEL CANO, photographed by Christina House

Cano spoke with Suzy Exposito for a profile on Rancho Humilde Records CEO Jimmy Humilde for the May 23 issue of Sunday Calendar. Cano is the label's most popular act but in November he said that he may start his own label.

GEORGE CLOONEY, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin

Clooney spoke with Jen Yamato for the actors roundtable in the Jan. 21 issue of The Envelope.

KATHRYN HAHN, photographed by Genaro Molina

Hahn spoke about her “WandaVision” role with Margy Rochlin for The Envelope, May 20.

EIZA GONZÁLEZ, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin

Former Mexican teen star González talked with Carlos Aguilar for the April 4 issue of Sunday Calendar.

JUSTINE BATEMAN, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin

Bateman spoke with Amy Kaufman about her COVID-delayed feature directorial debut, "Violet," her path from actor to filmmaker, and Hollywood's view of women for the March 19 edition of Calendar.

COI LERAY, photographed by Mariah Tauger

Leray spoke with Suzy Exposito for the Aug. 29 issue of Sunday Calendar.

KRISTEN STEWART, photographeed by Jay L. Clendenin

Stewart spoke about playing Princess Diana in the Pablo Larraín film "Spencer" with Glenn Whipp for the Sept. 8 issue of Calendar.

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER, photographed by Myung J. Chun

Cedric talked with Chris Vognar for the Aug. 26 issue of The Envelope about his career, his CBS sitcom "The Neighborhood" and hosting the Emmys.

LADY GAGA, photographed by Jay L. Clendenin

Gaga spoke with Amy Kaufman about her “House of Gucci” role for The Envelope's actress roundtable published on Dec. 16.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.