Actor Edward Norton plays several pop-culture legends in this re-creation of the painting “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
They’re the first thing you see when “Saturday Night Live” comes back from a commercial break: Those iconic celebrity portraits, so bold and fun and quirky that they almost seem to jump off the screen.
They’ve been a staple of the show since 1975, highlighting each night’s host and musical guest and setting the mood for the entertainment to come.
“I like to think of it as a billboard of sorts,” said photographer Mary Ellen Matthews, who has been in charge of the shoots since 1999. “It's just such an opportunity to showcase the host and their personality.”
Matthews said Tom Hanks is a frequent host who is easy to work with and up to do just about anything. “I love the absurd. And I love a rubber chicken,” she said of this photo from October 2016.
For comedic talents like Tom Hanks, it could be a funny portrait of him carrying a briefcase full of rubber chickens. For “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, it could be a shot of him imitating Gene Kelly from “Singin’ in the Rain.” And for versatile actor Edward Norton, it could be him playing four pop-culture legends — including Marilyn Monroe — in a re-creation of Gottfried Helnwein’s painting “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
In the composite photo, seen at top, Norton also portrays James Dean, Humphrey Bogart and Elvis Presley.
“I thought it would be great for (Norton) to kind of dig into that and kind of play all those different characters, and he just loved it and we really did well with that idea,” Matthews recalled. “Tom Broecker is our costume designer, and he's a genius and I couldn't do it without him. … He really, as he always does, helps make these things come to life.”
Before becoming President, Donald Trump hosted “Saturday Night Live” in November 2015. His hair was a natural focal point for one of his portraits.
Matthews is constantly thinking of ideas for her “SNL” shoots, whether it’s re-creating a famous piece of art or just playing off her subject’s public persona. She also keeps things flexible on set and lets the celebrities take a concept and run with it.
“It's a great collaboration,” she said. “If they're enthusiastic about something, it's fun to work off of them, and I come with more than enough ideas that we can kind of go through them and pick a few or modify them. I usually come armed with lots and lots of things to kind of jump off of.”
Each week’s photo shoot usually takes place on the Thursday before the show. Matthews has to come up with eight or nine portraits for each host, depending on the layout of that week’s show, she said. There are three portraits needed for each musical guest. After the shoot, about a day of post-production is needed to make sure the photos have the graphical treatment and colors they need to “pop” for the live...
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