What It Took To Get That ‘McLovin Up In A Tree With A Trio Of Teen Hotties’ Shot In ‘Vanity Fair’

Yesterday, we unveiled a short excerpt from Vanity Fair’s exciting “Fresh New Hollywood Faces Of Tomorrow Today or Whatever” issue, in which Superbad breakout-sidekick Christopher Mintz-Plasse was made to answer a series of revealing multiple-choice questions. (”Coffee, tea, or me? Boxers or Lethal Injection?”). Accompanying the interview was a stunning black-and-white portrait, in which Mintz-Plasse teetered on a tree limb next to three comely up-and-comers: Zoë Kravitz (Lenny’s kid), Superbad co-star Emma Stone, and Olivia “Honest to Blog” Thirlby. What the bucolic photograph successfully managed to hide, however, was that it was taken in the middle of a heavy downpour.Watching the above behind-the-scenes video, we’re struck by what a miraculous feat it was, both on the part of the young thespians—who retained relatively convincing smiles through the tumbling moisture—and the VF art directors themselves, who somehow managed to shoo away junior flacks’ feable objections of, “But isn’t climbing a tree in a the middle of a thunderstorm the last thing you’re supposed to do?” Sure, Stone—the most expendable of the bunch—was incinerated by a massive bolt of lightning. But ultimately they got the shot in time, and in the cut-throat world of publishing, that’s all that really matters.

• The Class of 2008 [Vanity Fair]