ALL THE RIGHT MOODS

BEHIND THE SCENES

Each Hall of Fame shoot held a revelation, whether it was the U.S. soccer team's modesty, the Friends cast's nostalgia, or the Quecreek miners' sweet side. Annie Leibovitz and company turned each mood into a masterpiece

Now and then, the subject of a Vanity Fair photo shoot displays a touch of what is politely called attitude. Those taking part in this year's Hall of Fame portfolio displayed qualities such as decency, humility, and a sense of fun. At the shoot of Landon Donovan and other U.S. soccer stars, the players were too modest to peel off their clothes for the camera. At the Hairspray shoot, while Marissa Jaret Winokur was climbing all over her onstage love interest, Matthew Morrison, Mary Bond Davis and Harvey Feirstein opted for a game of "sandwich," in which they pressed smaller people between their considerable bodies. The Friends cast members were happy to shed their TV personas and go nearly whiteface for Annie Leibovitz, who'd been inspired by a 1930s August Sander portrait of traveling performers. Between poses, they realized that this might be one of the last Friends shoots ever, and got almost weepy. Leibovitz had planned to photograph the Quecreek coal miners at the mine. But after learning their nicknames (Flathead, Moe, Hound Dog) and Finding that they have a considerable soft spot (they heard it was Annie's birthday and got her a cake), she scrapped her plan, and got something even more revealing than she had hoped for.