Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue has always been a temperature check for the industry—who’s shaping culture, who’s rewriting its rules, and who’s redefining the face of stardom. For 2026, the magazine turns its lens toward the men who are quietly, steadily shifting what it means to be a leading man in modern Hollywood. And honestly? It’s about time.
@jeremyallenwhitefinally, @asaprocky, @glenpowell, @lakeithstanfield3, Callum Turner
This year’s theme, “Let’s Hear It for the Boys!”, isn’t a throwback—it’s a statement. A celebration of the evolving male narrative in film and pop culture, one that leans into nuance instead of bravado, emotion instead of armor.
The Rise of the Vulnerable Leading Man
For years, the male Hollywood archetype has been carved in granite: stoic, hardened, emotionally bulletproof. But the tides have turned, led by performers like Paul Mescal and Austin Butler. Their rise didn’t come from playing superheroes or action titans—it came from characters who break open on-screen, who make space for fragility, longing, and emotional complexity.
Mescal’s soft-spoken intensity has become its own language, while Butler continues to balance charisma with something unguarded beneath the surface. Together, they anchor a new era where vulnerability isn’t a liability—it’s the point.
Enter the Internet Boyfriend Era
But Hollywood isn’t just shaped by the box office anymore. It’s shaped by culture, by timelines, by the men who exist at the intersection of fashion, music, social media, and mythology. Enter the “internet boyfriend.”
This issue spotlights figures like A$AP Rocky and Lakeith Stanfield, whose appeal goes beyond roles or records. They embody a charismatic blend of strength and softness—stylish, expressive, unpredictable, and honest in ways that feel refreshingly human.
These aren’t the men who stand behind walls; these are the men who let you see the plumbing inside them. Confidence without arrogance. Sensuality without toxicity. Cool without cruelty.
A Hollywood Rewriting Its Script
What Vanity Fair captures so well is that masculinity in media isn’t collapsing—it’s expanding. This Hollywood isn’t demanding men choose between toughness or tenderness; it’s asking them to inhabit both. And audiences are responding.
The 2026 Hollywood Issue becomes less a magazine cover and more a cultural marker: a snapshot of the moment when male stardom cracked open and started breathing deeper.
Fashionably Male readers will appreciate how these shifts echo trends in menswear, modeling, and digital culture—where personal expression, emotional transparency, and identity fluidity are shaping the visual language of a new generation of male icons.
Final Thoughts
“Let’s Hear It for the Boys!” isn’t just a catchy headline—it’s a recognition of an ongoing evolution. A nod to the men who are redefining what it means to lead, to inspire, to seduce, and to be seen.
Hollywood’s heartthrob has grown up—and he’s more interesting than ever.
In Hollywood’s golden age, studios turned regular men into secular gods: changing their names, hiding their flaws. But now, writes Ottessa Moshfegh, the era of the remote matinee idol is over—and the dawn of the almost approachable, appealingly authentic modern actor is in full swing. Meet the new class of leading men.
Read the cover story.
Photographer @theo123456
Talent THE 2026 HOLLYWOOD ISSUE
@jeremyallenwhitefinally, @asaprocky, @glenpowell, @lakeithstanfield3, Callum Turner.
Fashion Editor @tom_guinness
Set Design @frau.juliawagner
Produced by @casaprojects
Location @ealingstudios
Groomer (Michael) @tashareikobrown
Groomer (Paul) @knightjosh
Groomer (Austin) @jillianhalouska
Barber (Michael) @jove14
Manicurist (Austin, Paul) @adamslee_
