Infamous Interviews: "It's Raining Teens," Vanity Fair July 2003
In the bygone years of the early 2000s, the public was fascinated with the lives of teen- and teen-ish stars. In July of 2003, Vanity Fair published an issue with the special cover feature, "It's Totally Raining Teens."
The cover famously features nine of the hottest young actresses of the time, from Amanda Bynes to the Olsen Twins. They're clad in a spectrum of pastel pink outfits that are now very dated, even though they were the cutting edge of style at the time: babydoll tank top blouses, low-rise silk cargo pants, and tiered ruffled skirts, to name a few.
It's Raining Teens
Vanity Fair, July 2003
By Krista Smith and James Wolcott
Photographs by Mark Seliger
The article is a pretty lazy piece of journalism, even though it required two writers for some reason. It's formatted as a Q&A with each teen star. They're asked stupid and very of-the-era questions such as, "Number of Juicy Couture outfits?" and, "Britney or Christina?" For example, here is 17-year-old Lindsay Lohan's questionnaire:
LINDSAY LOHAN Birthday: July 2, 1986. Sign: Cancer. Hometown: Cold Spring Harbor, New York. Big break: Playing a set of twins in the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap. First job: A Jell-O commercial with Bill Cosby. Upcoming projects: Freaky Friday, out this summer, and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, out next spring. Number of Juicy Couture outfits: A dozen. Favorite lip glosses: ChapStick, Kiehl’s Lip Balm. Favorite designer: Christian Dior. Britney or Christina: “Britney, but I love Christina’s voice.” Favorite guy’s guy: “James Dean, but I love Brad Pitt.” Favorite pretty-boy: Justin Timberlake. Pet peeve: “People who are fake.” Idol: Madonna. Celebrity crush: Ashton Kutcher. Favorite old TV shows: Saved by the Bell, Who’s the Boss? Catchphrase: “Peace and love."
Not exactly Pulitzer-worthy. But it does showcase a who's who of up-and-coming young stars of the day. Some have stuck around and have respectable careers. Others went up in the flames of notoriety. Others have fallen off the map completely.
The total list of stars includes:
A.J. Trauth
Emily VanCamp
Brittany Snow
Aaron Meeks
Ashley Olsen
Mary-Kate Olsen
Evan Rachel Wood
Hilary Duff
Lindsay Lohan
Solange Knowles
Lacey Chabert
Gregory Smith
Christina Milian
Mandy Moore
Raven Symoné
Shia Laboeuf
Alexis Bledel
Amanda Bynes
Bow Wow
Aaron Carter
Kyla Pratt
Alexa Vega
Daniel Radcliffe
Emma Watson
Rupert Grint
Milo Ventimiglia
Jared Padalecki
Kaley Cuoco
Evan Rachel Wood, who was then 15, tweeted that she was "almost in tears" at the photoshoot and that she was treated "like meat." What ever could she have meant? There's nothing exploitative at all about photographing teen girls having a pillow fight wearing tank tops!
Alexa Vega was just 15 when Vanity Fair photographed her with the wind blowing up her skirt.
Raven Symoné was technically 18 when this was published, but it still seems creepy that she's making bedroom eyes, parting her lips, and pulling open her sweater in this photo.
Here are the Olsen twins before they became eccentric Eurotrash billionaires:
And look, Shia Laboeuf before he became a raging asshole!
It's sad and bittersweet. Amanda Bynes had no idea that in July of 2013 -- 10 years after this issue was published -- the LAPD would use a 5150 to place her in a hospital psychiatric ward for lighting a fire in a stranger's driveway.
The heartthrobs of your tweens: Bow Wow and Aaron Carter. Who would today's equivalents be? Justin Bieber and Lil Nas X? I truly am too old to know.
Since the MeToo movement and the revelations that many actors have made about the exploitation they experienced coming of age in Hollywood, it is eye-opening to look back and reconsider this article. Bynes, Lohan, and Laboeuf all publicly admitted to substance abuse problems that developed around this era.
This is also about the time when ONTD came onto the scene. (Well, 2004, technically.) Just think of how much pop culture has changed! Or not changed, since low-rise jeans and other 2000s throwbacks are apparently coming back into style.
Okay ONTD, I expect your answers to the questionnaire! You can answer as your current self or your teenage self and we will all just have to guess which one.
Birthday:
Sign:
Hometown:
Big break:
First job:
Upcoming projects:
Number of Juicy Couture outfits:
Favorite lip glosses:
Favorite designer:
Britney or Christina:
Favorite guy’s guy:
Favorite pretty-boy:
Pet peeve:
Idol:
Celebrity crush:
Favorite old TV shows:
Catchphrase:
[Previous Infamous Interviews] Megan Fox Taylor Swift, Rooney Mara, John Mayer, Britney Spears, Tom Hiddleston, 5 Seconds of Summer, Jessica Alba, Angelina Jolie, M.I.A., Chris Evans, Jennifer Lopez, Kate Winslet, Beyoncé, Channing Tatum, Cara Delevingne, Johnny Depp, Miles Teller, and Courtney Love
[Previous famous photoshoots:] Beverly Johnson/Naomi Campbell, Drew Barrymore, The Beckhams, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
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