EDITOR’S LETTER

You know Sam Rockwell, right? Of course you do. He won an Oscar for his turn as a racist sheriff in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. He played a gay Nazi in Taika Waititi’s close-to-the-bone comedy JoJo Rabbit. He even appeared — well, his voice did — as a yodelling centaur bounty hunter in the surprise hit Trolls 2: World Tour. All brave, random and brilliantly skewed choices. I really should’ve known to expect the unexpected when it came to our shoot at The Hotel Chelsea in New York.

Rockwell wearing sunglasses? Sure. With a meat cleaver and a jackfruit? Okay. Lunging with a cold dead fish? Wrapped under cellophane with his pet jackfruit? I mean, why not? Grabbing a fistful of French fries, lighting and inhaling them? WTAF. As soon as I saw that chip-smoking image I knew we had our cover. (WARNING: smoking frites is not big and it’s not clever, but it is funny). Read all about the strange goings-on behind the scenes on page 22.

Elsewhere, we have Natalie Portman on beauty and beefing up for her role in the most recent Thor epic (no fried-food smoking was involved) and Jimi Famurewa extolling the detoxing benefits of swapping your smartphone for that dusty old Nokia sat at the back of the bottom drawer. Could you? I’m not so sure but, to be honest, I might have finished this letter two hours ago if I weren’t constantly reading emails, googling synonyms and checking Instagram on my iPhone. Lastly, everyone’s favourite anchorman Krishnan Guru-Murthy is this week’s My London.

Sorry but that’s it for now, I’m really up against the clock today. Not only do we have to send this issue to the printers in 90 minutes but we also have to send next week’s Fashion Edition cover. It’s going to be a bumper issue and I promise you’re in for a real treat. See you next Thursday.