Entertainment Feature: Top 20 Celebrity Portraits of 2016, By Photographer Joe Arce

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4. Hugh Jackman

Actor Hugh Jackman
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

They say only a fool would go toe-to-toe with a Wolverine…challenge accepted. Let’s just say I walked away lucky, with this superhero-worthy portrait.

LOCATION/DATE: Kerasotes Showplace Icon Theatre, Chicago, February 16, 2016 (Hugh Jackman was promoting the film “Eddie the Eagle”)

3. Alice Cooper

Rocker Icon Alice Cooper
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Alice Cooper was the first rock-star poster I ever hung up over my bed – at the age of eight – and my parents were horrified. It’s now over 45 years later, and the founder and king of “Shock Rock” still reigns supreme. But don’t believe a word of “No More Mr Nice Guy,” because working with Alice Cooper is always more like ”Love It To Death” than “Welcome To My Nightmare.”

LOCATION/DATE: Days of the Dead horror convention, Schaumburg (Illinois), November 19, 2016

2. Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Allen

Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Allen
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

2016 marked the third year in a row that I have gotten to photograph Woody Allan, right here in Chicago – this is still completely mind boggling to me. The iconic writer/director was here promoting his new film “Café Society,” so who could possibly ask for more? It’s yours truly, with one goal in mind – a portrait of Woody and his wife Soon-Yi posing together for my lens. I had asked for this shot and been politely denied for the last two years, sometimes by the camera-shy Ms. Allen herself. But as they say, third time is the charm. The couple will celebrate their twentieth anniversary in 2017, and now I have the shot!

LOCATION/DATE: Chicago History Museum, Chicago, July 21, 2016

1. Scarlett Johansson

Actress Scarlett Johansson
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Scarlett Johansson is the top money making female star of all time, and the highest earning actor male or female in 2016 (according to Forbes Magazine). To say I was eager to finally get the illustrious Ms. Johansson in front of my lens would probably be the understatement of the century. When it was first announced that she would be receiving the Gene Siskel Film Center Renaissance Award (in December of 2015) I marked the June date on my calendar, and counted down the days like a rabid Cub fan awaiting Opening Day. Experiencing Scarlett Johansson smiling back at you through the view finder – posing and taking a bit of direction from this photographer – IS winning the World Series. It doesn’t get any better than this – my images shimmering golden, like a trophy for all to see. Here’s hoping for a repeat.

LOCATION/DATE: Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Chicago, June 20, 2016

IN MEMORIAM: Carrie Fisher

Leia Forever! Carrie Fisher
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

In 2016, I shot 163 celebrities. Ironically, Ms. Carrie Fisher was number 86. Rest in Peace…somewhere a new star shimmers in a galaxy far far away.

LOCATION/DATE: Wizard World Comic Con, Chicago, August 21, 2016