Moved perhaps by Tom Cruise’s most recent cinematic triumph, I’m compelled to reminisce on a different time (for lack of a better way of putting) when a baker’s dozen of Hollywood’s most recognizable leading men gathered on Soundstage 12 of Los Angeles’ Culver Studios on December 8, 2002 to pose for Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood issue.

You could look at this as art. It’s just iconic.

Missing from the picture are Jude Law, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Ewan McGregor and Matt Damon — big names all, but the first half of the picture is what matters most.

Photo by Annie Leibovitz