FREEZE FRAMES

It's our holiday present to you. Each year, USA WEEKEND shoots many more great photos than we can fit in the magazine. We pick the images that best suit the story. But we also ooh and ahh as we admire a fair number of the outtakes. Now's your chance to enjoy a few. After all, in the spirit of the season, we'd feel greedy keeping these all to ourselves.
Plus: An update on these camera-ready cover subjects

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Jodie Foster (story) has grown up in public, from child star to two-time Oscar winner. Says photographer E.J. Camp: "Frame after frame caught the Jodie I think of now -- a lively, smart and beautiful woman."

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We slung quite a web for "Spider-Man"'s Tobey Maguire (story). But no fancy-schmancy special effects here, as photographer Robert Sebree explains it. "This is my favorite shot from my time with him," Sebree says. "I ended up using chicken wire. Two layers of it, to make it look and feel like a spider web."

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Wesley Snipes, (story) a gritty tough guy onscreen, got snazzy for us during a photo shoot in New York. Hope the "Blade II" star wasn't trying to cover up any bite marks with the T-neck, from Phat Farm.

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Photographer Nigel Parry had Matt LeBlanc (story) mimic a pose once struck by James Dean in a famous shot. LeBlanc dug it. "He's just like you expect -- a great guy," Parry says. "Just like Joey from 'Friends'."

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As she posed in a store window, "people thought Ashley Judd (story) was a mannequin," photographer Parry says. That was, until she changed positions.

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Alan Jackson (story) allowed a rare visit inside his tour bus, where he enjoyed a quiet moment with his guitar.

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Joaquin Phoenix (story) is a hard guy to get to sit still -- he's the nervous type, as writer Stephanie Mansfield learned. But he felt quite relaxed while taking a studio break with us in the warm California sun for a behind-the-scenes look at an actor's life.

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Talk about a good luck charm. Halle Berry (story) is only the second Oscar nominee photographer Anthony Barboza has shot. The last? Cher. Both actresses went on to win: Berry for "Monster's Ball" this year, and Cher for 1987's "Moonstruck".

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Mom-to-be Brandy (story) was a trouper while modeling car gadgets for us. "I had her crawling through an SUV back seat, and that's uncomfortable," says photographer Julie Dennis Brothers. "Her feet were killing her, too. But she was a total sport."

All photographs for USA WEEKEND. Jodie Foster: E.J. Camp; Snipes: Michael O'Neill, Corbis Outline; Maguire: Robert Sebree; LeBlanc and Judd: Nigel Parry, CPI; Berry: Anthony Barboza; Jackson: Tony Baker; Brandy: Julie Dennis Brothers; Phoenix: Michael Grecco