George Clooney; Taylor Swift; Celebrity Photographer Martin Schoeller

01 of 10

GEORGE CLOONEY

Photographer Martin Schoeller, who has shot Clooney a number of times, has always been drawn to the actor's intelligence and political engagement. "He's one of my favorite subjects," the photographer tells PEOPLE. "He's more than just a pretty face – he's a true movie star." For this shoot, Schoeller cut out an old portrait he'd shot of Clooney and had him wear it as a mask. "I thought it would be interesting to have him wear his own face. He had no problem putting it on."

02 of 10

MICHAEL DOUGLAS

"I love to photograph people at home – it's always a little more honest," Schoeller says. "When we got to his Upper West Side apartment, Michael was strolling around in a bathrobe, making everyone coffee. It was one of the most pleasant photo shoots I've ever done." Douglas even pitched the idea of wearing makeup on only one eye, instead of Schoeller's plan to do both. ("In retrospect, he was totally right.")

03 of 10

CATE BLANCHETT

"Unfortunately, I had very little time with her – it was during one of these press junkets. She's an incredible actress and I hope to photograph her again one day," Schoeller says. Blanchett has one of those rare qualities, the photographer says, of both being beautiful and knowing how to control her beauty. "She's very, very easy to photograph."

04 of 10

JACK NICHOLSON

Sometimes actors clown around, but they usually don't take it this far. "Jack showed up wearing a clown's nose. We all said, 'What are you doing, Jack?' and he said, 'What are you talking about? I'm not doing anything!' He pretended he wasn't wearing a clown's nose," Schoeller recalls. They took some shots with the clown nose on, and then 20 minutes into the hour-long shoot, Nicholson finally agreed to remove the impromptu prop. "The publicist was freaking out."

05 of 10

TAYLOR SWIFT

"She's such a professional. She's done so many photo shoots that she just shows up and does her thing," Schoeller recalls. While he doesn't shoot fashion, he imagines photographing Swift is similar to photographing a professional model. "She knows what angles work for her; she knows how to move. She's a dream subject. I'm glad I got to capture a close-up of her that feels real and honest."

06 of 10

DAME JUDI DENCH

"We photographed her in Stratford-upon-Avon – Shakespeare's hometown – where she was performing at the time. She was very, very nice and incredibly straightforward," Schoeller says. "It was just my team and her. She didn't have a publicist there – I thank that's why we were able to take this very intimate picture."

07 of 10

JOHN GLENN

While Glenn is recognizable as one of the world's most famous astronauts, he is decidedly not a performer – and that can present some challenges. "When you're photographing someone who is not used to being photographed all the time, it can be a little more difficult to get the subject to warm up," Schoeller says. "But he had this very nice, elegant aura of him. He's a true gentleman. He followed my direction very well. I always like people who listen to me."

08 of 10

TONY HAWK

"He didn't really like being in this picture – he didn't want to jump off his kitchen counter," Schoeller recalls. "I thought skateboarding was so much about breaking the rules!" Fortunately for Schoeller, Hawk received a bit of outside encouragement. "When his wife heard that she would be in the picture with him, she talked him into it. He was like, 'I don't want to mess up our floors,' and she said, 'I wanted to replace the floors anyway!'"

09 of 10

QUENTIN TARANTINO

"You can't pitch an idea like this to a publicist now because they'll most likely shut it down," Schoeller says of this unusual, dove-filled shoot. "I just went out on a limb and had the set built and got all these doves – not knowing if Quentin would even agree to do it. I started him off with one dove, with the other ones hidden, and then after he settled into that idea, he said, 'Maybe a couple more doves.' One thing led to another – it was a long sales pitch – until he finally thought the idea of the shoot made sense for him."

10 of 10

DOLLY PARTON

When they met at Parton's Tennessee theme park, Dollywood, on a bitterly cold day, the 69-year-old country singer was warm and high-energy. The moment she arrived on set, the singer hopped on the carousel and began chatting with kids who'd been visiting the park and agreed to be part of the shoot. "She was basically dancing around on the carousel, laughing and having a great time interacting with the kids," Schoeller says. "And she kept that energy level up throughout the whole shoot – posing and laughing."