In a famous—and famously disquieting—scene from 1999’s Being John Malkovich, the eponymous thespian enters a mysterious portal into his own brain and there encounters dozens of Malkovich doppelgängers of both genders. Fifteen years later, portrait photographer Sandro Miller has taken this concept to its logical extreme with a project titled “Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: Homage To Photographic Masters.” It finds the 60-year-old actor donning a variety of costumes and wigs to recreate poses from iconic photographs, including Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother and Gordon Parks’ American Gothic. Miller’s extremely detailed facsimiles are so close to the originals that casual viewers may not initially realize that the star of Dangerous Liaisons and Con Air has been sneakily added into them. (Certain entries, however, are more obvious.)
John Malkovich was an “eager” participant in this simultaneously flattering and unflattering endeavor, according to an article at PetaPixel. Miller and Malkovich have been friends since the 1990s, and apparently the two men reached that point in companionship at which one person asks the other, “Hey, would you mind dressing up like the creepy twin sisters from that Diane Arbus photo?” For those interested in seeing these works up close, they will be on display at the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago from November 7, 2014 to January 31, 2015. The collection can be enjoyed online now.