13 june 2025, Wouter van den Eijkel
Malkovich - Then Came John at Torch Gallery
It's not often that a gallery exhibition is discussed on a talk show. Usually, a scandal sparks the conversation, but in Sandro Miller's case, it was his muse who drew the media's attention. Miller conceived a series in which he and his close friend and muse, actor John Malkovich, meticulously recreated 50 iconic images. Malkovich transformed into figures such as Meryl Streep, Salvador Dalí, Muhammad Ali, Albert Einstein, John Lennon and unknown protagonists from iconic photographs like Diane Arbus's The Grenade Girl and August Sander's boxers.
Malkovich - Then Came John can be seen at the Torch Gallery in Amsterdam until 12 July.
In the late 1990s, Sandro Miller (b. 1958, Illinois) photographed numerous celebrities in his Chicago studio. The self-taught photographer captured Hollywood stars and sports heroes—his specialty being the beautiful portrayal of Black skin—for magazines, newspapers and multinational companies. Just before his first shoot with the man who would become his muse, he watched his latest film Con Air (1997). A slight panic overtook Miller: “What kind of person convincingly plays a psychopath?”
Everything about actor John Malkovich (b. 1953, Illinois) turned out to be different from the incarcerated psychopath Cyrus 'the Virus' Grissom, but also from all the celebrities Miller had previously photographed. “Normally, people bring an entire team with them, but he came alone. He was calm and spoke softly. Because there were lots of pictures of sports heroes in my studio, we talked about sports—something I hadn't expected. He also helped my assistants on set because he enjoys helping people and has an interest in fashion.”
The shoot was also a success for Malkovich. He enjoyed Miller's clear direction—something not many of Miller's peers seemed to do—which made it feel like acting. “I quickly realised that John could portray anything if you gave him clear instructions.”
A friendship developed that deepened over the years. “When John was in Chicago, he'd give me a call and we'd go shoot. Initially without a preconceived idea.” Such a long relationship is rare in this profession. Miller comments, “Most colleagues want to work with someone new each time. They've worked with Willem Dafoe and want to work with Brad Pitt or someone else next. I knew I wanted to keep working with John.”
Malkovich - Then Came John, Torch Gallery
Then came John
Fourteen years ago, Miller became seriously ill. As a result of chemotherapy and medication, he couldn't work for a year. During this time, Miller set a goal for after his illness. He went through his library of around 2,000 photo books and selected 250 iconic photos from his role models – of which around 50 are on display at the Torch Gallery. He wanted to pay homage to the men and women who taught him the craft by looking at their work: from August Sander to Diane Arbus and from Annie Leibovitz to Man Ray and everything in between.
Since Malkovich essentially acts for the camera, Miller came up with the idea to ask the actor to perform in each shot. “It's not something you casually ask. I first called him to ask when he had time to discuss my idea and then visited him in southern France. When I brought it up, he thought for a moment and said: ‘We can do this; it’s is just like theatre.’”
Malkovich's optimism was exactly what Miller needed because he realised this project could also mean the end of his career. “A few years earlier, a famous actor had recreated Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills. It wasn't well done because the images often didn't quite match. I knew this project could only succeed if we recreated the original photos perfectly.” That perfection was partly achieved through hours and hours of preparation. “To give you an idea: the photo of Igor Stravinsky by Arnold Newman was taken at 3 a.m. I know this because I enlarged the reflection in Stravinsky's eyes on my computer and deduced the time from that.”
Malkovich - Then Came John, Torch Gallery
Absolute perfection
The photo Carl Fischer made of boxing legend Muhammad Ali for Esquire posed a different challenge. “The arrows in Muhammad Ali's body were hanging on fishing lines on set. I could have easily done that with a computer, but I didn't want to. I wanted to reproduce the iconic photo as Fischer had made it in '68. It took a lot of time to get all the arrows at exactly the right angles.”
Miller also spent a lot of time reading about the specific shots. “I knew Marilyn Monroe had an affair with Bert Stern; you don't immediately see that in the picture, but it plays a role.” The photo of Malkovich as Monroe was challenging to recreate, especially to match the lipstick colour Monroe used to reject the picture.
But perfection lies not only in preparation, but also in execution. Miller had every photo printed in the original size and framed in a frame similar to the original. “I called dealers to ask if they had a certain photo and asked about the size and type of the frame.”
Malkovich - Then Came John, Torch Gallery
Five years in the making
Miller and Malkovich spent a total of five years on the series. Miller and his team worked for weeks leading up to the shoot to prepare the set so that they could reproduce four or five iconic photos per visit to Chicago. There were up to 40 people were on set at times. The costs incurred explain the editions of 35.
The shoots themselves were never long. Within 15 minutes, Miller usually had the right shot because Malkovich came prepared. The actor transformed during makeup into the photographed person. “A print of the photo hung next to the mirror. He began to make faces and during those two hours, became that person. When we were done, it always took a minute before he was himself again.”
Malkovich - Then Came John, Torch Gallery
