CHRIS ROCK
Photograph by Martin Schoeller
March 2, 2004
Los Angeles

''I had so many ideas,'' says Schoeller of shooting EW's funniest person in America. ''I wanted to photograph him as a black Jesus…. Black Superman was another idea. But that was all nixed.'' With Michael Jackson tracks pumping in the background Schoeller ultimately had the otherwise stoic Rock let it all out. ''I ended up shooting him screaming,'' he says ''Which was three steps down from him with a crown of thorns or flying over the city, but it turned out okay.''