George Clooney & Viola Davis Cover 'EW'.

George Clooney and Viola Davis take the cover of Entertainment Weekly’s latest issue, on newsstands Friday (January 6).

Here’s what the Oscar frontrunners had to share with the mag:

Viola, on The Help being her first leading role: “First lead role ever in a movie. So it was my first time to really create a character from beginning to end. I’ve always just shown up and, whatever my lines are, I just do it, like almost robotic in a way. But this is the first time I felt a huge responsibility - to the African-American community, to the people who read the book. A lot was on our shoulders.”

George, on watching movies differently since he began directing: “I’m able to remove myself a little more and say, ‘I understand why he used this take instead of a take I thought would be better.’ Even things where people go, ‘You really nailed it,’ you go back and watch it and say, ‘Wow, I could’ve done so many different things.''