InStyle Magazine Covers: 2002

The 27-year-old Spanish actress was the face of Ralph Lauren in 2002 so it was only appropriate that she graced the cover wearing a romantic eyelet top from the designer. Cruz was dating her Vanilla Sky co-star, Tom Cruise, at the time and told us, "Tom and I are together, and I am happy - very happy - with him. But I don't want to go into detail. There are some things that have to be protected, especially in this situation. I had to learn that lesson at a young age. It's the only way to have a life."

A beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer was our February cover girl (in a pink suede jacket by Louis Vuitton and 7 For All Mankind jeans). She had just wrapped filming for I Am Sam and was excited to jump back into work. "Balance is not in my nature," the 43-year-old actress told us. "It was always all or nothing for me. Now I think I'm more apt to make mistakes. But I'm also more apt to surprise myself."

The newlywed Debra Messing (wearing a Carolina Herrera dress and Chanel earrings) was taking a turn on the big screen in The Mothman Prophecies and Hollywood Ending. The 33-year-old was excited about the new phase in her career and told us, "I feel stronger and more clear headed than I ever have. I don't know why I've been so lucky. I'm just trying to remember it every day - and just play."

Judd had just finished four back-to-back films but instead of exhausted, we found her full of bubbly enthusiasm thanks to her brand new marriage to race car driver Dario Franchitti. "It's unbelievable, incredible. Being married just goes beyond anything, I can't even begin to describe it. Words fail. I over-rely on superlatives, but how do you express...?"

Sela Ward, 45, opened up about the changes in her life in our May 2002 issue. "At times it seems like my life is about 100 miles an hour," the star told us. "There's so much going on. But by the time I'm 60 I'll welcome just sitting on the porch and just swinging. No regrets." The star wore Sportmax top and Jil Sander pants for our cover shoot.

The butt-kicking vampire slayer was moving to the big screen as Daphne in Scooby-Doo (where she would meet her future husband Freddie Prinze, Jr.) when she appeared on our June 2002 cover. The 25-year-old Gellar looked amazing in a Roberto Cavalli top and Richard Tyler Couture pants, but confessed her style is more high-low than haute couture: "My philosophy on clothes is you get a couple of good pieces and then go affordable for everything else."

A casual Spears showed up on our cover in a Versace top and Miss Sixty jeans. The 20-year-old songstress had just finished her Britney tour and was enjoying her downtime. "I've just gotten to the point where I can really allow myself to relax," she told us. "The other day I was in my room, and I was like 'I'm bored. This is what it's like to be bored!' And it was kind of cool. But I think it will only last for a week or two."

Gwyneth Paltrow, 29, was starring in Possession when she appeared as our cover girl (wearing a Calvin Klein dress). The Oscar winner seemed disenchanted with how audiences viewed her personal life. "I have so little interest in how the world labels me," she said. "I just do my own thing. It's a part of my job that people are going to draw conclusions about my life and sometimes they’ll be closer to the truth and sometimes they'll be far from it."

Jennifer Aniston, 33, was still working on Friends when she appeared on our September 2002 cover in a Gaultier Paris dress. "I'm just so sad about Friends ending that I get all goosey and weepy thinking about it," she confessed. "It will have been nine years, which is longer than I've stayed with anything."

"I consider myself a character actor, 26-year-old Witherspoon told us in 2002. "I love losing myself, losing my voice, finding someone else's physicality. That's my passion." The actress, who wore Dolce & Gabbana on our cover, was starring in Sweet Home Alabama.

Faith Hill, 35, was promoting her new album, Cry, when she appeared as our November cover girl. Wearing a Tom Ford for Gucci blouse and skirt and a Van Cleef amp Arpels diamond ring, the songstress confessed that, "The more success you have, the harder things get. Right now the pressures are enormous. I'm kind of scared how this record will be received. Is anybody going to get it?" We got it, Faith! The album has since sold four million copies and won a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performer.

The Friends actress was 38 when she appeared on our last cover of 2002. She wore a Marc Jacobs top and spoke candidly about falling into acting. "When I was growing up, acting wasn't on my mind." Cox told us. "When you're raised in Alabama, you don't think that way. There are no actors in the family; We're all very practical. Then I did a commercial - I don't even know how I fell into it and I thought, This is fun. It wasn't a lifelong dream, but now it feels meant to be."