Getty ImagesSometimes, it pays to break rules—particularly in the Hollywood biz.
The Hollywood Reporter has released its annual list of the biggest rule breakers in the entertainment industry with notable names like Angelina Jolie, Chris Pratt, Taylor Swift and Michael Keaton leading the pack as the A-listers are all featured on four separate covers for the magazine's Jan. 9 issue.
Jolie, Pratt, Swift and Keaton, who have continually proven they aren't afraid to take risks in an ever-critical industry, join the likes of the Boyhood team (which is quickly becoming a frontrunner for the year's best picture) including Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Richard Linklater and Ellar Coltrane, The Fault In Our Stars team, as well as Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder), Anthony Anderson (Black-ish) and ABC's Paul Lee.
"I never had a plan for my life," Jolie, whose recent rule breaking credits include her decision to direct husband Brad Pitt in By the Sea, her role as Maleficent in the Disney flick and the making of her passion project Unbroken, tells the publication. "I do what I want to do. And if suddenly tomorrow I couldn't do anything, I could deal with that. I'd be happy at home being a mom."
While Jolie may have successfully transformed from Hollywood's wild child to one of the world's biggest role models, Taylor Swift is also breaking the rules—in her own charming way.
Months ago, the former country crooner received a far amount of backlash when she announced that she would be releasing her first pop album—but she quickly proved her haters wrong when the record rapidly shot to the top of the music charts (the first single, "Shake It Off," spent four non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100).
Couple the album's success with Swift's decision to pull her music from Spotify, and it's safe to say that the singer has not only had a landmark, but also a headline making year.
"I didn't think that it would be shocking to anyone," Swift says of her decision to remove her albums from the popular streaming service. "With as many ways as artists are personalizing their musical distribution, it didn't occur to me that this would be anything that anyone would talk about. But I could never have expected so many text messages, emails and phone calls from other artists, writers and producers saying thank you."
Guardians of the Galaxy co-writer/director James Gunn and star Chris Pratt also appear on their own cover, thanks to their ability to successfully make the fantasy/action flick, which has currently grossed over $700 million worldwide to date.
"Every rule said, 'You don't make a movie with a talking tree,' 'You don't spend this much money on a raccoon with a gun,' " the 35-year-old stud admits. "For me, I was like, 'Oh, so this movie is going to bomb. Done. This is the end of my career.'"
Of course, no rule breaker list would be complete without Michael Keaton, who has been going against the grain ever since he passed up the opportunity to star in the third Batman flick.
However, the 63-year-old actor, who is currently expected to garner his first Oscar nomination for his role in Birdman, brushes off any notions of a comeback.
"I go from one thing to the other, and sometimes I stop acting altogether," he explains. "Sometimes I raise a kid, and sometimes I build a house in Montana."
What do you think of THR's 2014 Rule Breakers? Tell us in the comments!