With James Frey’s recent stint as an intern for Gawker, Ryan Adams’s brief afternoon internship with BlackBook, and Kanye West’s (at right) recent interest in a fashion internship in London, we here at previously intern-poor Listicles have begun to wonder who we could get to intern and how we would convince them.

Are internships like the new late-night TV appearance wherein a celebrity logs some face time so they can chat about their latest project? Or is the celebrity internship a phenomenon related to the worsening job market? Maybe now even celebrities need to work countless unpaid hours before getting a job. Whatever the case, we’re hoping for an email from one of the following people, our Top 5 Celebrity Intern Fantasies:

• 5. Don DeLillo: Most of his books are padded out to novel-length by his fascination with lists, so we know he’d be good. Also, after the lukewarm reception of his 9/11 novel Falling Man, this could be a great venue for him to re-ingratiate himself with the young and hip (because, you know, our readers are the youngest and hippest around). DeLillo’s first list: Top 25 Characters Symbolizing Middle-Class Malaise in American Fiction.

• 4. Angelina Jolie: Admittedly she has no particularly list-related qualifications, but the star power she’d bring to the job (oops, I mean unpaid internship) is unparalleled. We could even put her on the human rights beat, what with her UN connections and developing world adoption policies. Jolie’s first list: Top 10 Countries I’d like to Adopt Children From.

• 3. Spike Lee: Ever the opinionated and engaged artist, we know that Lee would bring a hyper-critical and even-tempered political edge to Listicles. With his latest film, Miracle at St. Anna, not faring so well, this might also be an opportunity for him to test out his film ideas before acting on less than amazing ones. Lee’s first list: Top 20 Hollywood Movies I’d Remake About Race.

• 2. Cindy Sherman: The feminist artist who claims not to be one (at right), Sherman’s career has proved her encyclopedic knowledge of visual art and style, which would make her a natural list-writer. Also, she’s dated some super-cool guys, so maybe she could help us line up subsequent celebrity internships with someone like current boyfriend David Byrne. Sherman’s first list: Top 10 Iconic Images That Still Haven’t Received the Cindy Sherman Treatment.

• 1. Tom Cruise: If ever a cultural zeitgeist was encapsulated in one iconic personality, Cruise is our top candidate (sorry Britney). With that in mind, we’d do our best to provide the rampant Scientologist with a comfortable and welcoming environment (we have a couch he can jump on if he gets too excited). Also, we now know he’s an outstanding list-maker and list-reader (see below), so he would need minimal training. Cruise’s first list: Top 30 Characters I Didn’t Get to Play But Would Have Totally Nailed.