American Ballet Theater's dancers are silhouetted as they rehearse for the opening night at the Shanghai Grand Theater in Shanghai, Thursday, November 2, 2023. The American national ballet company is returning to China for the first time in a decade for shows in Shanghai and Beijing in the latest sign strained relations between the United States and China are beginning to thaw. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Riot police arrest an anti-government protester in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, October 30, 2014. Thousands of protesters marched on Burkina Faso's presidential palace after burning the parliament building and ransacking state television offices on Thursday, forcing President Blaise Compaore to scrap a plan to extend his 27-year rule. Emergency services said at least three protesters were shot dead and several others wounded by security forces when the crowd tried to storm the home of Compaore's brother. Security forces also fired live rounds and tear gas at protesters near the presidency in the Ouaga 2000 neighborhood. (Photo by Joe Penney/Reuters)

A pedestrian waits for a bus in front of a “Living Wall” art project, produced in collaboration with The National Portrait Galler and the Earls Court Development Company, in west London on May 26, 2022. (Photo by Adrian Dennis/AFP Photo)

Photographer Howard Schatz had an idea: place actors in a series of roles and dramatic situations to reveal the essence of their characters. Such was the premise behind his book, In Character: Actors Acting, which captures some of Hollywood’s most emotive stars in the act of, well, making faces. Luckily for us, he continued the tradition for Vanity Fair. Here are some of the best.

American actress Ariana DeBose attends The Hollywood Reporter Nominees Night presented by IHG Hotels and Resorts at Spago on March 07, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Sara Jaye/Getty Images for IHG Hotels and Resorts)

In this undated photo provided on Monday, November 25, 2019, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, poses as he inspects a women's company under Unit 5492 of the Korean People's Army in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Photo by Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Photo)

Canadian actress and model Shannon Ashley Garcia “Shay” Mitchell early January 2023 discovers flowers that complement her dress. (Photo by shaymitchell/Instagram)

Colombian-American actress and TV personality Sofía Vergara in the second decade of December 2023 flaunts her figure in a body-hugging dress. (Photo by Sofiavergara/Instagram)