“Sunward”. When the Mediterrenean Mantis opened its wings, It seemed very impressive at the sunshine... Photo location: Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo and caption by Hasan Baglar/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A woman poses for photos in snowfall on a podium installed on International Women's Day in central St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, March 8, 2023, with a police officer in the background. International Women's Day on March 8 is an official holiday in Russia, where men give flowers and gifts to female relatives, friends and colleagues. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

A child gets his head shaved by a Buddhist monk during a ceremony to prepare children to live as Buddhist monks for three weeks at Jogyesa Temple on May 09, 2023 in Seoul, South Korea. As part of the celebration of Buddha's birthday, young children are annually invited to become Buddhist monks for a three-week period. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Japan's ON-ART Corp's staff repaints the company's eight metre tall man-operated walking dinosaur robot “TRX03” at the company's studio in Tokorozawa, Japan, December 6, 2016. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

This picture taken on July 8, 2015 shows 13-year-old jockey Purevsurengiin Togtokhsuren (R) watching a horse rolling in the dirt after a training session in Khui Doloon Khudag, some 50 kms west of Ulan Bator. Despite being only 13 years old, Togtokhsuren is riding for the fifth time in the national races for Mongolia's summer festival, known as Naadam, lining up against some 170 other child jockeys. (Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP Photo)

Villagers cry for their relatives who were killed in an earthquake during a funeral in Longmen village, in Lushan county in southwest China's Sichuan province, on April 21, 2013. Rescuers and relief teams struggled to rush supplies into the rural hills of the area after an earthquake left at least 180 people dead and more than 11,000 injured. (Photo by Associated Press)

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.

Bigfoot Fastrax crushes cars during the monster truck rally at Anaheim Stadium in 1989 in Anaheim, California. Photo by: Tim Defrisco/Getty Images