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.

Afghan children enjoy their time on Nadir Khan hill during the first day of Eid al-Fitr in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, April 21, 2023. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

Members of the Hitler Youth who are trained to report airstrikes repaining their bicycles. Published by: “Die Sirene”. 1942. (Photo by Herbert Hoffmann/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)

Dark clouds hang over the Great Belt Bridge connecting Nyborg and Halsskov, Denmark, on June 26, 2023. (Photo by Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AFP Photo)

A woman dressing the traditional clothes of a “cholita”, skates during a skate festival on September 30, 2020 in La Paz, Bolivia. According to the Johns Hopkins University Resource Center, Bolivia has over 130,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and more than 7,500 deceases. (Photo by Gaston Brito/Getty Images)

“Just another day on the job” (he's not an idiot bystander – he's an idiot fireman). See some more bad taste selfies from around the world.

Palestinian demonstrators take cover during clashes with Israeli soldiers following a protest against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in the village of Kfar Qaddum in the occupied West Bank, near the Jewish settlement of Kedumim, on December 9 2022. (Photo by Zain Jaafar/AFP Photo)

People perform acroyoga style exercices at South Pointe in Miami Beach, Florida, on February 8, 2023. (Photo by Chandan Khanna/AFP Photo)