A woman in the Sabean Mandaean community takes part in a ritual during the Prosperity Day celebration in the Tigris River in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, November 1, 2022. (Photo by Hadi Mizban/AP 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.

A picture taken on April 27, 2021, shows the electrical wires running between homes in the capital Baghdad's Murabaa neighbourhood. Between January and March alone, the interior ministry recorded 7,000 fires, the deadliest of which erupted on Sunday in a Covid-19 hospital in Baghdad. Eighty-two people died and 100 others were injured in the inferno, which sparked shock and outrage in the country. Baghdad, a sprawling metropolis of 10 million people, has the tragic distinction of being the Iraqi city hit by the most fires every year. (Photo by Sabah Arar/AFP Photo)

A mourner reacts as bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes lie at a hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 17, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

An Afghan policeman frisks a man while a burqa-cald woman sits in the trunk of a car on a roadside in Herat, Afghanistan, 05 July 2015. At least 18 police, two civilians and 30 rebels were killed in central Afghanistan during three days of fierce fighting, police said on 04 July. The clashes ended 04 July after security forces retook control of nine police checkpoints that had fallen to the rebels. (Photo by Jalil Rezayee/EPA)

American reality show contestant Courtney Stodden is caught kissing a mystery woman on the beach in Santa Monica, CA on September 16, 2016. Courtney and the mystery brunette couldn't keep their hands of each other and didn't seem to care who saw their antics as they frolicked on the sand. (Photo by Canham/Splash News)

In this Saturday, April 13, 2019, file photo, Mariah Bell, center, of the U.S. reacts to her score with her teammates after performing her women's free program routine during the ISU World Team Trophy Figure Skating competition in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. (Photo by Toru Hanai/AP Photo)

Steph Wood of the Lightning shoots as Remi Kamo of the Firebirds attempts to block her shot during the round 14 Super Netball match between Sunshine Coast Lightning and Queensland Firebirds at University of Sunshine Coast Stadium, on June 18, 2023, in Sunshine Coast, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)