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 trio poses for a photo in front of the art installation Surrender (Flag) by John Gerrard of Ireland displayed in a courtyard of the Palacio de San Francisco, as part of the first art biennial in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday, September 23, 2025. (Photo by Fernando Vergara/AP Photo)

A masked Kashmiri protester shouts freedom slogan near burning tires set up as road blockade by protesters in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, July 19, 2016. The largest street protests in recent years in the disputed region, that left dozens of people dead and hundreds injured erupted more than a week ago after Indian troops killed a popular young rebel leader. (Photo by Dar Yasin/AP Photo)

Leon Feingold, right, drops his jeans as his girlfriend Patrizia Calvio looks in her purse on the uptown E Train during the 18th annual No Pants Subway Ride, January 13, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Kathy Willens/AP Photo)

A Hindu devotee takes sand bath at Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganges and Yamuna, in Prayagraj, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Monday, June 5, 2023. Prayagraj in the northern Uttar Pradesh state is an important Hindu pilgrimage center. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

Julia Lopez Peña, the daughter of slain environmentalist Juan López, poses for a photo with her state-assigned bodyguards at her ninth birthday party in Tocoa, Honduras, December 7, 2024. (Photo by Moises Castillo/AP Photo)

Actress Tiffany Haddish sits on top of two garbage cans after getting shoved down by passerbys with a scraped knee only to have Billy Crystal come to her rescue filming “Here Today” in Brooklyn, New York on October 28, 2019. (Photo by Christopher Peterson/Splash News and Pictures)

A day-old lamb exploring new surroundings on the vernal equinox, considered the first day of spring, on March 20, 2019 at Coombes Farm in Lancing, England. (Photo by Andrew Hasson/Getty Images)