Icelandic stallions eat hay from a box at a stud farm in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (Photo by Michael Probst/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.

Dancers perform during La Paz Fashion Week in La Paz, Bolivia, February 7, 2019. (Photo by David Mercado/Reuters)

Some people prepare to catch offerings thrown by Tengger tribe people into the crater of Bromo volcano to in Probolinggo, East Java province, on June 30, 2018, as part of Yadnya Kasada festival which falls on the 14th day of the Kasada month based on the traditional Hindu lunar calendar. (Photo by Juni Kriswanto/AFP Photo)

Members of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) demonstrate their skills on motor-bikes during the BSF Golden Jubilee Day celebration in New Delhi on December 1, 2015. (Photo by Money Sharma/AFP Photo)

In this photo taken on March 11, 2019 an Afghan street vendor selling oranges waits for customers on a rainy day on the roadside in Jalalabad. (Photo by Noorullah Shirzada/AFP Photo)

A boy reacts as dogs play along the riverbank of Pasig river, in Manila, Philippines, June 10, 2021. (Photo by Lisa Marie David/Reuters)

People look at a Christmas tree decorated with colourful lights at a residential compound in Beijing on December 8, 2017. (Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP Photo)