Jake Paul (left) lands a punch to the face of Anderson Silva during a boxing match at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona on October 29, 2022. (Photo by Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports)

A trader speaks on the phone at his desk at the Frankfurt stock exchange, Germany, in this June 29, 2015 file photo. Federal Reserve policymakers are widely seen raising interest rates for the first time in almost a decade at their next meeting this week. (Photo by Ralph Orlowski/Reuters)

An electric scooter for rent covered with snow stands on street after a snowfall at a residential area in Moscow, Russia, 07 April 2025. (Photo by Maxim Shipenkov/EPA/EFE)

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 woman stands at the door of her shanty at a slum in Mumbai, India July 20, 2016. (Photo by Danish Ismail/Reuters)

Lianah Flores with Coca Cola cans in her hair attends the Fourth of July Independence Day holiday parade during hot weather in Huntington Beach, California on July 4, 2024. (Photo by Etienne Laurent/Reuters)

A Sphynx cat at the 2017 Grand Prix Royal Canin international cat show at the Crocus Expo Exhibition Centre in Moscow, Russia on December 2, 2017. (Photo by Sergei Savostyanov/TASS/Barcroft Images)

Lightning strikes the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) in downtown on June 12, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)