Former NBA player Yao Ming (R), a member of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, is seen during an interview in Beijing, China, in this picture taken March 9, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Cosplayers attend the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London in London, Britain on October 28, 2022. (Photo by Maja Smiejkowska/Reuters)

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 made available 27 November 2015 shows a handler putting his head between the gaping fangs of a crocodile during a show at the Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo, Samutprakarn province, outside Bangkok, Thailand, 26 November 2015. The farm and zoo claims to be the world's largest crocodile farm with more than 80,000 freshwater and marine crocodiles, and offers shows such as crocodile wrestling to attract tourists. (Photo by Diego Azubel/EPA)

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)

A woman plays with a kitten inside of a line house in downtown Shanghai April 12, 2015. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Undated handout photo issued by Guinness World Records of Fabio Reggiani from Italy who has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for constructing the worlds largest rideable motorcycle measuring 5.10 meters (16ft 8.78 in) from the ground to the top of the handlebars. Six times larger than a normal motorcycle, it's 10.03 m long, 2.5 m wide, and weighs approximately 5,000 kg (5 tonnes). (Photo by Guinness World Records/PA Wire)

A man looks on from the sea as Italian model and actress Elisa Sednaoui poses for photographers a day before the 72nd Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, September 1, 2015. Sednaoui will be hosting the opening and closing ceremonies of the film festival. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)