A woman walks the grounds in costume as revellers celebrate Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, on October 28, 2023. Every year on the last Saturday before November 2nd, Hollywood Forever Cemetery welcomes members of the community to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos, which reunites and honors beloved ancestors, family, and friends. (Photo by David Swanson/AFP Photo)

A female motorcycle cop directs traffic wearing crash helmet, Haywarket Square, Boston, Massachusetts, 1979. (Photo by Spencer Grant/Getty Images)

A woman works on the production of grape molasses using various traditional methods and materials in the Huyuk district of Konya, Turkiye on September 22, 2024. Neighbors and relatives in the region work in cooperation in the production of molasses prepared by boiling in cauldrons. (Photo by Seyit Konyali/Anadolu via Getty Images)

American singer-songwriter Madonna performs during opening night of The Celebration Tour at The O2 Arena on October 14, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)

Migrant Haya from Artoz, Syria, shows a picture of her town as she waits to cross the Slovenia-Austria border in Sentilj, Slovenia October 25, 2015. (Photo by Srdjan Zivulovic/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 ranger watches a seal pup near the Northumberland coast, Farne Islands, UK on December 19, 2018, where the National Trust says the number of Atlantic grey seal pups has reached a record high thanks to an abundance of food and a lack of predators. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Wire Press Association)

Three cabaret dancers sit glum-faced in the Windmill Theatre's canteen upon hearing the news that the theatre's owners have sold out to a cinema company, on October 02, 1964. The theatre, which was the first to include nudity in its shows, has been able to cope with competition from a growing number of West End strip clubs. (Photo by Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)