The northeastern United States sweltered this week in a scorching summer heat wave, complete with stagnant, sticky air and no winds for relief, forecasters said. Even in a summer already filled with stretches of very hot weather, this week will be stubbornly brutal, with no relief in sight until the weekend brings thunderstorms to the region, they said. "Plain and simple, this week may feel the worst of any week for this summer in the Northeast," said Accuweather.com meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. (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.

241543903 (a.k.a “Heads in Freezers”) is a numerical keyword associated with a photo meme that involves people taking pictures with their heads in the freezer & sharing them online. By tagging a series of image files with a cryptic number, a high level of search engine optimization can be easily achieved. As a result, typing “241543903” into image search engines like Google Images successfully yields pages after pages of pictures showing people’s heads in freezers.

A face of a devotee covered with her cloth is pictured as she offers prayers to the rising sun during the "Chhat" festival in Kathmandu, Nepal November 18, 2015. Hindus in Nepal celebrate "Chhat", a four-day festival that honours the sun god by praying at sunrise and sunset and seeking blessings for ones family by giving offerings. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Tracy Sarita celebrates the sunrise during the Burning Man 2015 “Carnival of Mirrors” arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, September 3, 2015. Approximately 70,000 people from all over the world are gathering at the sold-out festival to spend a week in the remote desert to experience art, music and the unique community that develops. (Photo by Jim Urquhart/Reuters)

Astrid Perez (L) and Ramon Camacho lay on the Playa during the Burning Man 2015 “Carnival of Mirrors” arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, September 6, 2015. Sunday marks the last day of the sold-out festival that gathered approximately 70,000 people from all over the world. (Photo by Jim Urquhart/Reuters)

Model/actress Chantel Jeffries attends L.A. Hearts + PacSun celebrate 2017 Spring Swimwear Collection at Delilah on January 25, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rochelle Brodin/Getty Images for L.A. Hearts/PacSun)

Model Adriana Lima attends the 19th Annual amfAR New York Gala at Cipriani Wall Street on February 8, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)