A calico sits in its enclosure and suns itself in Hessen, Germany on May 28, 2021. The Opel Zoo presents a walk-in Madagascar aviary for caltas and varis. The primate species is native to Madagascar and is threatened with extinction. (Photo by Andreas Arnold/dpa)

People in costumes are pictured during the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival on 5th Ave in New York, Sunday, April 9, 2023. (Photo by Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo)

Coco, a dog dressed as Chucky, participates in a halloween pet show in Callao, Peru, Sunday, October 27, 2024. (Photo by Guadalupe Pardo/AP Photo)

Kimono-clad Japanese young women stand in a train after attending a Coming of Age Day ceremony at Yokohama Arena, in Yokohama, Japan, 13 January 2025. Thousands of participants attended the ceremony of the Coming of Age Day in Yokohama, the day celebrating all those who reached 20 years of age, which is considered adulthood in Japan. (Photo by Franck Robichon/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 picture made available on 07 March 2016 shows visitors petting and holding a Fennec fox, native to the Sahara, in the petting room at the Little Zoo Cafe, a business built to capitalize on Thais' love for exotic animals, and food, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, 05 March 2016. The cafe boasts Fennec foxes, Meerkat, native to parts of Africa, Silver Fox, Raccoon and Chinchillas, along with a menu of Thai food and Cheesecake, among other sweet deserts. Nature is a faraway fantasy in the bustling exhaust-filled cement city of Bangkok, fuelling a demand to own and be close to exotic pets. The trend to be near to a species that was once wild, in a city environment, far from the natural setting, has drawn criticism but continues to grow. (Photo by Barbara Walton/EPA)

A young Sikh boy shouts religious slogans during a procession ahead of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in Jammu, India, Wednesday, November 21, 2018. The birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism and first Sikh guru, will be marked on Nov. 23. (Photo by Channi Anand/AP Photo)

Onati Basque dancers go airborne as they perform Basque traditional dances while making their way to the front of Saint Mark's Catholic Church, Saturday, August 1, 2015, in Boise, Idaho. The annual Mass, conducted in English and Basque, was held at the church for the first time. (Photo by Kyle Green/Idaho Statesman via AP Photo)