American singer-songwriter Halsey enjoys some downtime and sunshine at the Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort, in Hawaii in the last decade of November 2025. (Photo by iamhalsey/Instagram)

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.

Festival goers splash through a muddy puddle at Worthy Farm in Somerset, on the third day of the Glastonbury music festival June 27, 2014. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

A child rescued from Boko Haram in Sambisa forest is seen at the Internally Displaced People's camp in Yola, Nigeria May 3, 2015. Hundreds of traumatised Nigerian women and children rescued from Boko Haram Islamists have been released into the care of authorities at a refugee camp in the eastern town of Yola, an army spokesman said. (Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)

People look at revellers (L) waiting to take part in a LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) pride parade to mark Gaijatra Festival, also known as the festival of cows, in Kathmandu, Nepal, August 30, 2015. Hundreds of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transvestites paraded through Nepal's capital Sunday to demand that rights for sexual minorities be included in the country's new constitution that is being finalized. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Model Alessandra Ambrosio is seen at Coachella Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on Friday, April 14, 2017, in Indio, Calif. (Photo by Hollywood To You/Star Max/GC Images)

Participants perform a dragon dance as they march during a lantern parade marking the start of a month- long “Lotus Lantern Festival” to celebrate the upcoming Buddha' s birthday, in Seoul on April 29, 2017 Buddha' s birthday falls on May 3. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

Dancers wait at backstage as they prepare for a dance performance during the Bali Arts Festival in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, June 21, 2017. The resort island of Bali is holding a month-long annual Bali Arts Festival from June 10 to July 8. (Photo by Firdia Lisnawati/AP Photo)