A cosplayer poses during New York Comic Con 2023 – Day 4 at Javits Center on October 15, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for ReedPop)

England fans celebrate their side's third goal of the game, scored by England's Marcus Rashford, at BoxPark Wembley, during a screening of the FIFA World Cup Group B match between Wales and England on Tuesday, November 29, 2022. (Photo by Henry Nicholls/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.

General Maurice Gamelin, General Officer commanding the French Armies, is on a four day visit to England. He went to the staff college at Minley and is seen inspecting an anti-tank gun at Aldershot, on June 7, 1939. (Photo by AP Photo)

Parade goers during Brighton Pride Parade on August 03, 2019 in Brighton, England. Tens of thousands of revellers dressed in rainbow colours and elaborate costumes and descended on the seaside city to ask for equality for all. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)

Children play on top of an abandoned car at the “Aguerridos Liberator” shanty town in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, May 9, 2019. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

Photographer Dotan Saguy visited Cuba expecting to find resentment toward Americans, but he says that, instead, “Every Cuban I met was warm and welcoming despite me being an American”. Here: Several groups of locals relax on the Malecon in Old Havana, Cuba May 1, 2016. Some chat and drink rum while others dive into the warm Caribbean Sea. (Photo by Dotan Saguy)

Meanwhile, over on Portobello beach, members of the Upsala circus take a stroll before their fringe debut, Ping-Pong Ball Effect in Edinburgh, England on August 1, 2017. (Photo by Murdo Macleod/The Guardian)