British driver Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin compete in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 during the Artigas stage of the WRC Rally Paraguay, 10th stage of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), near Encarnacion, Paraguay on August 30, 2025. (Photo by Luis Robayo/AFP Photo)

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.

Disguised revellers parade on the occasion of the Cortege during the Carnival in Basel, Switzerland, February 17, 2016. (Photo by Georgios Kefalas/EPA)

A person watches Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, light up the night sky with eruptions, as seen from Piazzale Funivia dell'Etna, Italy on December 1, 2023. (Photo by Etna Walk/Giuseppe Distefano/Handout via Reuters)

English radio and television presenter Caroline Flack, 40, seen arriving at Bagatelle restaurant in Mayfair on November 08, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by GORC/GC Images)

American rapper Cardi B, left, with American model Slick Woods, right, at the Moschino Miami Party, Art Basel, Miami Beach, Florida, USA on December 7, 2017. (Photo by Griffin Lipson/BFA/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Two wolfhounds take part in a dogfight in a stadium in the Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek on November 5, 2017, during fights organized by a local breeders aiming to improve the Asian Shepherd breed, organizers said. (Photo by Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP Photo)

A couple walks across the Francis Scott Key Bridge as the setting sun lights up the clouds in Washington, Friday, October 30, 2020. (Photo by J. David Ake/AP Photo)