Models prepare backstage before a presentation as part of Fashion Weekend Plus Size Summer 2015 collection show in Sao Paulo, July 25, 2015. (Photo by Nacho Doce/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.

A competitor wearing a onesie with Brussels sprouts battles gale force winds during the Dutch Headwind Cycling Championships on the storm barrier Oosterscheldekering near Neeltje Jans, south-western Netherlands, Sunday, February 9, 2020. (Photo by Peter Dejong/AP Photo)

A reveller wears a carnival mask in St. Mark's Square to celebrate Venice's annual colourful carnival, which has been cancelled this year due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Venice, Italy, February 7, 2021. (Photo by Manuel Silvestri/Reuters)

Winner, photojournalism. Elephant in the room, by Adam Oswell, Australia Zoo. Visitors watch a young elephant performing underwater. Oswell was disturbed by this scene, and organisations concerned with the welfare of captive elephants say performances like this encourage unnatural behaviour. In Thailand, there are now more elephants in captivity than in the wild. With the Covid pandemic causing tourism to collapse, elephant sanctuaries are becoming overwhelmed with animals that can no longer be looked after by their owners. (Photo by Adam Oswell/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021)

Women wearing traditional hats, known as a non la, sell fruits in Hoi An, Vietnam April 4, 2016. The non la hats are made of readily available materials such as palm leaves, tree bark and bamboo and are visible everywhere in the city, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Hoi An's history as a busy trading port is evident throughout its architecture, a mix of eras and styles, with traditional wooden Vietnamese houses, Chinese temples and French colonial buildings. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

In this file photo taken on Saturday May 1, 1993, an elderly communist woman clutches her head as police on horseback patrol the streets in Moscow. When Alexander Zemlianichenko started working as an AP photographer in Moscow, the Soviet Union was nearing its demise. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

Sculptured figures titled “Huck and Jim” is on display at a press preview at The Met Fifth Avenue in New York City on Monday, January 24, 2022. (Photo by John Angelillo/UPI/Alamy Live News)