Boxers Deontay Wilder, left, and Tyson Fury exchange words as they face each other at a news conference in Los Angeles, Wednesday, November 28, 2018. The pair are slated to fight Saturday night for Wilder's WBC heavyweight title. (Photo by Andrew Couldridge/Action Images via Reuters)

Julian Ryerson of Borussia Dortmund during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and 1. FC Union Berlin at Signal Iduna Park on April 8, 2023 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund via Getty Images)

Mercedes' team members practice a pit stop with the car of Italian driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli ahead of the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Héctor Retamal/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.

A hooded protester throws a petrol bomb to riot policemen during clashes, following a rally marking the 43rd anniversary of a 1973 student uprising against the military dictatorship that was ruling Greece, in Athens, Greece, November 17, 2016. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)

In this Wednesday, June 8, 2016 photo, Joe Giles, an actor portraying a zombie in “The Walking Dead”, poses with social media reporter Danielle Datu during a walker boot camp at Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

Emma Raducanu of Great Britain receives treatment in her women's singles first round match against Bianca Andreescu of Canada during day three of Internazionali BNL D'Italia at Foro Italico on May 10, 2022 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

A tattoo showing the Olympic rings is pictured on the leg of Mexico's Joana Jimenez Garcia during the Women Solo Technical Preliminaries, at the FINA World Championships, in Budapest, Hungary on June 17, 2022. (Photo by Marton Monus/Reuters)