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.

Ukraine's Leonid Stadnyk, who stands at a height of 2.53 metres (eight feet four inches) and may be considered the world's tallest living man, near his house in the village of Podolyantsi in Ukraine's Zhytomyr region, about 200 km (124 miles) from the capital Kiev, 2005. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A sun bear reacts to triple-digit temperatures at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, where the temperature reached 103 degrees Fahrenheit on July 6, 2012. (Photo by Nati Harnik/Associated Press)

Sting covers classic ringtones (aka "Stingtones"), and records a personal outgoing message for an audience member to the tune of "Message In A Bottle."

Nothing special – just Russians celebrate the New Year. Yep, not everything in Russia is Tchaikovsky and Dostoevsky.

地下セクシーアイドル「ベッド・イン」2ndシングル「♂×♀×ポーカーゲーム」のミュージックビデオ。