Yu Jietao, 26-year-old wood carver, sits in his homemade wooden car along a street in Guangfeng county of Shangrao, Jiangxi province, China February 9, 2015. The car can travel as fast as 30 km (18.6 miles) per hour, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A male Philippine eagle named Geothermica is seen in an exclosure at Jurong Bird Park in Singapore on November 27, 2019. Singapore unveiled two Philippine eagles at its main aviary November 27, the first breeding pair of the critically endangered raptors to be brought outside their native country as part of a conservation plan. (Photo by Roslan Rahman/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 gray heron (Ardea cinerea) that fished a common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in Geneva, Switzerland, 21 April 2019. (Photo by Martial Trezzini/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A model performs on the Toyota FV2 concept car during the 2014 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition at China International Exhibition Center on April 21, 2014 in Beijing, China. More than 2,000 automotive enterprises from 14 countries and regions participated in the 2014 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition from April 20 to April 29. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)

Ana Louzi and Junio Enriuque dance for a video during sunrise from SUMMIT One Vanderbilt on World Photography Day on August 19, 2022 in New York City. Summit One Vanderbilt opened the 1000-foot observation beginning at 5 AM to allow ticketed members of the general public and photo enthusiasts to see sunrise from the elevated altitude. World Photography Day is an “annual, worldwide celebration of the art, craft, science and history of photography” according to their website. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

A hungry cow smiles for the camera in Salzburg, Austria. One of a series of funny animal mugshots taken by Chanel Cartell and Stevo Dirnberger during their travels around the globe. (Photo by Chanel Cartell/Stevo Dirnberger/Rex Features/Shutterstock)