Barbadian singer Rihanna continues to rock her nostalgic look with her edgy short pixie cute while out with friends at Delilah Nightclub in West Hollywood on June 7, 2021. Rihana made sure to turn heads as she put on a sultry display in a black silk lingerie dress with a matching robe. (Photo by Backgrid USA)

A woman looks on as she takes part in a protest on the Day of the Dead against gender violence and femicide, in Mexico City, Mexico, November 2, 2020. (Photo by Raquel Cunha/Reuters)

Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez attend The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

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.

Sandra, a 29-year-old orangutan at Buenos Aires' zoo, on May 20, 2015. Sandra got cleared to leave a Buenos Aires zoo that was her home for 20 years, after a court ruled she was entitled to more desirable living conditions. (Photo by Juan Mabromata/AFP Photo)

People fly kites during the 2017 Pyostroye Nebo kite festival in Tsaritsyno Park in Moscow, Russia on August 27, 2017. (Photo by Asya Dobrovolskaya/TASS)

American model and television personality Amelia Gray Hamlin at a Met Gala 2024 afterparty on May 6, 2024. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

UK Love Island beauty Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu stunned as she donned a plunging mini dress for a night out in Scotland in the first decade of November 2024. (Photo by @ekinsuofficial/Instagram)