Democratic presidential candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris reacts as she holds a photographer's camera while flying on Marine Two, on her way to O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, on August 20, 2024. Harris is traveling to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to speak at a campaign event. (Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Pool via AFP Photo)

A wide-angle view shows the ascent of the shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986. In the seconds after ignition, the rocket engines' hot blast began the process of destruction. (Photo by NASA)

Taras Mychalewych, 75, poses for a portrait with his vaccination card after receiving his coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a rural vaccination site in Columbus, New Mexico, U.S., April 16, 2021. (Photo by Paul Ratje/Reuters)

A villager stretches as the Mayon volcano spews ashes and lava in Legaspi city, Albay province, Philippines, 12 June 2023. The restive Mayon volcano has begun spewing lava and small eruptions, putting the lives of thousands of people at risk from possible violent explosion. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA/EFE)

Robert Burck, better known as the “Naked Cowboy”, falls in the snow during a nor'easter storm in Manhattan, New York City on December 17, 2020. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

A Syrian Kurdish ballet dancer performs in an empty market during a lockdown to curb the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Syria's northeastern city of Qamishli on April 7, 2021. (Photo by Delil Souleiman/AFP Photo)

A fan of Colombia cheers prior to a qualifying soccer match against Venezuela for the FIFA World Cup 2026 at Metropolitano stadium in Barranquilla, Colombia, Thursday, September 7, 2023. (Photo by Fernando Vergara/AP 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.