Apple CEO Tim Cook discusses the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus on Tuesday, September 9, 2014, in Cupertino, Calif. The iPhone 6 will have a screen measuring 4.7 inches, while the iPhone 6 Plus will be 5.5 inches. (Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez/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.

A rescue team flies on a Colombian Air Force helicopter during an earthquake emergency drill with Air Force troops from Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia and the United States at the Palenquero Air Force base in Puerto Salgar, Cundinamarca department, Colombia, on September 2, 2021. Air Force crews from 15 countries take part in the “Angel de los Andes” exercises, where they simulated several rescue operations in different scenarios. (Photo by Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP Photo)

A woman on her hen day reacts as members of the public enjoy a drink in the Grassmarket as lockdown measures are eased on April 26, 2021 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Cafes, beer gardens, non-essential shops and museums are reopening in Scotland today as lockdown easing continues. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

A woman takes part in a demonstration against police violence during the recent rallies of opposition supporters following the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus on August 12, 2020. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Teenage girls are all steamed up these days about straight hair. The steam iron is replacing the huge rollers on which countless teens slept every night to achieve the height and curls fashionable until. The same girls endure having their hair stretched to absolute straightness on the ironing board, and then ironed to keep it that way. Unlike the roller setting, this takes teamwork. Gay Stilley, 14, goes through an ironing session with a couple of her friends at the Stilley Home in Glen Oaks, Queens, New York City on December 23, 1964. With a wary eye, Gay tries to watch the straightening process as one friend stretches her hair with a comb and another does the ironing, in the Stilley kitchen. (Photo by Marty Zimmerman/AP Photo)

Russian model Irina Shayk encourages fans to find their own unicorn in the second decade of April 2022. (Photo by irinashayk/Instagram)

Polar frame, by Dmitry Kokh, Russia. When Kokh’s boat approached the small island of Kolyuchin in the Russian High Arctic, which had been abandoned by humans since 1992, he was surprised to spot movement in one of the houses. Binoculars revealed polar bears – more than 20 in total – exploring the ghost town. Dmitry used a low-noise drone to document them. (Photo by Dmitry Kokh/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022)