Kalep, 5, in a bear costume, participates in parade where his father Johnny Lopez was the Elder Angel, during the Oruro Carnival, a traditional celebration that can be traced back to the indigenous Ito festival, in Oruro, Bolivia February 26, 2022. (Photo by Wara Vargas/Reuters)

“This grey adult male seal enjoys a good grin while lying on the beach”. (Photo by Michael Hutch/SplashdownDirect via Rex USA)

Female female male threesome. My bit on the side is my best male friend. (Photo by Laoshi/Getty Images)

Bella Hadid and Gigi Hadid prepares backstage for Savage X Fenty Show Presented By Amazon Prime Video – Backstage at Barclays Center on September 10, 2019 in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Savage X Fenty Show Presented by Amazon Prime Video)

American actress Kiernan Shipka poses with “May flowers” in Venice, Italy in the last decade of May 2022. (Photo by kiernanshipka/Instagram)

English actress Emma Corrin attends the UK Premiere of “Nosferatu” at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on December 4, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/WireImage)

Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian celebrate Khloe’s birthday with Care Bears on July 20, 2025. (Photo by khloekardashian/Instagram)

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.