A devotee gestures after being flogged by a reveler dressed as a devil during a mass celebration of the “Talciguines” of Texistepeque, El Salvador on Easter Monday, April 3, 2023. In the Nahuatl, Talciguin means “deviled men”, a traditional procession performed during Easter monday to represent the fight against the devil of the Christian prophet Jesus Christ. (Photo by Camilo Freedman/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A stray cat is checked on the eve of International Cat Day in Banda Aceh on August 7, 2023. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)

A Germany fan looks dejected after the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group E match between Costa Rica and Germany at Al Bayt Stadium on December 1, 2022 in Al Khor, Qatar. (Photo by Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters)

A starling jealously guards a seed station in the back garden of the photographer’s Michigan home in January 2024. (Photo by Lisa Cavanary/Solent News)

A man smokes a water pipe sitting on a bench with his pet parrot at the Ain al Mreisseh seaside promenade in Beirut on June 28, 2024. (Photo by Joseph Eid/AFP Photo)

American singer-songwriter Camila Cabello performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, on June 29, 2024. (Photo by Dylan Martinez/Reuters)

A Chinkara gazelle fawn rests in the plumage of a peacock at an animal rescue center on a hot summer day in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India, Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Photo by Dinesh Gupta/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.