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 student falls asleep as she holds a book containing a portrait of China's late chairman Mao Zedong during a lesson at the Democracy Elementary and Middle School in Sitong town, Henan province December 3, 2013. In a remote part of central China, the day starts at the Democracy Elementary and Middle School with a pre-dawn jog, some revolutionary songs and then an activity long since forgotten at other schools: reciting quotations from Mao Zedong's famed “Little Red Book”. While the ruling Communist Party that Mao led continues to hold him in esteem as the leader of the Communist Revolution, his radical policies and teachings have been largely shelved since his death in 1976 in favour of a pro-market approach that has turned China from a backwater into the world's second biggest economy. The 120th anniversary of Mao's birth is on December 26, 2013. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Sukaregang in Garut district, West Java, has long been a bustling center for Indonesia's leather trade, with some shops producing and selling various goods – including bags, shoes and jackets – since the 1940s. The industrial area is also a major supplier for high-end brands from across the globe, catering to the fashion, auto and motor-sports industry. Here: a man walks across a vat of water used to wash the hide. (Photo by Rezza Estily/JG Photo)

American singer, songwriter and dancer Britney Spears in the last decade of October 2022 continues to pose nude for her Instagram return. (Photo by britneyspears/Instagram)

Brazilian revelers pose during Carnival celebrations along Ipanema beach on February 18, 2012 in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Young couple in BDSM action on the leather sofa. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)