Brazilian model and TV presenter Sabrina Sato from the Gavioes da Fiel samba school performs during a Carnival parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, February 11, 2024. (Photo by Andre Penner/AP Photo)

A model presents a creation for Iris Van Herpen during the Women's Haute-Couture Fall/Winter 2025-26 collection show in Paris, on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Thomas Samson/AFP Photo)

Models present a creations by Maggie Ma collection during the SS2026 China Fashion Week, in Beijing, China, Tuesday, September 9, 2025. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

Contestants compete during their model physique competition to mark International Olympic Day at the Myanmar Convention Center in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (Photo by Thein Zaw/AP Photo)

American model Kendall Jenner was seen departing the Prunier restaurant in Paris on October 1, 2025 amid Fashion Week for the Spring/Summer 2026 Women's Ready-to-Wear Collection. (Photo by Best Image/BACKGRID)

American model and television personality Amelia Gray walks the runway during the 2025 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York City, U.S., October 15, 2025. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

I wanted to create the smoke effects on animals I used on some few of my female subjects.
The hardest part was that while there were only faces, here there was the whole body that needed to be “smokeified”.

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.