Japan's Naomi Osaka visits Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary ahead of the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane on December 29, 2023. (Photo by Patrick Hamilton/AFP Photo)

Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine in action during the High Jump in the Meeting de Paris, part of the 2025 Diamond League at Stade Charlety on June 20, 2025 in Paris, France. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

England’s Natasha Hunt pours champagne into the mouth of Zoe Aldcroft as she holds the trophy after England beat Canada 33-13 in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham in London on September 27, 2025. England became world champions on Saturday in front of 81,885 spectators at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium, while overall 444,465 tickets were sold during the tournament. (Photo by Garry Bowden/ProSport/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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 visitors to the National Galleries of Scotland view the work “A girl” of sculptor Ron Mueck on August 4, 2006 Edinburgh in Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A man passes by an unfinished street art graffiti made in a stairway by French street artists Zag and Sia in Paris on March 1, 2016. The two artists drew inspiration from famous “Liberty Leading the People” (La Liberte guidant le peuple) painting by French Eugene Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830 and viewed as a symbol of the French Republic. (Photo by Joel Saget/AFP Photo)

A man is silhouetted as he stands on a walkway in the sky lobby at the Chancellery, the seat of German Chancellor Angela Merkel (not pictured) in Berlin, May 7, 2014. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Participants take part in a high-heel race at a Gay Pride party in the central neighborhood of Chueca in Madrid on July 3, 2014. (Photo by Gerard Julien/AFP Photo)