Sunderland’s Granit Xhaka in action with AFC Bournemouth’s Bafode Diakite in Sunderland, UK on November 29, 2025. (Photo by Scott Heppell/Reuters)

A girl with Russian national flags painted on her cheeks takes part in celebrations marking the first anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea, in central Simferopol March 16, 2015. Russia marks one year anniversary of annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula this week. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Two animatronic velociraptors are on display during a technical rehearsal of “Walking with Dinosaurs The Live Experience” at the Indoor Stadium in Singapore, 29 August 2019. “Walking with Dinosaurs The Live Experience” is based on the BBC series of the same name and will run from 29 August to 08 September. (Photo by Wallace Woon/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A Muslim woman reads the Quran following noon prayers on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, June 6, 2016. Devout Muslims began to celebrate Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, refraining from eating, drinking, smoking and sеx from sunrise to sunset. (Photo by Tatan Syuflana/AP Photo)

Tourists take a “selfie” as demonstrators burn a trash container during a May Day rally in Barcelona, Spain, on May 1, 2014. Tens of thousands of workers marked May Day in European cities with a mix of anger and gloom over austerity measures imposed by leaders trying to contain the eurozone's intractable debt crisis. (Photo by Manu Fernandez/Associated Press)

Williams Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Brazil crashes with his car in the first corner after the start of the German F1 Grand Prix at the Hockenheim racing circuit, July 20, 2014. (Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

A woman photographs “Super Space Titan Kitty” by Colin Christian at the “Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty” museum exhibit in honor of Hello Kitty's 40th anniversary, at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California October 10, 2014. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

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.