Uzbekistan's Javokhir Sindarov in action against Hans Niemann of the U.S. during the Diving Chess Competition in Cape Town, South Africa, on December 4, 2025. (Photo by Esa Alexander/Reuters)

The queens pose for a photo together during RuPaul's Drag Race S18 Premiere Event at Aqua New York on December 09, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images for MTV)

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.

Members of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) demonstrate their skills on motor-bikes during the BSF Golden Jubilee Day celebration in New Delhi on December 1, 2015. (Photo by Money Sharma/AFP Photo)

Dancers wearing traditional attires take part in the 7th Annual Ingoma Dance Competition organised by The Natal Playhouse theatre in Durban on March 21, 2017. The Ingoma Dance is considered one of the most purist forms of traditional Zulu dance. (Photo by Rajesh Jantilal/AFP Photo)

A Polisario fighter sits on a rock at a forward base on the outskirts of Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. At a rocky outpost in Western Sahara, a new generation of soldiers who have never known war are mobilising as tensions resurface in one of Africa's oldest disputes after a quarter century of uneasy peace. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

American singer and songwriter Kacey Musgraves performs onstage during the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards at Barclays Center on September 12, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by John Shearer/MTV VMAs 2021/Getty Images for MTV/ViacomCBS)

Coco Gauff celebrates during her victory over Aryna Sabalenka of Russia in the women's final of US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 09, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)