A woman looks at cows on the Mare e Sol beach in Coti-Chiavari, on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, on May 17, 2017. A herd of some thirty wild cattle take up their summer residence on stretch of beach each year. (Photo by Pascal Pochard-Casabianca/AFP Photo)

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 woman dances during a rehearsal by the group “Tambores de Olokun” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, April 17, 2022. The Brazilian municipalities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo postponed the traditional parades of the carnival samba schools to April 22 - 23, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

Two women dressed for a party take photos of each other outside a venue in London, Friday, December 17, 2021. On what would normally be one of the busiest times for pubs and restaurants just before Christmas, customer numbers are down in central London due to concerns about the new omicron variant. Friday night in Central London was muted with one bar saying they have 30 customers inside when there should have been 170, with large amounts of cancellations in recent days. (Photo by Alastair Grant/AP Photo)

For 130 years, the people of Masatepe have observed Good Friday by dressing up in colorful masks and costumes and dragging chained “Judases” through the streets of their town in western Nicaragua. Photo: A Judas is carried through the streets. The crowd pretends to kick and beat the Judases to show scorn. (Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)

Wags the dog wears a button featuring a photo of the moment after the attempted assassination on former president Donald Trump outside the Fiserv Forum during the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. Days after he survived an assassination attempt Donald Trump won formal nomination as the Republican presidential candidate and picked Ohio US Senator J.D. Vance for running mate. (Photo by Nick Oxford/AFP Photo)

Residents carry their belongings during a fire at Tondo in Manila on November 24, 2024. Raging orange flames and thick black smoke billowed into the sky, as fire ripped through hundreds of houses in a closely built slum area of the Philippine capital Manila. (Photo by Jam Sta Rosa/AFP Photo)

Women participate during the Mr. Olympia Amateur South America bodybuilding competition in Medellin, Colombia, February 19, 2017. (Photo by Fredy Builes/Reuters)