An Iraqi Muslim woman walks past Christmas decorations for sale in the Shiite holy city of Najaf on December 17, 2015. (Photo by Haidar Hamdani/AFP Photo)

Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini, in effigy, are about to take a mile-high plunge over Stone Mountain, near Atlanta, Georgia, June 21, 1942, as part of the scrap rubber drive. Private Elias Nour, who arranged the stunt as a farewell party on the eve of his entrance into the army, is on the running board. He guided as the “Axis” plunged to destruction. Spectators had to give a scrap of rubber as the price of admission to the spectacle. (Photo by AP 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 squeezes between two public buses in downtown Lima, March 17, 2014. Bogota and two other Latin American capitals – Mexico City, and Lima in Peru – were named as the three capitals with the least safe transport systems for women in the Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of more than 6,550 women and gender and city planning experts. Women in Latin America say they face a wide range of daily threats on public transport, and not enough is done to ensure their safety. (Photo by Enrique Castro-Mendivil/Reuters)

Antonio Banderas attends the photocall for “Pain And Glory (Dolor Y Gloria/Douleur Et Glorie)” during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2019 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Carlos Melendez prepares to feed his pet squirrel “Colita” in downtown San Salvador January 29, 2015. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

Kyrgyz men on horseback compete during their traditional game of “Oodarysh” during the celebrations of the 90th anniversary formation of the Chui region in the village of Kuntu some 20 kms from Bishkek on May 27, 2016. (Photo by Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP Photo)

A Dallas Cowboys cheerleader performs between plays during game featuring the Houston Texans and the Dallas Cowboys on November 18, 2024 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. The Texans won 34-10 in the Cowboys’ fifth straight defeat. (Photo by Kevin Jairaj-Imagn/Reuters)