People wade through a flooded path near Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers after the water level of river Ganges and river Yamuna rose, in Allahabad on October 14, 2022. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

A person looks at a giant sculpture depicting the funerary mask of the pharaoh Tutankhamun, titled “A Meal Fit for a King” and created by Microdesk, Inc. made out of 8,300 cans of tuna which will be donated to local food banks as part of the Canstruction exhibition in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 11, 2022. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Meade forward Jaisean Kenner (21) hauls down a rebound against Sherwood forward Bryce Johnson (33) during the Class 4A boys' semifinals on March 8, 2023. (Photo by Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)

Residents of Ezbet Hamada in Cairo's Mataria district gather to eat Iftar, the meal to end their fast at sunset, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Cairo, Egypt on April 6, 2023. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)

Trees in a park are illuminated with a red light as a part of an art project in Timmendorfer Strand, northern Germany Wednesday, October 26, 2016. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Biologist Kelly Martin records her measurements of Electra, a 5 1/2 foot leatherback turtle nesting on the beach behind the Seminole Golf Club course in Juno Beach. Martin uses a red light which is invisible to turtles. (Photo by Greg Lovett/The Palm Beach Post)

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.

Li Tingting, second from right, laughs as she is lifted off the ground by her wife Teresa Xu, right, outside of a beauty salon where the two were preparing for their wedding as clerks from an adjacent shop look on in Beijing, Thursday, July 2, 2015. Li, a 25-year-old prominent women's rights activist who was released from detention in April, held the wedding ceremony with her partner Teresa on Thursday and announced their marriage in an effort to push for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) rights in China. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)