A man reacts while having a nasal swab sample taken at a testing and screening facility for the coronavirus, in a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, August 21, 2020. (Photo by Fareed Khan/AP Photo)

An employee stands on the step of The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express at Istanbul Station in Istanbul, on August 31, 2022. The Venice Simplon Orient-Express luxury train arrives in Istanbul, completing its annual voyage along a mythical route that takes it across Europe from Paris. (Photo by Yasin Akgul/AFP Photo)

People ride a minibus illuminated with green colorful lights at a street in preparation for celebrations of the birthday of the prophet Muhammad, in Sana'a, Yemen, 04 October 2022. Mawlid is annually celebrated by many Muslim countries on the 12th day of Rabi al-Awwal (the third month of the Islamic calendar), marking the birthday of the prophet Muhammad, which is expected to be marked on 08 October 2022. In Yemen, it is celebrated by illuminating buildings and streets with green colorful lights and decorating vehicles in green. (Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA/EFE)

Sydney Peng, 19, who has been dancing for eleven years, performs a Chinese opera dance in celebration of the Lunar New Year, in the rotunda of the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., on Sunday, January 22, 2023. (Photo by Richard Tsong-Taatariii/Star Tribune via AP Photo)

Students perform traditional dance as they take part in Pongal celebrations, the Tamil harvest festival, at a college in Chennai on January 10, 2024. (Photo by R. Satish Babu/AFP Photo)

Pakistani Muslims attend an Eid Al-Fitr prayer service, in Hyderabad, Pakistan, 31 March 2025. Muslims around the world have begun celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the three-day festival which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. During Eid al-Fitr, most people travel to visit each other in town or outside of it and children receive new clothes and money to spend for the occasion. (Photo by Nadeem Khawer/EPA/EFE)

Sophie Hawkshaw, 9, dressed as a Headless Horseman, participates in a lead rein fancy dress competition for riders under 10 years old at an agricultural show, in Athenry, Ireland on May 25, 2025. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/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.