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.

Animals destined for the stage of Radio City Music Hall in New York on November 13, 1986 are led to the stage door by their co-stars, the Rockettes dancers. A variety of animals, including camels, sheep and donkeys, will star in an annual Christmas production. (Photo by G. Paul Burnett/AP Photo)

This dyed straw is grown in Ban Dong Saen Suk, Sakon Nakhon province, Thailand on September 28, 2021. Sarawut Intharap, 38, an engineer who capture the image, said: “The straw is entwined together to make mats used for sleeping and eating and they are sold at around £2.50 (3.40 USD) a mat at the local market”. (Photo by Sarawut Intarob/Solent News)

Mayoral hopeful Paperboy Prince is escorted by members of the New York Police Department after storming the stage during a Democratic mayoral forum at Medgar Evers College in New York City, on April 23, 2025. (Photo by David 'Dee' Delgado/Reuters)

Lucaz Adamus (3), from Lucan, enjoying the Dublin Racing Festival, at Leopardstown Racecourse in Dublin, Ireland on February 5, 2023. (Photo by Tom Maher/Inpho)

British singer-songwriter and dancer FKA twigs (R) at Boom Met Gala After Party hosted by FKA Twigs in Manhattan, New York on May 6, 2024. (Photo by Yvonne Tnt/BFA.com/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A pedestrian reacts as she caught a gust of wind while walking down the famed “Kokusai-dori” street, a tourist spot, in Naha in the main Okinawa island, southern Japan, Thursday, June 1, 2023, as a tropical storm was approaching. (Photo by Hiro Komae/AP Photo)

The Sea Life Trust team move Beluga Whale Little Gray from a tugboat during transfer to the bayside care pool where they will be acclimatised to the natural environment of their new home at the open water sanctuary in Klettsvik Bay in Iceland on August 7, 2020. The two Beluga whales, named Little Grey and Little White, are being moved to the world's first open-water whale sanctuary after travelling from an aquarium in China 6,000 miles away in June 2019. (Photo by Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty Images)