In an aerial view, a flooded section of farmland is seen next to a home in Cadiz, Kentucky, U.S. April 18, 2025. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Reuters)

Kyla Drumm, 5, waits after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Skippack, Pennsylvania, U.S., November 3, 2021. (Photo by Hannah Beier/Reuters)

American actress, model, and singer Ashley Benson arrives at Paris Hilton's wedding party inBeverly Hills, CA. on November 14, 2021. (Photo by Backgrid USA)

A demonstrator wearing a The Martians from Sesame Street costume holds a placard depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, U.S Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson as people march down the National Mall to take part in a “No Kings” protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's policies, in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 18, 2025. (Photo by Leah Millis/Reuters)

Dhruva Aliman does a back somersault as he dismounts from a slackline on the beach at Santa Monica, California on October 19, 2014. Slackline is a balance sport where a line of webbing is adjusted at different levels of tension between two anchor points and participants (called slackers) perform tricks and stunts including somersaults. (Photo by Mark Ralston/AFP Photo)

Max Gold, 20, of NYC, cruises on his skateboard as thousands gather on the National Mall for the March for Science on Saturday, April 22, 2017, in Washington, DC. Activists and scientists descend on the nation's capital to rally for environmental causes and government policies rooted in scientific research as part of the Earth Day and March for Science rallies. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Olaf Niess catches swans on the river Alster near the town hall in Hamburg, Germany, 17 November 2015. The Alster swans are moving to their ice-free winter quarters on the Eppendorf Muehlenteich millpond until spring. (Photo by Bodo Marks/EPA)

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.