A housewife whose family lives in a shanty cooks beside a road in Manila, Philippines May 25, 2016. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)

Internationally acclaimed German three-dimensional artist Manfred Stader adds finishing touches to his artwork in Cape Town, South Africa on 21 November 2010. Stader created this masterpiece to celebrate the opening of Speedo's first dedicated concept store in Africa. (Photo by Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

The Acura Stage area is flooded after a storm dumped several inches of rain on the second Saturday of the New Orleans Jazz Fest at the Fair Grounds, Saturday, April 30, 2016. (Photo by David Grunfeld/NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune via AP Photo)

British-Irish model Stella Maxwell poses backstage prior to the Elie Saab Womenswear Spring/Summer 2026 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on October 04, 2025 in Paris, France. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)

Sunbathers enjoy the beach next to a photograph by Taiwanese Lynn Wu during the photo festival “Women Exhibit” in Houlgate, north-western France, on June 6, 2021. The 4th edition of the photo festival, entirely dedicated to professional women photographers with 14 open-air exhibitions, takes place from June 1 till August 8, 2021. (Photo by Joel Saget/AFP Photo)

A fan watches the group A World Cup match between Mexico and Brazil via a live broadcast at the FIFA Fan Fest in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, June 17, 2014. Forget the French manicure. It’s Brazil during World Cup, and women here want to flaunt their love of the national team with wacky nail designs. (Photo by Dario Lopez-Mills/AP Photo)

In this handout provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), SpaceX's Falcon 9 is moved to the launch pad prior to the rocket's Thales Alenia Space launch attempt on April 26, 2015 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)

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.