Aerial view of people circling around bonfires to celebrate the Torch Festival on Axilixi Prairie on August 12, 2023 in Bijie, Guizhou Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

A sign advising to pray for rain hangs above an exhibit area at the 47th Annual World Ag Expo in Tulare, February 12, 2014. About a hundred years ago, when urban water systems were being developed throughout the state, the city of Sacramento wrote protections from metering into its charter, vowing that residents would always have the right to use as much water as they needed. But on Tuesday, the state's top water regulators released a framework for enforcing California's first statewide mandatory restrictions on urban water use – cuts of 25 percent for non-agricultural users ordered last week by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown as a devastating drought enters its fourth year. (Photo by David McNew/Reuters)

A view of an installation as part of the “S.A.C.R.E.D” exhibition by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei during the 55th La Biennale of Venice, in the church of Sant'Antonin in Venice May 28, 2013. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/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.

Karen Chen, of the United States, competes in the women's team free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, February 7, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Jeff Roberson/AP Photo)

A girl walks past the debris and mud following the floods brought by Typhoon Gaemi, in Marikina City, Metro Manila, Philippines, on July 25, 2024. (Photo by Lisa Marie David/Reuters)

A woman swings on a swing in Venao beach in Pedasi, Panama, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)

Children play in artificial snow as they visit NightGarden, an annual holiday experience featuring thousands of lights and special effects, at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Friday, November 15, 2024, in Coral Gables, Fla. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)