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.

A biker shows his 12-year-old cat “Chiquinho” – which always rides with him on his motorbike – in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 19, 2016. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

An LGBTQ member prepares before a streamed performance of “Pride at Home”, at the National Theatre in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, July 4, 2020. To celebrate 20 years of gay pride in Venezuela, LGBTQ members organized a presentation of different artistic shows via live streaming amid the new coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)

“Microscope images forge an extraordinary bond between science and art, said Hidenao Tsuchiya, Olympus America's Vice President and General Manager for the Scientific Equipment Group. We founded this competition to focus on the fascinating stories coming out of today's life science research laboratories. The thousands of images that people have shared with the competition over the years reflect some of the most exciting work going on in research today – work that can help shed light on the living universe and ultimately save lives. We look at BioScapes and these beautiful images as sources of education and inspiration to us and the world”. – OlympusBioScapes

Photo: Pretarsus of the third leg of a female drone fly (Eristalis tenax), ventral view, by Dr. Jan Michels, Institute of Zoology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany. (Photo by Olympus BioScapes)

In this Saturday, March 21, 2015 photo, a porter rests carrying supplies for the upcoming climbing season, near the Everest Base camp, Nepal. Nepal has cleared more than 300 mountaineers to climb Mount Everest after they had to abandon last year's efforts when an ice avalanche killed 16 guides in the mountain's deadliest disaster, an official said on March 20. The three-month climbing season for Everest, the world's tallest mountain, begins in March. (Photo by Tashi Sherpa/AP Photo)

A protester sprays paint on the window of a bank during a rally against Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy, April 30, 2015. The Milan Expo will open in the city on May 1. Officials are counting on some 20 million visitors to the six month-long exhibition of products and technologies from around the world. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)

A picture made available on 17 July 2015 shows the bright line of the Milky Way above the old oaks at the Rogalin landscape Park in Rogalin village, near Poznan, on the night of 16 July 2015. (Photo by Lukasz Ogrodowczyk/EPA)

Lovot companion robots by Groove X wander in front their booth at CES Unveiled during the 2020 CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 5, 2020. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Reuters)