Artists perform during the Closing Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 21 August 2016. (Photo by Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA)

A model presents a creation from the LaQuan Smith Fall and Winter '23 collection at the Rainbow Room during Fashion Week in New York City, New York, U.S., February 13, 2023. (Photo by Caitlin Ochs/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.

A woman is consoled by her relative as she mourns after seeing her house getting burned during a fire that broke out in one of the houses and got spread in more adjoining houses, in a residential locality in Srinagar, November 21, 2016. (Photo by Danish Ismail/Reuters)

“Show Time”. It's a normal behavior of mantis. They're doing defence. When they're afraid of; raising their arms and spreading their wings. They looks like smiling dancer. Photo location: Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo and caption by Hasan Baglar/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Heidi Klum (not pictured) was greeted by half-naked models arriving at Myer Melbourne on January 27, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. The supermodel continued her tour of the country promoting her new season of lingerie for Heidi Klum intimates, a brand which she took over from Elle Macpherson in 2014. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Dancers Daisy Kerry (R) and Alice Rathbone pose as characters from The Nutcracker, for the annual Christmas event at Chatsworth House near Bakewell in Britain November 4, 2016. (Photo by Darren Staples/Reuters)

Chinese artist Zhou Jie takes a nap on an unfinished iron wire bed, one of her sculpture works, after lunch as a friend of hers looks on at Beijing Now Art Gallery, in Beijing August 11, 2014. Zhou started her art project titled “36 Days” on August 9, in which she would live inside an exhibition hall with an unfinished iron wire bed, some iron wire sculptures in the shape of stuffed animal dolls, a certain amount of food and her mobile phone, for 36 days. The entire process is open to visitors and she may also interact with them, according to Zhou. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)