A man reacts inside the projection mapping and interactive installation known as “Illusion Road” at the multi-dimensional media art gallery Immersify KL in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 04 March 2025. Immersify KL attracts visitors with interactive installations, high-definition visuals, and 3D spatial sound, creating breathtaking zones, including the country's first 360-degree, 12-meter-high projection space inside a 30,000-square-foot area with 11 sections of different immersive zones. (Photo by Fazry Ismail/EPA)

An Iraqi Muslim woman walks past Christmas decorations for sale in the Shiite holy city of Najaf on December 17, 2015. (Photo by Haidar Hamdani/AFP Photo)

“Eye of a toad”. Animal Portraits, Łukasz Bożycki, Poland. Early spring sees a pond near Łukasz’s home city of Warsaw, Poland, full of mating frogs and a few toads. On this March day, Łukasz shared the pond with them for an evening, sitting in the icy water in his chest-high waders, keeping as still as possible, despite the numbing cold, so that the amphibians could get used to him. “I wanted to find a fresh way of portraying the amphibians”, he says, “at water level”. Using a telephoto lens, he focused on one lone toad and waited for the sun to dip almost below the horizon before pressing the shutter, using flash to bring out the details in the shadow. His prize was “the glorious pool of sunset colour” and fiery glow of the toad’s eye. Nikon D80 + 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens + extension tube; 1/125 sec at f9 (-2.3 e/v); ISO 100; built-in flash. (Photo by Łukasz Bożycki)

Topless activist Kaila J. walks through the rain following a “Free the Nipple” demonstration in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire August 23, 2015. (Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters)

A group of scantily-clad women pose for photographs at the annual Venus erotic trade fair in Berlin, Germany on 12 October 2017. Venus Berlin is among the largest international erotic trade fairs, with more then 250 exhibitions from 40 countries and 30,000 visitors. (Photo by Alamy Live News)

A woman looks on as she takes part in a protest on the Day of the Dead against gender violence and femicide, in Mexico City, Mexico, November 2, 2020. (Photo by Raquel Cunha/Reuters)

Horse archery competitor Kimberley Robertson with her horse Chiko at her home in Hirstglen, Queensland, Australia on April 9, 2024. (Photo by Aston Brown/The Guardian)

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.