Sandra, a 29-year-old orangutan at Buenos Aires' zoo, on May 20, 2015. Sandra got cleared to leave a Buenos Aires zoo that was her home for 20 years, after a court ruled she was entitled to more desirable living conditions. (Photo by Juan Mabromata/AFP Photo)

A street artist dances tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, January 20, 2015. Tango is a partner dance that originated in the 1890's along the Rio de la Plata, the border between Uruguay and Argentina. UNESCO approved in 2009, a joint proposal by the two nations to include the dance in its Intangible Cultural Heritage List. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

An elephant “kisses” a visitor during a show at an elephant training school in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, April 18, 2015. Some 16 elephants live at the school and give four 30-minute performances everyday for visitors. (Photo by Wong Campion/Reuters)

ABC's “Jimmy Kimmel Live” features a week of guest hosts filling in for Jimmy, starting Monday, October 30, 2017. The guest host for Thursday, November 2 was Jennifer Lawrence with guest Kim Kardashian West (KKW Beauty) and musical guest Linkin Bridge. (Randy Holmes/ABC 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.

A mother bear takes a dip in the water to cool off in the warm summer sun but refuses to leave her three youngsters behind – so they climb aboard her back. (Photo by Jon Langeland/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A painted figure is seen on a wall of the home of the mother of Robert E. Crimo III, the 21-year-old suspect facing seven counts of first-degree murder in an attack on a Fourth of July parade, in Highland Park, Illinois, U.S. July 6, 2022. (Photo by Cheney Orr/Reuters)

A woman uses her smartphone walking past a mural depicting members of Russia's Yunarmiya (Young Army) youth patriotic movement in Moscow on May 14, 2024. (Photo by Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP Photo)