Two women kiss each other during a flashmob on the ocassion of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in Pamplona, Navarra, Spain, 17 May 2017. The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia is held every year on 17 May. (Photo by Villar Lopez/EPA/EFE)

Animal rights activists perform, demanding the abolition of bullfights, during a demonstration in Medellin, Colombia February 11, 2018. The Colombian Constitutional Court overruled on February 7, 2018, a judgment that allowed to hold a referendum regarding bullfights. (Photo by Fredy Builes/Reuters)

An East German civilian (L) shows an East German customs officer the contents of his Trabant (auto) at checkpoint Potsdamer Platz in East Berlin in this November 24, 1989 file picture, as East Germany enforcing stringent customs controls to avoid smuggling. (Photo by Reuters)

American rapper Doja Cat attends the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards at Prudential Center on September 12, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by John Angelillo/UPI/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A horse at the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate, UK on July 9, 2025. The county show is expecting to attract 140,000 visitors over four days. (Photo by Andrew McCaren/London News Pictures)

A model, Mousumi Das wearing a traditional Indian saree and holding a Clay face of the Durga idol poses for an Agomoni Concept photoshoot at the Artist hub Kumortuli in Kolkata on August 23, 2025. (Photo by ZUMAPRESS.com/The Mega Agency)

Festival goers splash through a muddy puddle at Worthy Farm in Somerset, on the third day of the Glastonbury music festival June 27, 2014. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/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.