Senior company members of the Dance Centre Kenya (DCK) Neema Lazzaroni (C) and Azza Qamar Rollins (R) hold onto each other while following the performance backstage ahead of their roles in The Nutcracker at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi on December 7, 2024. The Nutcracker is a beloved Christmas ballet, first performed in 1892, with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Known for its enchanting score and festive themes, it has become a holiday tradition worldwide. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP Photo)

Presidential candidate Javier Milei arrives at the Teatro Colón opera house with his girlfriend, Fatima Florez, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, November 17, 2023. Milei will face Economy Minister Sergio Massa in a runoff election on Nov. 19. (Photo by Ramiro Souto/AP Photo)

A woman cries near the flowers, brought to the destroyed Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, 28 June 2022. At least 18 people died following Russian airstrikes on the crowded shopping mall, the State Emergency Service (SES) of Ukraine said in a Telegram post. The Amstor shopping center one-story building was hit by Russian rockets on 27 June afternoon. (Photo by Oleg Petrasyuk/EPA/EFE)

“My children are not only my little darlings but off-shoots of myself. When I look at them, I have a strange feeling – as if I am watching myself re-living my life. What I want to show is their “living form”. – Hideaki Hamada. Photo: “Rainy days and mondays #1”. (Photo and caption by Hideaki Hamada)

Dance Team Rage Crew perform at BAFTA LA's 6th Annual Christmas Party and Toy Drive at Helen Keller Park on December 17, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Shoppers walk down stairs featuring a five-metre-high reproduction of Vincent van Gogh's signature painting “Sunflowers”, at the entrance to Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong July 15, 2013. A premium three-dimensional reproduction of works of Van Gogh, the RELIEVO collection, approved by the curators of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, is on display at a gallery inside Harbour City shopping mall attached to the terminal. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

A fisherman boats in Chao Lake where thick cyanobacteria gather on the surface on August 5, 2015 in Chaohu, Anhui Province of China. As high temperature came in summar, part of water in Anhui Province's Chao Lake breeds large tracts of cyanobacteria which not only brought pollution to sense of smell, but also affected people's life. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress 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.