A man and a dog bathe in a fountain during celebrations of Paratroopers' Day in Moscow' s Gorky Park on August 2, 2017. Russia' s Airborne Troops (Blue Berets) celebrate their professional holiday on the Day of Elijah the Prophet, their Patron. (Photo by Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS)

Just Dance 2017 performance at Ubisoft E3 2016 – Day 2 at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision for Ubisoft/AP Images)

Drummers perform during rehearsals at the Bird's Nest National Stadium ahead of the IAAF Athletics World Championships in Beijing on August 20, 2015. The Athletics World Championships will be held at the stadium from August 22 to 30. (Photo by Greg Baker/AFP Photo)

An animal advocate lays in fake blood in a replica of a meat package with a label that reads “meat” during a protest “The meat is murder” in the Bulgarian capital Sofia on May 8, 2016. (Photo by Nikolay Doychinov/AFP Photo)

Xochimilco – Island of the Dolls – Dead Line. Photo by Ramalama_22

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.

“Himalayan Dog”. This dog just appeared out of nowhere and followed us for an entire week during our trekking trip in the Himalayan outback. He always used to sleep in front of our tent and guarded us in the nights. When I decided to get up at 4 a.m. to climb the next 5000 m peak for sunrise he accompanied me as well. On the top he was sitting for the entire 30 minutes on this place looking straight into the countryside. Photo location: Ladakh, India. (Photo and caption by Sebastian Wahlhuetter/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Two Brothers”. We found about 20 lions eating a buffalo. When the male leaved the group we anticipated him to take photos. It is 8AM, light is perfect and the position too. The lion stops and looks down from the hill, another lion is coming up, it stiffens, I think that will be a fight, i'm tense, the camera is OK, the shots previously made perfect. The two meet, looking directly into their eyes, they sniff, rub against their heads, the tension drops, they start walking with the same step as when they were puppies, they are two brothers. Photo location: Masai Mara, Kenya. (Photo and caption by Massimo Mei/National Geographic Photo Contest)