Police detain an alleged thief in Lagos' Tafawa Balewa Square where the official People's Democratic Party (PDP) opposition party is holding a rally on February 12, 2019. Nigerians will cast their ballots on February 16 in presidential and legislative elections. The presidential contest will see incumbent Muhammadu Buhari seek to win a second four-year term against former vice president Atiku Abubakar in what is expected to be a close race. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP Photo)

Men use ropes to try and right a supply truck overloaded with wheat straw along a road in Dargai, in the Malakand district, about 100 miles northwest of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, on April 13, 2012. (Photo by Mian Khursheed/Reuters)

Civilians, who fled the violence in Manbij city, arrive to the southeastern rural area of Manbij, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria June 19, 2016. (Photo by Rodi Said/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.

A massive positive cloud-to-ground lightning strike hits in Coolidge, Arizona, 31 August 2016. Thousands of rain drops merge to form mammoth travelling sheets of water in these breathtaking monsoons. Veteran storm chaser and photographer Mike Olbinski captured the stunning beauty of monsoons in timelapses and stills while chasing storm systems across America. (Photo by Mike Olbinski/Barcroft Images)

In a handout picture released by the Brit Awards English singer-songwriter Dua Lipa poses with her awards for Female Solo Artist and British Album at the BRIT Awards 2021 in London on May 11, 2021. (Photo by John Marshall/Handout via Reuters)

The singer Ciara attends ELLE's 27th Annual Women In Hollywood Celebration, presented by Ralph Lauren and Lexus, at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 19, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for ELLE)

Palestinians walk at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on November 21, 2023. (Photo by Abed Sabah/Reuters)