A protester is covered in red paint during a demonstration against the government of Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha and in support of the release of political prisoners outside Bangkok Remand Prison in Bangkok on October 13, 2021. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP Photo)

A dancer spits fire during a slum party at Oworonshoki district of Lagos, on November 27, 2021. In Oworonshoki, a poor district of Lagos, Nigeria's economic capital, an emerging artistic dance activists, Ennovate Dance House, is changing the narratives of the slum cummunity. The community which in the past was always in the bad news for cultism, violence and killings, suddenly is attracting tourist attention with a “Slum Party”, a yearly artistic dance festival being used by the group to give life and hope to the inhabitants. (Photo by Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP Photo)

Swimmers known as the Lido Ladies pose by the pool during sunrise at Charlton Lido in Hornfair Park, London on December 2, 2020, on its first day of reopening after the second national lockdown ended and England enters a strengthened tiered system of regional coronavirus restrictions. (Photo by Victoria Jones/PA Images 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 small meadow pipit (left) is run off her feet as she tries to keep up with the demanding feeding schedule of an imposter - a larger cuckoo (right) on the Isle of Mull, Scotland in August 2022. (Photo by Graeme Cuerden/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A Palestinian woman pulls a stroller with children, next to piles of rubble, during a rainy day in Gaza City,on November 25, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)

Performers of circus company Circa perform during a photocall for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Calton Hill on August 1, 2017 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. (Photo by Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian)

Spectators pose for a selfie before the running of the Melbourne Cup at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, November 6, 2018. (Photo by Andy Brownbill/AP Photo)