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.

Moscow riot police prepare to move on activists during an unsacnctioned anti-Putin opposition rally at the Pushkin Square March 5, 2012 in central Moscow, Russia. Amid charges of fraud, demonstrators took to the streets a day after Vladimir Putin declared victory in Russia's presidential elections. (Photos by: Rustem Adagamov; Source: LiveJournal; Gleb Shchelkunov; Source: LiveJournal; Ilya Varlamov; Source: LiveJournal; Raskalov; Source: LiveJournal; Dmitry Chistoprudov; Source: LiveJournal)

There are many types of collections. Some are formed by purposefully collecting certain objects, such as stamps or coins. However, some collections are only a byproduct of an obsession, a quirk of mind. For example, Paul Brockmann got into the habit of buying his girlfriend and later his wife a dress every time they went ballroom dancing. It might seem excessive to some, but it was his way of showing his affection. Overtime, this collection grew to be enormous, counting 55,000 dresses in total. Basic math tells us that either they went ballroom dancing three times per day for every day of their lives, or he bought them in huge bundles every time.

The clear blue water off Sidmouth in Devon, UK in March 2025 turned an orangey-red hue as tonnes of 200 million-year-old sandstone was mixed in by the tide. The 500ft cliff suffered a massive fall in October last year, and took a large section of Otter sandstone and Mercia mudstone with it. (Phoot by Dean Penn/RedZepplin/Bournemouth News)

Austyn Scruggs, Alex Sutton and Josh Taylor, all sailors from NAS Jacksonville make their way down the 18th hole fairway in their St. Patrick's Day dragon costumes during the fourth and final round of The Players Championship PGA golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. on March 17, 2024. (Phoot by Bob Self/Florida Times-Union via USA TODAY Network)

The Euro sculpture is partially reflected in a puddle on a cobblestone pavement in front of the headquarters of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt on Jan. 21. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)