A bakery worker rides a bicycle as he carries fresh bread on his head in Cairo, Egypt, February 9, 2016. (Photo by Asmaa Waguih/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.

Actress Demi Moore attends Irving “Swifty” Lazar's Oscar Party hosted at Spago on March 29, 1989 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jim Smeal/WireImage)

American model Emily Ratajkowski walks on the grid during the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on May 26, 2024 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Claudia Greco/Reuters)

Officer cadets at Sandhurst military academy celebrate completing the Sovereign's Parade which see's them become commissioned officers in the army on April 11, 2025. The parade marks the completion of 44 weeks of intensive training for the Officer Cadets of Commissioning Course 242, all of whom will officially hold HM the King's Commission as of the stroke of midnight on the day of the parade. In addition, there are 26 international cadets from 18 countries. (Photo by Times photographer Richard Pohle)

People take part in a lowrider car show celebrating lowriding culture and supporting immigration, in San Francisco, California, U.S., September 20, 2025. (Photo by Manuel Orbegozo/Reuters)

Switzerland's cyclist Marlen Reusser reacts after placing second in the women' elite time trial race of the UCI World Championships Road Cycling Flanders 2021, in Bruges, on September 20, 2021. UCI World Championships Road Cycling Flanders 2021 takes place from September 19 until September 26, 2021, in several cities in the Belgian region of Flanders. (Photo by Simon Wilkinson/BELGA via AFP Photo)

A woodpecker and an owl bicker on a tree branch near Bromsgrove in the West Midlands, UK in the second decade of July 2025. The photographer says the juvenile woodpecker, with a red crown, poked the owl in the eye before flying off. (Photo by Julie Yates/Solent News & Photo Agency)