A man walks past kelp as he goes for a swim in the Pacific Ocean at La Jolla Shores, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in San Diego. (Photo by Gregory Bull/AP Photo)

Emily Ratajkowski sizzled in a plunging black swimsuit. The model is holidaying in the Adriatic near the Mediterranean Sea in the second decade of July 2025. (Photo by Instagram)

The Spider-Man balloon is inflated on the eve of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2025 on Manhattan's upper west side in New York City, U.S., November 26, 2025. (Photo by Kylie Cooper/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.

People are reflected in a shop window as they walk along a street in a shopping district in Tokyo, Japan June 25, 2015. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Hillary Clinton waves to a selfie-taking crowd at a recent campaign event in Orlando, Florida on September 26, 2016. (Photo by Barbara Kinney/Hillary for America)

English singer, who was a member of the British girl group “Little Mix” from 2011 to 2020 Jesy Nelson (L) looked incredible as she hit the beach in a black bikini with palsin the first decade of March 2022. The pop star, who is currently living it up in Malibu, let her hair down underneath blue skies on the west coast. (Photo by Instagram)

A man rides his motorcycle as the sun sets in Basra, Iraq, Monday, May 9, 2022. (Photo by Nabil al-Jurani/AP Photo)