A Palestinian girl cries as she stands above debris near a house that was hit during Israeli strikes in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 2, 2025. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on April 2, a major expansion of military operations in Hamas-run Gaza, saying the army would seize “large areas” of the Palestinian territory. (Photo by Eyad Baba/AFP Photo)

Staff from Local Ocean Conservation and fishermen lifting a mature Loggerhead sea turtle into a car, after the turtle was hooked out on the open water and needs to be taken to observation in the rehabilitation centre before being released back into the ocean, in Watamu, Kenya on May 22, 2025. (Photo by Fredrik Lerneryd/AFP Photo)

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 Syrian man rides his bicycle past a man selling grains during a halt in fighting on February 29, 2016 in Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region, east of the capital Damascus. A UN-backed ceasefire deal took hold across parts of Syria, bringing relative calm to areas where the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda's local affiliate are not present. (Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP Photo)

Artist Joe Hill poses on his 3D artwork, from the “Joe and Max” project as part of an advertising campaign, during its presentation at a park in Moscow, Russia, July 4, 2015. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

Vatican Swiss Guards stand attention at the St. Damaso courtyard on the occasion of the swearing-in ceremony at the Vatican, Sunday, October 4, 2020. The ceremony is held to commemorate the day in 1527 when 147 Swiss Guards died protecting Pope Clement VII during the Sack of Rome. (Photo by Gregorio Borgia/AP Photo)

Children play on top of an abandoned car at the “Aguerridos Liberator” shanty town in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, May 9, 2019. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

Lydia Hassebroek, 10, uses a magnifying glass to light a leaf on fire in her backyard during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., May 17, 2020. (Photo by Caitlin Ochs/Reuters)