On the festival of Krishna Janmashtami, a girl costumed as Lord Krishna poses for a photo in Dhaka, Bangladesh on August 19, 2022. (Photo by Nayem Shaan/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Agustina, 41, a trans woman poses before a Trans Super Heroes fashion show at a traditional market in Jakarta, Indonesia on December 17, 2023. (Photo by Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/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.

A machine works on a Rio 2016 Olympic medal at the Casa da Moeda do Brasil (Brazilian Mint) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 28, 2016. The Casa da Moeda do Brasil is the Brazilian mint, owned by the Brazilian government and administratively subordinated to the Ministry of Finances. It was established in 1694. (Photo by Sergio Moraes/Reuters)

The sun sets behind artist Luke Jerram's “Floating Earth” at Pennington Flash on November 22, 2021 in Wigan, England. The floating Earth will hover over Pennington Flash for 10 days from November 19, as part of a celebration of Wigan and Leigh's watercourses and is the first time one of Jerram's globes has been floated on an open expanse of water. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Fire ravages vegetation during the Cerro de los Pinos wildfire on August 04, 2025 in Cáceres, Spain. Firefighters from Cáceres and INFOEX forest firefighters are battling fires, as high temperatures continue to put the Extremadura region at extreme risk of further wildfires. (Photo by Carlos Gil Andreu/Getty Images)

An Indian sadhu (Hindu holy man) sits on the banks of Sangam – the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers – on the auspicious bathing day of 'Maghi Purnima' during the Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad on February 19, 2019. Millions of Hindu pilgrims took the plunge in holy rivers on the most auspicious bathing days of the Kumbh Mela festival, led by naked, ash-smeared holy men and accompanied by chants from Hindu holy texts. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

People are caught in a dust storm in New Delhi, India May 23, 2016. (Photo by Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters)