Birds made of recycled tires are displayed in a shop located on the Panamerican highway near Catarina town, May 7, 2015. Salazar recycles used tyres to make bird figurines and sofas to sell in his shop located on the Panamerican highway. (Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)

Thai officials arrive for morning alms as part of celebrations for the 68th birthday of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindrade​bayavarangkun, at Sanam Luang in Bangkok, Thailand, 28 July 2020. (Photo by Diego Azubel/EPA/EFE)

A girl catches a fish in the marshes of the southern district of Chibayish in Dhi Qar province, about 120 kilometres northwest of the southern city of Basra, on September 23, 2020. Iraq's southern marshes are blossoming thanks to a wave of ecotourists picnicking and paddling down their replenished river bends. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)

A model presents a creation from The Blonds Autumn/Winter 2019 collection during New York Fashion Week in New York, U.S. February 12, 2019. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

A resident of the Goodwin House senior living community, looks on as the DC area motown band “The Tribe” plays a social distance concert in their parking lot in Arlington, Virginia, during the coronavirus pandemic on April 14, 2020. (Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/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.

Children dressed as Santa Clause play with a soccer ball as they celebrate at their school ahead of Christmas in Chennai on December 23, 2021. (Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP Photo)

A man walks with his dog riding on a scooter across a square on August 9, 2022 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China. (Photo by Yang Bo/China News Service via Getty Images)