Humanoid robots perform at the World Robot Conference 2023 in Beijing, capital of China on August 16, 2023. The World Robot Conference 2023 opened here Wednesday, showcasing cutting-edge achievements and the latest robot industry exhibits. (Photo by Wang Yuguo/Xinhua/Alamy Live News)

Model Bella Hadid celebrates her 20th birthday with her mother Yolanda Foster, The Weeknd and Shanina Shaik at Up & Down in New York City, NY on October 10, 2016. (Photo by TheStewartofNY/Splash News)

The Blue Man Group performs on stage during a media preview ahead of their show in Singapore on March 31, 2016. Blue Man Group was started by three friends in New York in 1991 as a way to celebrate the human spirit through music, science, art and theater. (Photo by Roslan Rahman/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 view of the Tianducheng development in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province August 1, 2013. Tianducheng, developed by Zhejiang Guangsha Co. Ltd., started constructing in 2007 and was known as a knockoff of Paris with a scaled-replica of the Eiffel Tower, standing 108 metres, and Parisian houses. Although designed to accommodate at least ten thousand people, Tianducheng remains sparsely populated and is now considered as a “ghost town”, according to local media. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Gun enthusiasts look over Smith & Wesson pistols at the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits on May 21, 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky. About 80,000 visitors are expected to attend the three-day event. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Iraqi firefighters try to stop the fire of burning oil wells in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, 02 June 2016. Two Khabbaz oil field wells in Kirkuk Province, northern Iraq, exploded by suspected insurgents, a security official said. (Photo by EPA/Stringer)

Eagle Prime (MK3), a giant robot by MegaBots Inc. which manufactures giant piloted humanoid fighting robots headquartered in Berkeley, California on October 18, 2017. (Photo by Courtesy Michael Mauldin/Reuters/MegaBots Inc)