“What did I know about Chechnya before last week? For someone who grew up in the 1990s the very word Chechnya meant a string of grainy images on TV showing people in battered camouflage outfits, shooting at each other amid destruction and ruin. Fear, wahhabis, Shamil Basayev, terrorism, mountains: these were the words that used to spring to my mind when someone mentioned Chechnya”. – Maxim Shemetov. Photo: Special forces officers stand guard during a government-organised event marking Chechen language day in the centre of the Chechen capital Grozny April 25, 2013. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Cast member Shu Qi poses during a photocall for the film “The Assassin” (Nie yin niang) in competition at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, May 21, 2015. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/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.

Simone Genziuk is one of the star’s of Sydney's Royal Easter Show – not surprising when you see her lift a 75kg washing machine with her hair. The 43-year-old known as Simi is one of the star’s of this year’s Royal Easter Show and it’s all thanks to her hair. Ms Genziuk is no newcomer to the art of circus performing having been an aerial acrobat for 13 years. (Photo by Nathan Edwards/Newspix/SIPA Press)

Soldiers take part in a drill during a heavy snow in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, February 26, 2014. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Indian models showcase creations by designer Shivan & Naresh during the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Winter/Festive 2016 in Mumbai on August 27, 2016. (Photo by Sujit Jaiswal/AFP Photo)

Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) jump as part of their winter training in temperature of negative 26 degrees Celsius at China's border with Russia in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, December 14, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

British model Kate Moss attends the Saint Laurent Womenswear Spring/Summer 2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on September 27, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)