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.

“Kids of Sapa”. Four little beautiful Hmong girls from Lao Chai Village, near Sapa, Vietnam. (Photo and caption by Felipe Hanower/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

A zookeeper feeds a hippopotamus with a watermelon in its enclosure in Belgrade's zoo, Serbia, July 20, 2015. Temperatures in Serbia have risen up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), according to official meteorological data. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

A picture released by the Italian Carabinieri on 03 July 2014 shows Carabinieri divers inspecting the inside of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, at Giglio Island, Italy, in 2012. The Costa Concordia hit a reef and partly capsized on 13 January 2012, after being steered dangerously close to Giglio, in an alleged stunt by captain Francesco Schettino. Thirty-two of the 4,229 people onboard were killed. (Photo by EPA/Carabinieri Press Office)

A camel wearing a hat amid a heatwave, looks on, in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt on July 19, 2023. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)

This Strange Russian Cartoon Shows Mario's Nasty Side and bogatyr or vityaz is a stock character in medieval East Slavic legends (byliny), akin to a Western European knight-errant.

Chelsea Hughes, 25, sings at the first annual Underwear Karaoke, an event that pairs two common fears: being seen in your underwear and singing in public, in Los Angeles, California March 12, 2015. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)