UK Love Island’s star Maura Higgins, 30, stuns as she poses in revealing outfits in her latest photoshoot with brand Ego in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in April 2021. (Photo by EGO)

In this July 20, 2018 photo, Joshep Balta, a clown named “Cachupito”, peers through the tent curtain to see how many people are waiting for the show, put on by the International Circus, set up in the shanty town of Puente Piedra on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. Balta, a 12-year old clown whose parents work at the circus setting up and breaking down the encampment, was discovered by the circus two years ago when he was performing as a clown at street corners. (Photo by Martin Mejia/AP Photo)

Single Sports Second Prize. Garrett Gerloff (31) and Sandro Cortese (11) crash in the World Superbike warm-up during the World Championship on Phillip Island, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/AAP Photo/Istanbul Photo Awards 2021)

Trick rider Kendel Sampson performs during the trick riding session of the RAM Rodeo in Warkworth, Ontario, on August 1, 2013. The teenage Encore Presentation Trick Riders perform daring stunts every rodeo season in towns throughout Canada. (Photo by Norm Betts/Barcroft Media)

Winter swimmers dressed in ballet costumes pose for a photo before diving into the icy water, during a snowfall at a park in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China on February 15, 2019. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)

American singer-songwriter and actress Reneé Rapp gets slimed at the Kids’ Choice Awards on July 13, 2024 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by reneerapp/Instagram)

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.