Yan Mengjie sits on a boat as she poses for photos near Erhai Lake in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China on June 16, 2019. Erhai is one of China's biggest freshwater lakes and a backdrop to the city of Dali, which drew 47 million visitors last year, more than triple the number in 2010. Hotels and homestays have sprung up along a 31-mile (50-km) stretch of lakeside road to accommodate tourists. But officials ordered some hotels demolished after President Xi Jinping during a 2015 visit called for the lake to be protected. (Photo by Tingshu Wang/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.

Valik Vladimirovich plays dressed as a soldier in Stoyanka outskirts Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, May 30, 2022. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

Pupils participate in a calligraphy contest to celebrate the New Year in Tokyo January 5, 2016. Over 3,000 calligraphers who qualified in competitions throughout Japan wrote resolutions or wishes onto paper sheets during the annual contest that marks the start of the new year, according to organizers. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

“Joker” movie production tries to hide Joaquin Phoenix's clown make-up and green hair with umbrella and a long black cloth over his head as he was walking with the help of assistant and bodyguard to the set of “Joker” filming at a Bronx train station on September 22, 2018. (Photo by The Mega Agency)

Female North Korean soldiers patrol along the banks of Yalu River, near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, April 11, 2013. South Korea and the United States were on high alert for a North Korean missile launch on Thursday as the hermit kingdom turned its attention to celebrating its ruling Kim dynasty and appeared to tone down rhetoric of impending war. (Photo by Jacky Chen/Reuters)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews)

A pink elephant balloon, one of the entries in the Canadian Hot Air Balloon Championships, lands in a field in High River September 27, 2013. The event is a qualifier for the World Hot Air Balloon Championships in Sao Paulo in 2014. (Photo by Mike Sturk/Reuters)

An Iraqi man cooks traditional Masgouf fish on a barbecue for sale in the Karada market July 02, 2014. Masgouf, one of the national dishes of Iraq is a grilled carp seasoned with olive oil, rock salt, tamarind and ground turmeric. (Photo by Scott Nelson for the Washington Post)