Italy's Federica Brignone's helmet is seen after their run at the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on January 25, 2025. (Photo by Gintare Karpaviciute/Reuters)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States skate during the Ice Dance, Free Dance program of the 2025 ISU World Figure Skating Championships at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 29, 2025. (Photo by Geoff Robins/AFP Photo)

A protester attends a rally against the government and to show support for the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel on September 1, 2024. (Photo by Florion Goga/Reuters)

Dozens of people participate in the religious pilgrimage to the National Shrine of El Rincon, in the municipality of Boyeros, in Havana, Cuba, 17 December 2018. As is customary every year, thousands of people in mass attend the shrine to pay tribute to Saint Lazarus, to whom the faithful come for personal requests and miracles. (Photo by Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA/EFE)

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 woman rides her horse in the River Eden on Friday June 10, 2022, on Day 2 of the Appleby Horse Fair, the annual gathering of gypsies and travellers. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Wire Press Association)

A brown bear waits for food at the zoo in Madrid, Spain on July 30, 2016. (Photo by Jorge Sanz/Pacific Press/SIPA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A young girl dressed as living goddess Kumari drinks juice as she waits for Kumari Puja, a worship ritual at Hanuman Dhoka, Basantapur Durbar Square, Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, September 27, 2023. Girls under the age of nine gathered for the tradition of worshiping young prepubescent girls as manifestations of the divine female energy. The ritual holds a strong religious significance in the Newar community that seeks divine blessings to save small girls from diseases and bad luck in the years to come. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)