It’s enough to make your head spin. The photographer Katherine Young set out to shoot spiral staircases in London, England to great effect, including this shot she calls the Downward Spiral Part III. (Photo by Katherine Young/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A visitor views the work of artists Gonzalo Duran and Cheri Pann at their Mosaic Tile House in Venice, California U.S., August 26, 2016. With an array of thrift store china, humorous souvenirs and handmade tile adorning its walls and floors, the Mosaic Tile House in Venice stands as a monument to two decades of artistic collaboration between Cheri Pann and husband Gonzalo Duran. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/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.

Model Alessandra Ambrosio poses for photographers during the red carpet for the movie “Spotlight” at the 72nd Venice Film Festival in northern Italy, September 3, 2015. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)

Canadian singer-songwriter Shania Twain poses for a selfie as she attends the 2022 People's Choice Awards in Santa Monica, California, U.S. December 6, 2022. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

American media personality Kim Kardashian and her mom Kris Jenner have debuted totally different looks in a new photoshoot in the last decade of June 2025. Kim, 44, shows off her curves for the pictures, which reveal her new Skims collaboration with Italian fashion brand Roberto Cavalli. (Photo by Instagram)

Palestinians react at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on October 24, 2023. (Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

American actress Anne Hathaway is seen at a film set for the AppleTV+ series, “WeCrashed” on June 11, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Pacific Coast News)