Costume details featuring Joao Candido, a black sailor who led a revolt against the physical punishment of Brazilian Navy soldiers at the beginning of the 20th century, lie inside the Paraíso do Tuiuti Samba school at the Samba City complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, January 16, 2024. Samba schools are gearing up for this year's Carnival, scheduled from Feb. 9-17. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket breaks the sound barrier as it launches the next batch of Starlink satellites (mission; Starlink 6-7), at 12:01 AM from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on Friday, July 28, 2023. (Photo by Joe Marino/UPI/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A Haitian woman lies in a trance during a voodoo ceremony in Souvenance, a suburb of Gonaives, 171 km north of Port- au- Prince, on April 16, 2017. Haitian voodoo followers arrived in Souvenance to take part in the voodoo ceremonies held during Easter weekend. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

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.

Anna Malova, Miss Russia 1998, poses on a pool table at The Campbell Apartment restaurant in Grand Central Station on November 18, 1999. She makes her motion picture debut in the movie “Above Ground”. (Photo by Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

Cute sеxy caucasian brunette young woman dressed as Mrs. Santa Claus, smiling with joy, biting a candy cane with eyes closed, Christmas or New Years Eve 2022 concept. (Photo by Cryptographer/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, visible above Old Gardur Lighthouse on the northern point of the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland on Sunday, November 24, 2024. The lighthouse dates to 1897, and was one of the first built in Iceland. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)

In this combination image visitors to the London Super Comic Convention dress as their favourite Marvel comic characters at ExCel on February 25, 2012 in London, England. Visitors to the Comic Convention are encouraged to wear a costume of their favourite character. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)