A medium performs the religious dance "Narsingh Avatar" during the traditional Kartik dance festival at Patan Durbar Square in Lalitpur, Nepal November 24, 2015. Observed for eight days, the festival is the longest dance festival in Nepal, and features a mix of drama, music and dialogues introduced by King Siddhinarsingh Malla in 1637 AD. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A historical re-enactor poses for a photograph in a living history camp as he prepares to take part in an anniversary event for the Battle of Bosworth near Market Bosworth in central Britain August 22, 2015. The Battle of Bosworth took place in 1485 during the War of the Roses between the Houses of Lancaster and the House of York. King Richard III was defeated by Henry Tudor marking the end of Plantagenet rule and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)

Competitors take part in the International Medieval Combat Federation World Championships at Scone Palace on May 10, 2018 in Perth, Scotland. Thousands of visitors are expected to attend the crowning place of Scottish Kings, Scone Palace for the IMCF World Championships which has five hundred competitors and officials from all over the world, from the UK to as far afield as Australia, South Africa and Mexico. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

American stand-up comedian and actress Whitney Cummings fools around with photographers after she, Griffin Johnson, and Josh Richards have dinner together at Craig's in West Hollywood, CA. on April 6, 2021. (Photo by Backgrid USA)

The first jaguar litter since 1975 was born at the Milwaukee County Zoo to Stella and Pat on November 13, 2013. The litter was on public display for the first time on March 13 when the jaguar baby's names were released. Belize schoolchildren named one Zean, which is the end of Belizean, and a public contest named the other B'alam, which means "great and powerful king" in Mayan. Photo: Stella the mother and her cub Zean rest together at The Milwaukee County Zoo. (Photo by Rick Wood)

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.

“Nicholas II (Russian: Николай II, Николай Александрович Романов, tr. Nikolay II, Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov) (18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church. Nicholas II, his wife, his son, his four daughters, the family's medical doctor, the Tsar's valet, the Empress' lady-in-waiting and the family's cook were murdered in the same room by the Bolsheviks on the night of 16/17 July 1918”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Tsar Nicholas II (1868–1918) with his wife. (Photo by W. & D. Downey/Getty Images). Circa 1900

A well-dressed bulldog has amassed thousands of fans online, after her owner took to dressing her up in wildly elaborate outfits and posting the pictures to the photo-sharing site Instagram. Tania Ahsan, 31, of New York, has posted online over 500 pictures of her patient pooch, Maya, and nearly 70,000 people have followed her exploits. Maya has been pictured as Queen Victoria, King Kong, Elvis Presley and Sherlock Bones, and far from wriggling out of the getups as soon as possible, Ahsan says Maya loves it. Here: Maya as a monkey and a banana. (Photo by Tania Ahsan/Caters News)