American actress Sydney Sweeney and a pal have a “little london getaway” while doing facemasks in a hot tub on December 10, 2025. (Photo by sydneysweeney/instagram)

American singer-songwriter and actress Reneé Rapp gets slimed at the Kids’ Choice Awards on July 13, 2024 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by reneerapp/Instagram)

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.

Actors Patrick Brammall and Anne Hathaway seen on the set of “The Devil Wears Prada 2” in Brooklyn on August 05, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Aeon/GC Images)

A general view of atmosphere at the annual VOLT Festival in Sopron, 208 kms west of Budapest, Hungary on August 16, 2016. (Photo by Mudra László/Rockstar Photographers)

Khloe Kardashian and Kris Jenner exit a studio in LA with Lisa Rinna, Kyle Richards, and a film crew. (Photo by Backgrid USA)

Dayane Mello attends the photocall for the television miniseries “The Young Pope” at the 73rd Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, September 3, 2016. (Photo by Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)

A woman looks towards part of an artwork called “Lichen! Libido! (London!) Chastity!” by Anthea Hamilton, one of the four artists shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2016, as it is displayed at the Tate Britain gallery in London, Monday, September 26, 2016. The Turner Prize aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo)