Kimono-clad young women take their selfies near a venue during the Coming of Age Day celebration ceremony in Yokohama, Japan on January 9, 2023. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Cailee Spaeny and Kerry Washington attend Netflix's “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” Los Angeles premiere on November 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Roger Kisby/Getty Images for Netflix)

Musician St Vincent attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4, 2018 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

American actor and politician Ronald Reagan stands behind his wife, actor Jane Wyman, who sits down to dinner, circa 1940s. She is seated between two unidentified men, both in military uniforms adorned with Arms Qualification medals, the man on the right with Sharpshooter and Marksman badges and the man on the left, a Captain, with Expert and Sharpshooter badges. Reagan wears a military uniform with Cavalry branch insignia and Wyman wears a black dress with stranded pearl necklace, and a black hat with a veil. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Peter Dinklage, left, and Lena Headey attend the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 20, 2015, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Alex Berliner/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images)

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.

Iggy Azalea shares a joke with Andy Lee and Hamish Blake during Bonds 100th birthday celebration event at Cafe Sydney on August 19, 2015 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Olivia Munn looks stunning in a holiday fashion campaign. The US actress shows off her sophisticated and elegant side in images shot for La Ligne's latest holiday 2022 campaign. The Magic Mike star showcases her toned legs in pictures, photographed by Pamela Hanson at the Hotel Chelsea in New York City on December 8, 2022. (Photo by Pamela Hanson/The Mega Agency)