High-wire artist Kane Petersen successfully walks a tightrope 300 metres above the ground at Eureka Skydeck on September 16, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. The walk was the highest tightrope walk ever attempted in the Southern Hemisphere. The stunt is to mark the arrival of the film “The Walk” to Australian cinemas in October. The stunt saw Kane mimic the film's French high-wire artist Philippe Petit, who successfully walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

“On March 8th activists celebrate International Women’s Day, which dates back to the early 20th century and has been observed by the United Nations since 1975. In the run-up to the event, Reuters photographers in countries around the globe took a series of portraits of women and their daughters. They asked each mother what her profession was, at what age she had finished education, and what she wanted her daughter to become when she grew up. They also asked each daughter at what age she would finish education and what she wanted to do in the future. The series of images offers an insight into the lives of women and girls around the world”. – Reuters. (Photo by Feisal Omar/Reuters)

“By 1969, the fashion choices of tens of millions of young American men and women were as variegated and ever-evolving as the world around them. Cultural transformation was an irresistible force during the Sixties, and across America and around the globe civil rights, women’s and gay liberation, the sexual revolution and, of course, the explosive soundtrack of R&B, soul and rock and roll informed everything from politics to fashion”. – LIFE. Photo: Corona del Mar High School students Kim Robertson, Pat Auvenshine and Pam Pepin wear “hippie” fashions, 1969. (Photo by Arthur Schatz/Time & Life Pictures)

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.

“Red Pepperpion. Red Pepperpions are secretive, nocturnal arachilli which can be spotted in kitchens of arid climates all around the world.

Red Pepperpions are equipped with a delicious (and depending on the quantity...deadly!) stinger at the end of its tail. If you happen to get bitten (or if you bite him!) it will produce a burning sensation on your taste nerves.

However, there is no need to worry, since the fact is that his potent stinger is usually only used when hunting or whenever the Pepperpion feels like he might become part of someones meal...

At daylight or when encountering a larger foe, such as a Saucier Chef, they retreat into burrows inside the fridge or hide beneath the oven”. (Photo and comment by Vanessa Dualib)

Elephants spray tourists with water in celebration of the Songkran water festival in Thailand's Ayutthaya province, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok, April 9, 2014. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EFE)

“Thunderstruck”. Summer stom. A super cell formed off the coast of New Zealand, intensified and swept across Christchurch and North Canterbury, February 23, 2014. Photo location: Christchurch, New Zealand. (Photo and caption by David Hardy/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Rescue workers try to help a driver out of his car, after the vehicle was stuck over an alley in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, August 4, 2014. The car rolled off the edge of a road after the driver was late to brake, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)