People are captured by FLIR (Forward-Looking Infrared) HD Thermal Imaging Cameras as they walk near the FLIR exhibit at the Las Vegas Convention Center during CES 2019 in Las Vegas on January 10, 2019. (Photo by David McNew/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.

People look at huge waves crashing on the San Esteban de Pravia seafront, northern Spanish region of Asturias February 8, 2016. (Photo by Eloy Alonso/Reuters)

Dance artist HorsegiirL poses at the BRIT Awards at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, on March 1, 2025. (Photo Isabel Infantesby/Reuters)

Participants wearing colorful costumes take part in the Flowers Parade of the 151th annual Carnival of Nice, in Nice, France, 20 March 2024. The annual Carnival of Nice run from 17 February to 03 March 2024, and the main theme will be “King of Pop Culture”. (Photo by Sebastien Nogier/EPA)

A fight between two female musk oxen, Norway, 2021. The image was captured in Norway’s Dovrefjell national park, where the musk ox (Ovibos moschatus) was reintroduced several years ago for its conservation. It is normal for males of this species to engage in fierce battles during the mating season but unusual for two females. (Photo by Miquel Angel Artús Illana)

Labourers work at the installation site of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) pipeline on May Day or Labour Day in Chandigarh, India, May 1, 2015. (Photo by Ajay Verma/Reuters)

Yeshiva School students briefly dance on Grant Street after the menorah lighting outside of the City-County Building for the fifth night of Hanukkah, Thursday, December 26, 2019, in downtown Pittsburgh. (Photo by Alexandra Wimley/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP Photo)