People are caught in a dust storm in New Delhi, India May 23, 2016. (Photo by Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters)

Luna the French Bulldog is dressed in red, white, and blue during the National Independence Day Parade in Washington, DC, on July 4, 2023. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds/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.

“A Hawaiian photographer braved freezing temperatures for this cold SNAP – of what appears to be a firebird bursting from an aurora. Keen snapper CJ Kale, more used to sun, sea and sand while at work than snow, captured the incredible moment while on a trip to Alaska. It was his first time seeing the spectacular sight and lucked out – capturing some of the rarest colors of aurora on his first night”. – Caters News

A purple haze of heather as the sun rises over the New Forest near Lyndhurst, Hampshire in UK on July 28, 2025. (Photo by Steve Hogan/Bournemouth News)

This photo taken late on February 21, 2021 in Milo, near Catania, Sicily, and obtained on February 22, 2021 from Italian news agency Ansa, shows lava flowing along the sides of the southern crater of the Etna volcano as a new eruptive episode of tall lava fountains, known as paroxysm, occurred. (Photo by ANSA/Handout via AFP Photo)

Four-year-old Solaris Arias (right) jumps through water spraying from an open fire hydrant in Providence, Rhode Island, on June 20, 2012. Much of the state remained under a heat advisory Tuesday afternoon because of the steamy air mass that has moved into the region resulting in temperatures in the 90s. (Photo by Steven Senne/AP Photo)

Kevin Kvasnicka (L) and Jesse Gonzales openly carry firearms as they watch U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speak on a big screen television along East 4th street during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., July 21, 2016. (Photo by Adrees Latif/Reuters)