Chinese women wear protective masks as they are dressed in traditional clothing from the Qing Dynasty era outside a park on March 29, 2020 in Beijing, China. A limited section of the iconic tourist site was re-opened to the public this week allowing a smaller number of visitors to reserve tickets online in advance and to enter after passing health screening. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A wildfire on the Scottish island in the first decade of April 2025. Fire services are calling on people to act responsibly after an “extreme” wildfire warning was issued for the whole of Scotland. (Photo by Police Scotland/PA Wire)

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 participant of the “Zombie Takeover of Coney Island” acts like a zombie as he walks along Surf Avenue in Coney Island in the Brooklyn borough of New York, July 2, 2014. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

Spain's acting acting Minister of Labor and Sumar MP Yolanda Diaz (Front-C) takes her seat at the Lower House in Madrid as they attend the Constitutive Session of the Lower House for the 15th legislature in Madrid, Spain, 17 August 2023. The Upper and Lower chambers celebrate their Constitutive Session for the 15th legislature after the general elections that took place last 23 July 2023. (Photo by Juan Carlos Hidalgo/EPA)

Cat-Friend vs Dog-Friend, Two Humans Acting Like House Pets

A dancer performs a fire breathing act during a procession to mark the 669th anniversary of the birth of Hindu Guru Bawa Lal Dayal in Amritsar on February 9, 2024. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

PH Sport's driver Sebastian Loeb races against an airplane during a performance act at the Peru Dakar Rally in Lima, Peru on January 5, 2019. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)