Cast member George Clooney kisses the hand of his wife Amal Clooney on the red carpet for the screening of ”Jay Kelly” on August 28, 2025. (Photo by Yara Nardi/Reuters)

Cuban-American actress Ana De Armas shows off her freckles in Puerto Rico early September 2025. (Photo by ana_d_armas/Instagram)

Actress Cristin Milioti attends the HBO Max Primetime Emmy Awards Afterparty at San Vicente Bungalows on September 14, 2025 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by David Jon/Getty Images for HBO Max)

Colombia fans celebrate a goal during the World Cup Group C soccer match between Colombia and Greece, at a park in Bogota June 14, 2014. (Photo by John Vizcaino/Reuters)

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)

A U.S. Army B-24 Liberator Bomber is hailed by a ground crewman as it takes off over a line of shark- nosed fighter planes at an advanced base in China on a mission on October 10, 1943, to bomb Japanese installations. (Photo by AP Photo)

New parents Chrissy Teigen and John Legend are seen leaving Khloe Kardashian's 32nd birthday party held at Dave and Buster's in Hollywood, California on June 28, 2016. (Photo by Splash News)