Co-hosts Kat Dennings (L) and Beth Behrs onstage at The 40th Annual People's Choice Awards show at Nokia Theatre LA Live on January 8, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/WireImage)

A child dressed as Hindu God Shiva begs for alms from devotees at the Sangam, the confluence of three rivers – the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, on the Makar Sankranti festival during the annual traditional fair of Magh Mela in Prayagraj, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Sunday, January 14, 2024. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims are expected to take dips in the confluence, hoping to wash away sins during the month-long festival. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP 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.

Police and the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia) servicemen patrol Red Square in front of the Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin in Moscow on October 24, 2022, as part of security reinforcement measures. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP Photo)

Kalep, 5, in a bear costume, participates in parade where his father Johnny Lopez was the Elder Angel, during the Oruro Carnival, a traditional celebration that can be traced back to the indigenous Ito festival, in Oruro, Bolivia February 26, 2022. (Photo by Wara Vargas/Reuters)

An Iraqi shi'ite muslim girl places a copy of the Koran on her head during the holy month of Ramadan at the Imam Ali Shrine, in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq on May 28, 2019. (Photo by Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters)

A woman adjusts the Mantle of the Order of the British Empire at an exhibition at Buckingham Palace in London, Thursday, July 21, 2016. In celebration of Her Majesty's 90th birthday this year, visitors to the Summer Opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace will enjoy an unprecedented display of The Queen's outfits, from childhood to the present day, in the special exhibition Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from The Queen's Wardrobe. (Photo by Frank Augstein/AP Photo)

Boozed-out revellers donned fancy dress as they welcomed in the Bank Holiday at the Otley Run. Hundreds swarmed Leeds, UK on Saturday, March 30, 2024, as the infamous tipple mission got underway beneath blue skies and sunshine. (Photo by NB Press LTD)