South American sea lion. Valencia, February 8, 2012. (Photo by Ger Art; Source: Flickr)

A cosplayer uses moving stairs during the first public day of the world's largest computer games fair Gamescom in Cologne, Germany August 23, 2017. (Photo by Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters)

Worker Malian Vue beats the heat inside the refrigerator at the Agricenter Farmers Market in Memphis, Tennessee on July 5, 2025. (Photo by Karen Focht/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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.

Brazilian model and television personality Alessandra Ambrosio attends Alessandra Ambrosio And Darren Dzienciol's Horror In The Hills on October 31, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rochelle Brodin/Getty Images)

The social media star Demi Rose, 23, posed for a sizzling new photoshoot to promote her new swimwear line in Ibiza, Spain on Monday, August 13, 2018. (Photo by KP Pictures)

Large waves break at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast,, Queensland, Australia, 05 June 2016. Recent wild weather unleashed heavy rainfalls, powerful winds and abnormally high tides in Southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales. (Photo by Dan Peled/EPA)

A lightning strikes through smoke from fuel storage tanks that exploded near Cuba's supertanker port in Matanzas, Cuba on August 8, 2022. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)