Racegoers brave the conditions during 2022 Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse on November 1, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Martin Keep/Getty Images for VRC)

Lesser Horned Owl (Bubo magellanicus) is seen at the meadows of Patagonian valley in Santa Cruz, Argentina on December 21, 2024. Lesser Horned Owl is a large owl of the genus Bubo found in southern South America, with its distinctive “horns”, black-rimmed face and heavily striped abdomen. (Photo by Mehmet Emin Yogurtcuoglu/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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.

Ali al-Naami, convicted of murdering his three daughters, is placed on a carpet to be executed at a public square in Sana'a, Yemen, 16 June 2021. Defendant Ali al-Naami, 40, convicted of killing his daughters Rahaf, 7, Raghad, 12, and Malak, 14, in June 2019, was executed by an executioner in front of hundreds of spectators in a public square in Sana'a. He had admitted to strangling them and drowning them in a water tank after the mother left the house due to domestic disputes with him. (Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA/EFE)

Festival goer with phallus logo t-shirt during the Kanamara Matsuri Steel Phallus Festival at Kawasaki, Japan on April 2, 2017. The Kanamara Matsuri or Festival of the Steel Phallus is held on the first Sunday of April at the Kanayama shrine. The shrine celebrates a legend of a steel pen*s and was frequented by prostitutes who wished to pray for protection from sexually transmitted diseases. Visitors now wish for easy delivery, marriage and matrimonial harmony. Because of the large steel phallus the unusual festival has become a tourist attraction attracting many overseas visitors and is used to raise money for HIV charities. Phallus shaped candy, carved vegetables, decorations, and a big parade are all part of the festival. (Photo by DELETREE/SIPA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Blossoms and dust are blown by the wind as Jasmin Ricks, left, and her sister, Jessica Ricks, center, take in the cherry blossoms near the Tidal Basin in Washington on April 12, 2018. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

A child performs in the mutton bustin (sheep riding) at the rodeo performance of the 76th annual Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, on May 18, 2024. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Fire and smoke erupt from a building just after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern Shayah neighbourhood on November 22, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)