A pair of cyclists take photos as the sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean, Thursday, October 3, 2024, in Bal Harbour, Fla. (Photo by Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo)

Cuban actor Ana de Armas seen attending Bond: No Time To Die – world film premiere afterparties on September 28, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Backgrid USA)

Costumed revellers perform in the parade during the Notting Hill Carnival in London, Monday, August 27, 2018. The carnival has been held every year since 1966 and one of the largest festival celebrations of its kind in Europe. (Photo by Tim Ireland/AP Photo)

A child dressed in a Santa Claus costume reacts, on the day Palestinian Christians attend an Orthodox Christmas Mass at the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City on January 7, 2025. (Photo by Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)

The Chinese-flagged cargo ship Yu Zhou Qi Hang, which ran aground near Yehliu Geopark as a result of rough weather relating to typhoon Kong-rey, is seen in Yehliu on November 1, 2024. Taiwan on November 1 raced to remove 284 tonnes of oil from the Chinese carrier that ran aground off the island after losing power in rough seas as Typhoon Kong-rey neared. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng/AFP 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.

Local residents walk past tiger paintings, that marks the upcoming Lunar New Year of the tiger, in front of a department store in Taipei on January 27, 2022. (Photo by Sam Yeh/AFP Photo)

This photo taken on November 7, 2021 shows a panda falling from a platform as it plays in its enclosure after snowfall in Xian in China's northern Shaanxi province. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)