Women take selfies as they wait for the subway at Penn Station, New York, December 26, 2023. (Photo by Charly Triballeau/AFP Photo)

A Palestinian sits among the rubble of buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Hatem Khaled/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.

A masked reveller parades through the streets on the first day of the carnival season in Lucerne, Switzerland, 12 February 2015. In the background the well known Kappellbruecke bridge. (Photo by Alexandra Wey/EPA)

Disguised revellers parade on the occasion of the Cortege during the Carnival in Basel, Switzerland, February 17, 2016. (Photo by Georgios Kefalas/EPA)

In this combination image visitors to the London Super Comic Convention dress as their favourite Marvel comic characters at ExCel on February 25, 2012 in London, England. Visitors to the Comic Convention are encouraged to wear a costume of their favourite character. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Women walk past a mannequin with a covered face as they shop ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Adha in Aleppo, Syria September 23, 2015. (Photo by Hamid Khatib/Reuters)

Przemek Pawlicki performs during training in Leszno, Poland on May 12, 2016. A stunning action-packed catalogue of photographs from sporting events around the world has been released by Red Bull. The energy drink giant's photographers have been busy capturing extraordinary images of action sports and some of the world's greatest daredevils. (Photo by Lukasz Nazdraczew/Red Bull/SWNS.com)