In this Thursday, July 19, 2018, photo, a Syrian shopkeeper spraying water as waits for customers at the Hamadiyah market, named after the 34th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II, in the Old City of Damascus, Syria. The celebratory mood in government-controlled areas stems from successive military advances in the past year and an impression that President Bashar Assad, with massive support by unwavering allies Russia and Iran, has won the war or at least militarily defeated the opposition trying to topple him. (Photo by Hassan Ammar/AP Photo)

An athletes competes in a log carrying relay race event at Peruibe beach during the Indigenous Games, near the Tapirema community of Peruibe, Brazil, Sunday, April 23, 2023. Hundreds of Indigenous athletes gather this weekend in the south of Sao Paulo state to hold their version of the Olympic Games. They will compete for medals in archery, tug of war, athletics, Indigenous wrestling and other sports. (Photo by Andre Penner/AP Photo)

A group of prospective police recruits, ready to be enrolled in the M23 controlled force, salute in the courtyard of a police station in Goma on February 6, 2025. More than a week after the battle for the North Kivu provincial capital, the M23 on Wednesday appointed people to public positions. Goma now has two officials for many public posts – two mayors, two governors – which locals said has created confusion. The M23 administration is still in its embryonic stages and struggling to respond to daily problems in the war-wounded city. (Photo by Michel Lunanga/AFP Photo)

A Sydney Aquarium diver uses a vacuum to clean the gravel in the Great Barrier Reef tank as a Ray Shark swims by September 26, 2006 in Sydney, Australia. The Aquarium is undergoing its annual spring clean to prepare for the school holidays using vacuums, along with sea creatures like Sea Cucumbers, Sea Urchins, Cleaner Wrasse Fish and Sea Stars to help complete the job. (Photo by Ian Waldie/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.

Karolina Kurkova, Alana Zimmer, Valerija Kelava, Eniko Mihalik, Snejana Onopka and Iris Strubegger star in “Hairy Tales” a focus on mostly big hair styled by Luigi Murenu (hair style; Make-up: Karim Rahman) for «Vogue» Germany April 2012. Joanne Blades styles the editorial with Daniele and Iango behind the lens.

Lindsay Heimbach goes airborne while sledding down a hill on Mt. Lemmon December 27, 2008. (Photo by James Gregg/Arizona Daily Star)

This artist's rendering illustrates the evaporation of HD 189733b's atmosphere in response to a powerful eruption from its host star. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope detected the escaping gases and NASA's Swift satellite caught the stellar flare. (Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)