Ukrainian soldiers from the assault brigade inflict fire damage with a 120 mm mortar while supporting the assault operations of the infantry on April 19, 2024 in Ukraine. The country's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has warned its allies that if more military aid for Ukraine is not approved soon, such as the long-stalled aid package from the United States, it could usher in a “Third World War”. (Photo by Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/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.

Dalmatian pelicans jostle over a fish meal on September 9, 2021. Every year about 100 of the birds fly to feast at Lake Kerkini, central Macedonia, Greece. (Photo by Peter Bradley/Solent News & Photo Agency/Solent News)

A Rohingya migrant who arrived in Indonesia by boat cries while speaking on a mobile phone with a relative in Malaysia, at a temporary shelter in Kuala Langsa in Indonesia's Aceh Province May 16, 2015. Nearly 800 migrants were brought ashore in Indonesia on Friday, but other vessels crammed with them were sent back to sea despite a United Nations call to rescue thousands adrift in Southeast Asian waters with dwindling food and water. Thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar and Bangladesh are stranded on boats as regional governments block them from landing. (Photo by Roni Bintang/Reuters)

Smoke billows from the Mt Etna volcano as seen from Linguaglossa, Sicily on Monday, August 9, 2021. Europe's most active volcano remains active scattering ashes around a vastly populated area on its slopes. (Photo by Marco Restivo/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Afghan resistance movement and anti-Taliban uprising forces take part in a military training in Panjshir province on August 30, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP Photo)

An AI Gamer “Q56” robot plays a video game during a demonstration at the Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. booth at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies in Chiba, Japan on October 16, 2019. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg)

Vapour bounced off the wings of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II as it sped over the Welsh mountains at a swift 575mph on February 10, 2022. The jet was taking part in a low-level training exercise through the Mach Loop – a series of valleys in North Wales. (Photo by Thomas Winstone/News Images)