“Hippo Chase”. As we approached the camp the Selinda Reserve of northern Botswana our boat passed by a hippo resting in the water. I turned around to look back at the boat's wake and saw the hippo charging after us! The hippo must've been tired from an all-nighter because he was angry. He rose way up out of the water three times trying to chase our boat! He was coming at us with such force that he created a wake of his own. Photo location: Selinda Reserve of northern Botswana. (Photo and caption by Curtis Simmons/National Geographic Photo Contest)

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.

An Ethnic Kayan also know as a Long Neck girl sits at her parents souvenir shop in the Kayan village at the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, July 16, 2018. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

A child dressed as an Ewok character participates in a Star Wars parade in Mexico City, Saturday, October 15, 2022. (Photo by Marco Ugarte/AP Photo)

July 23, 2013 – Kampala, Uganda. Helene and Diana train daily more than 2.5 hours by Innocent Kapalata, a passionate and ambitious former boxer. Amidst the shanty homes a group of ambitious fighters are trying to reach for a better life. (Photo by Peter Bauza/ZUMA Press/VISUAL Press)

The Patrouille Suisse jets perform prior to the Men's Downhill race at the Fis Alpine Skiing World Cup in Wengen, Switzerland, 15 January 2022. (Photo by Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA/EFE)

A child dressed as Hindu God Shiva begs for alms from devotees at the Sangam, the confluence of three rivers – the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, on the Makar Sankranti festival during the annual traditional fair of Magh Mela in Prayagraj, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Sunday, January 14, 2024. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims are expected to take dips in the confluence, hoping to wash away sins during the month-long festival. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

Nora White, 6, dumps a cup of water on her sister Kennedy White, 3, at Barnett Field Splash Pad in Edmond, Okla., on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.(Photo by Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman via USA TODAY Network)