Winners of a competition enjoy a meal 450ft up on the roof of a central London skyscraper on August 21, 2018, as Deliveroo recreates “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper”, the photograph taken during the construction of the Rockefeller Center in New York City, 1932. (Photo by Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images)

Toni Braxton performs at the Hard Rock Events Center held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL on January 29, 2019. (Photo by INSTARimages.com)

Blake Shelton looks “Worse for Wear” after a 5hr dinner with Girlfriend Gwen Stefani and fellow Country star Luke Bryan at “Craigs” Restaurant in West Hollywood, CA on April 15, 2019. (Photo by SPW/Splash News and Pictures)

American singer-songwriter and actress Reneé Rapp gets slimed at the Kids’ Choice Awards on July 13, 2024 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by reneerapp/Instagram)

Colombia fans celebrate a goal during the World Cup Group C soccer match between Colombia and Greece, at a park in Bogota June 14, 2014. (Photo by John Vizcaino/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 U.S. Army B-24 Liberator Bomber is hailed by a ground crewman as it takes off over a line of shark- nosed fighter planes at an advanced base in China on a mission on October 10, 1943, to bomb Japanese installations. (Photo by AP Photo)

New parents Chrissy Teigen and John Legend are seen leaving Khloe Kardashian's 32nd birthday party held at Dave and Buster's in Hollywood, California on June 28, 2016. (Photo by Splash News)