Actor Robert De Niro presents the Guy Movie Hall of Fame award onstage during Spike TV's 5th annual 2011 “Guys Choice” Awards at Sony Pictures Studios on June 4, 2011 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

“The Siege of Sidney Street, popularly known as the “Battle of Stepney”, was a notorious gunfight in London's East End on the 2nd of January 1911. Preceded by the Houndsditch Murders, it ended with the deaths of two members of a supposedly politically-motivated gang of burglars supposedly led by Peter Piatkow, a.k.a. “Peter the Painter”, and sparked a major political row over the involvement of the then Home Secretary, Winston Churchill”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Scots Guards and police on duty during the “Siege of Sidney Street” in east London. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images). 3rd January 1911

Star Wars enthusiasts wear costumes resembling what they say are three “Chew's Angels” during the 2015 Comic-Con International Convention in San Diego, California July 10, 2015. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Men dressed as soldiers pose with models before the opening of the Gamescom 2013 fair in Cologne,Germany, on August 23, 2013. The Gamescom convention is Europe's largest video games trade fair. (Photo by Ina Fassbender/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.

“The inspiration for this book came to me one afternoon as I watched my son, Hudson, playing with his toy bus. I was trying to keep pace with his three-year-old mind as he got deeper and deeper into a fantasy involving nothing more than a yellow plastic box and armless figurines. At least that’s what I saw. He saw frantic commuters rushing to catch the 77 local bus to Australia. He jumped in place, mouth open and slapping his knees, joyously reacting to a world I couldn’t see, but one powerfully present for him...”. – Jordan Matter

Photo: “Dancers Among Us”: Macys, NYC – Annmaria Mazzini. (Photo by Jordan Matter)

This picture taken on July 25, 2014 shows people cooling off in a waterpark in Suining, southwest China's Sichuan province. Meteorological departments issued an orange alert for high temperature as a heat wave embraces Sichuan province, with temperature of most area topped 37, local media reported. (Photo by AFP Photo)

Palestinian female Hamas security officers demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony in the northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, April 2, 2014. 1200 officers graduated from advanced training courses that lasted one year in Gaza police academy of Hamas. (Photo by Adel Hana/AP Photo)