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.

Mt.Huanshan, or Mount Hua is one of the five sacred mountains in China. The other four are Taishan in Shandong, Songshan in Henan, Hengshan in Shanxi and Hengshan in Hunan.
Mt. Huashan is reputed as the most precipitous of the five.

Girls hold hands as they help each other wade through a flooded street after the passing of Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, Thursday, October 6, 2016. Two days after the storm rampaged across the country's remote southwestern peninsula, authorities and aid workers still lack a clear picture of what they fear is the country's biggest disaster in years. (Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo)

Models present creations of the label Mas Holdings during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Grandpass in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 28 October 2017. (Photo by M.A. Pushpa Kumara/EPA/EFE)

Elizabeth Hurley (L) and Nicole Scherzinger serve dinner at the BOVET 1822 Brilliant is Beautiful Gala benefitting Artists for Peace and Justice's Global Education Fund for Women and Girls at Claridge's Hotel on December 1, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Kamaz Russian driver Eduard Nikolaev, co- driver Evgeny Yakovlev and mechanic Vladimir Rybakov compete during the 2018 Dakar Rally' s Stage 13 between San Juan and Cordoba in Argentina, on January 19, 2018. (Photo by Franck Fife/AFP Photo)

Minnie Mouse, left, and Katy Perry attend a ceremony honoring Minnie with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, January 22, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Russia' s Tiffani Zagorski and Russia' s Jonathan Guerreiro compete in the ice dance free dance of the figure skating event during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung on February 20, 2018. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)