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.

Two women react to the camera as Nightclub Circus hosts the first dance event, which will welcome 6,000 clubbers to the city's Bramley-Moore Dock warehouse on April 30, 2021 in Liverpool, England. The event is part of the national Events Research Programme which will provide data on how events could be permitted to safely reopen. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

Sergio Valverde Espinoza, a Catholic priest of the Cristo Rey church who modified a popular song called “Sopa de Caracol”, or Snail Soup in English, gestures during a Mass in San Jose, Costa Rica, Sunday, May 2, 2021. Valverde changed the song's lyrics to a message calling for the use of face masks and care during the pandemic. (Photo by Carlos Gonzalez/AP Photo)

Residents protest a police operation targeting drug traffickers in the Jacarezinho favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 6, 2021. At least 25 people died during the operation, including one police officer and 24 suspects, according to the press office of Rio's civil police. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

Poisoned River. Abstract Winner. A detailed photograph of a stream filled with poison. “Poisoned Beauty” is a personal project that tells the story of the natural disaster in the Apuseni Mountains in Transylvania, which was a result of chemical waste generated by copper and gold mining, but in a beautifully abstract way. (Photo by Gheorghe Popa/Drone Photography Awards 2021)

A woman is arrested during a mass gathering protest organised by the group called “UK Freedom Movement”, in Hyde Park in London as the country is in lockdown to help stop the spread of coronavirus, Saturday, May 16, 2020. The group claims that the coronavirus lockdown is illegal. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo)

A baby otter has its first health checkup at Chester zoo, England on May 2, 2018. It was among five pups being weighed and microchipped. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

In this Wednesday, September 12, 2018, file photo, vendors carry banana on their heads at a fruit and vegetable market in Peshawar, Pakistan. Pakistan says it will seek a bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund to address a mounting balance of payments crisis, Finance Minister Asad Umar said Monday. (Photo by Muhammad Sajjad/AP Photo)