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.

Breath at sunset, captures a sea turtle at a dive site called Black Rock. Kāʻanapali, Hawaiʻi, August 2013. (Photo by Christopher Doherty/Smithsonian.com)

A female member of the Ahbab Al-Mustafa Battalion holds a gun as she undergoes military training in Aleppo's Salaheddine district, June 24, 2013. (Photo by Muzaffar Salman/Reuters)

An Australian athlete does a handstand as she arrives with her teammates during the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday July 23, 2014. (Photo by Frank Augstein/AP Photo)

A Pakistani child, whose family was displaced by 2010 floods from a village in Pakistan's Sindh province, sits on a wooden cart outside her family's makeshift home, in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, on February 8, 2013. (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo)

An Israeli boy looks through the sight of a weapon during a display of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) equipment and abilities at the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, April 23, 2015, during celebrations for Israel's Independence Day, marking the 67th anniversary of the creation of the state. (Photo by Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

A girl bathes to cool off herself with water that is leaking from a broken pipe valve on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, May 18, 2015. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Members of Team Italy are seen underwater as they perform in the synchronised swimming team free routine preliminary at the Aquatics World Championships in Kazan, Russia July 28, 2015. (Photo by Michael Dalder/Reuters)