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.

India's Border Security Force (BSF) “Daredevils” motorcycle riders perform during a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade on a foggy winter morning in New Delhi January 8, 2015. India will celebrate its annual Republic Day on January 26. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

A man is silhouetted as he stands on a walkway in the sky lobby at the Chancellery, the seat of German Chancellor Angela Merkel (not pictured) in Berlin, May 7, 2014. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

A boy walks with toy guns as people ride an APC during a military show at the Finnish Gulf coast in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, September 5, 2015. (Photo by Dmitry Lovetsky/AP Photo)

Models smoke during a break at Sevilla de Boda (Seville Wedding) fashion show in the Andalusian capital of Seville November 27, 2015. (Photo by Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters)

TV Personality Courtney Stodden attends OK! Magazine's pre-GRAMMY event at Avalon Hollywood on February 9, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

British rally driver Kris Meeke jumps his Citroen over a brow during the fifth special stage of the World Rally Championship (WRC) Rally of Australia, near Bellingen on the New South Wales central coast on September 12, 2014. (Photo by William West/AFP Photo)

A competitor shows her tattoos at the MBK Tattoo Contest in a shopping mall in Bangkok October 23, 2014. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)