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.

Members of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) demonstrate their skills on motor-bikes during the BSF Golden Jubilee Day celebration in New Delhi on December 1, 2015. (Photo by Money Sharma/AFP Photo)

Fifty Shades Darker lingerie by Coco de Mer – capturing the “inner goddess” of Anastasia Steele – is launched following record-breaking release of movie’s new trailer. Official collection developed in conjunction with E.L. James to coincide with the new Fifty Shades Darker movie. They are the first official Fifty Shades Darker products to be released ahead of the new movie whose trailer was watched 114 million times in first 24 hours, breaking Star Wars: The Force Awakens previous record. (Photo by Rankin/Coco de Mer/Rex Shutterstock)

People view the sunrise scene at the Bund in Shanghai, east China, January 1, 2017. (Photo by Wang Hechun/Xinhua/Barcroft Images)

An Indian artist performs with fire during a procession as part of “Bonalu” festival in Hyderabad, India, Monday, Aug.10, 2015. Bonalu is a month long Hindu folk festival of India's Telangana region dedicated to Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction. (Photo by Mahesh Kumar A./AP Photo)

An Indian Sikh devotee takes a dip in the holy sarover (water tank) at the Golden Temple on the eve of “Ghallughara Diwas”, the 29th Anniversary of Operation Bluestar, in Amritsar on June 5, 2013. The 1984 assault on the Golden Temple complex by the Indian army was conducted in an attempt to arrest separatists Sikh leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his militant followers who had initiated a movement for a separate Sikh state. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

A car “crashed” into the ground at Hackescher Markt in Berlin, Germany on November 15, 2016, ahead of the launch of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May's new show, “The Grand Tour”, on Amazon Prime Video, on Friday. (Photo by Clemens Bilan/Getty Images for Amazon Prime Video)

The giant metal structure sits 330ft above the ground on the roof of a 22 storey office block in Dutch capital Amsterdam on September 6, 2016. Tourists sit in a playground-style chair as they propel themselves them over the edge of the building with only thin-air between them and the ground below. Engineers spent several years designing and building the breathtaking swing. By being fixed to the top of a building it reaches new heights – dwarfing other swings around Europe but trailing behind the 1,150ft high mechanical rides at the Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Huub Zeeman/SWNS.com)