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.

Participants ride horses, hold spears and wear historic armoured suits of the Middle Ages as they compete during the Saint George international knight tournament in Moscow, Russia, May 3, 2015. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Dancers audition for a post as cheerleaders of the Miami Dolphins, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, March 3, 2016. Brazilian dancers audition in the first international cheerleader recruitment for the Miami Dolphins in Rio de Janeiro. The Dolphins will also hold auditions in Colombia, Argentina, Mexico and South of Florida. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

Polling station officials dressed as traditional Balinese performers vote in Badung regency on the Indonesian island of Bali December 9, 2015 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Around 100 million Indonesians were expected to go to the polls on Wednesday in many parts of the country to elect heads of local government. (Photo by Wira Suryantala/Reuters/Antara Foto)

Buddhists monks and children look out from the rooftop at a Buddhist mission hostel and school for underprivileged children as an international passenger flight takes off at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport as the authorities eased restrictions imposed as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Kolkata on July 5, 2020. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)

A homeless street child looks in the window of a car in Jammu, India, Friday, January 6, 2017. Some 800 million people in the country live in poverty, many of them migrating to big cities in search of a livelihood and often ending up on the streets. (Photo by Channi Anand/AP Photo)

Volunteers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist organisation, take part in a route march on the outskirts of Chennai on April 16, 2023. (Photo by R.Satish Babu/AFP Photo)

Young siblings in costume fully embrace the Notting Hill carnival atmosphere in London, England on August 28, 2023. (Photo by Nico Froehlich/The Guardian)