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.

In advance of Fleet Week performances, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and Team Oracle aerobatics pilot Sean D. Tucker fly over the San Francisco Bay during a photo flight on Thursday, October 5, 2017. (Photo by Noah Berger/AP Photo)

Green Bay Packers' Johnathan Calvin rides a bike to NFL football training camp on July 27, 2017, in Green Bay, Wis. (Photo by Morry Gash/AP Photo)

American model Isabella Khair Hadid is seen on March 13, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by The Mega Agency)

People follow king penguins exploring their outdoor pen, during a so-called “penguin parade”, when the animals walk outside their enclosure and the visitors can walk behind them, at Zurich's Zoo in Zurich, Switzerland January 28, 2017. (Photo by Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters)

Italian actress Sophia Loren and US actor Marlon Brando at a cinema in Rome on November 11, 1954, where Brando received the Francesco Pasinetti Prize for his performance in the film “On The Waterfront”. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Danila Shmelev, an artist from Moscow, Russia, works on a 3-D picture in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday, February 27, 2017. Artists who focus on 3-D pictures have gathered in Dubai for the Dubai Canvas 3-D Art Festival, which runs from March 1 through March 7. (Photo by Jon Gambrell/AP Photo)

Contestant Nathalie De Oliveira of Brazil prepares backstage before the final show of the Miss International Queen 2016 transgender/transsexual beauty pageant in Pattaya, Thailand, March 10, 2017. Thai contestant Jiratchaya Sirimongkolnawin was crowned Miss International Queen 2016. The 2016 show was postponed from November last year due to Thailand's mourning period of its late King Bhumibol Adulyadej who died at age 88 on October 13, 2016. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)