Two cocks are trained for a fight in a village in Nakhon Sawan province, Thailand January 10, 2017. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

Pakistani female police commandos attend a training session in Nowshera, near Peshawar Pakistan, Wednesday, February 11, 2015. Authorities formed a Special Combat Unit after Taliban militants stormed a Peshawar school on Dec. 16, 2014 and massacred 150 children and teachers. (Photo by Mohammad Sajjad/AP Photo)

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.

Photos from 虹桥故事's photostream. Attention! From Chinese to English translated by Google!

Photo: 1948年3月，外滩，便衣警察棒打偷拿棉花的老太。 (In March 1948, the Bund, plainclothes police officers wreck stole cotton Granny)

The crowd watches as stunt pilots Melissa Pemberton, Jurgis Kairys and Skip Stewart of The Immortals fly past pyrotechnics as they perform at The Australian International Airshow on March 1, 2015 in Avalon, Australia. (Photo by Scott E. Barbour/Getty Images)

Athlets run during the women's 3000 meter steeplechase at the International Athletics Meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland, 14 June 2016. (Photo by Alexandra Wey/EPA)

Debris fly into the air as foreign fishing boats are blown up by Indonesian Navy off Batam Island, Indonesia, Monday, February 22, 2016. Authorities on Monday sank dozens of fishing boats caught operating illegally in Indonesian waters as part of the country's campaign to battle illegal fishing. (Photo by M. Urip/AP Photo)

Protesters take part in “Artists Take Fight Against Police Murders” in New York's Times Square August 13, 2015. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)