An Afghan policeman frisks a man while a burqa-cald woman sits in the trunk of a car on a roadside in Herat, Afghanistan, 05 July 2015. At least 18 police, two civilians and 30 rebels were killed in central Afghanistan during three days of fierce fighting, police said on 04 July. The clashes ended 04 July after security forces retook control of nine police checkpoints that had fallen to the rebels. (Photo by Jalil Rezayee/EPA)

Actress Kerry Washington, Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals' Woman of the Year, throws wine in the face of an actor playing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Thursday, January 28, 2016, as she is roasted in Cambridge, Mass. (Photo by Elise Amendola/AP Photo)

Russia's synchronised swimming duet Aleksandr Maltsev (L) and Darina Valitova compete in the Mixed Duet Technical preliminary during the synchronised swimming competition at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan on July 25, 2015. (Photo by Christophe Simon/AFP Photo)

Aquarium visitors attend a dinner party in an underwater tunnel in Tianjin, China on September 15, 2016. Tianjin Haichang Polar Ocean World opened in the city of Tianjin, southeast of Beijing, in 2010. It gives visitors a chance to see more than 150 large animals from the Arctic and Antarctic regions, including polar bears. (Photo by Feature China/Barcroft Images)

Children guarded by Hungarian police play on the ground after being detained along with other migrants who illegally crossed from Serbia to Hungary near the village of Asotthalom, Hungary, September 16, 2015. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

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.

A woman gets ready for her performance at the backstage of the Heart restaurant in Ibiza on June 29, 2015. Take the Spanish chefs Ferran and Albert Adria, the Cirque du Soleil founder French Guy Laliberte and contemporary artists such as Japanese Takashi Murakami. Put them together on the luxurious Mediterranean island of Ibiza and shake well to get “Heart” an innovative multi-sensory experience. The idea of provoking emotions through a collision of avant-garde creativities appeared two years ago from Adria brothers and Laliberte's passion about art and cuisine. They met a decade ago at the famous restaurant El Bulli, closed in 2011. (Photo by Jaime Reina/AFP Photo)

An explosion at a petrochemical plant is seen in Rizhao, Shandong province, July 16, 2015. According to Xinhua News Agency, a fire broke out after the explosion, which was caused by a liquified hydrocarbon leak at the plant, on Thursday morning. There was no report of casualties yet. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)