Women sits outside a go-go dance bar in Pattaya, Thailand March 25, 2017s. (Photo by Jorge Silva/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.

In this January 31, 2014 file photo released by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), shows residents of the besieged Palestinian camp of Yarmouk, queuing to receive food supplies, in Damascus, Syria. That year, the U.N. was able to deliver food to about five percent of people in besieged areas including Yarmouk, while today estimates show the organization is reaching less than one percent. (Photo by UNRWA via AP Photo)

A couple covered in foam kiss as they take part in the traditional “Raisin Weekend” in the Lower College Lawn, at St Andrews in Scotland, Britain on October 17, 2022. (Photo by Russell Cheyne/Reuters)

“Beryl Cook, (10 September 1926 – 28 May 2008) was an English artist best known for her original and instantly recognisable paintings of people enjoying themselves in pubs,girls shopping or out on a hen night. Drag shows or a family picnicing by the seaside or abroad – tangoing in Buenos Aires or gambling in Las Vegas. She had no formal training and did not take up painting until middle age”. – Wikipedia. Photo: “Ladies Night”, 1991. Artwork by Beryl Cook.

Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) is shot by would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca in St Peter's Square, 13th May 1981. His attendants help him into his white jeep after the incident. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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)

Iraqi army soldiers fire mortars against the Islamic State militants, at Shahrazad village 2 miles (3 kilometers) east of Mosul, Iraq, Monday, November 14, 2016. A suicide bombing in Iraq targeted the Shiite sacred city of Karbala on Monday, killing at least six civilians, the latest attempt by the Islamic State group to distract from the government forces' offensive on the IS-held northern city of Mosul. (Photo by Hussein Malla/AP Photo)