Palestinian members of Gaza's Bar Woolf sports team perform with fire above the ruins of a building destroyed in recent Israeli air strikes, in Beit Lahia, on May 26, 2021. A ceasefire was reached late last week after 11 days of deadly violence between Israel and the Hamas movement which runs Gaza, stopping Israel's devastating bombardment on the overcrowded Palestinian coastal enclave which, according to the Gaza health ministry, killed 248 Palestinians, including 66 children, and wounded more than 1,900 people. Meanwhile, rockets from Gaza claimed 12 lives in Israel, including one child and an Israeli soldier. (Photo by Mahmud Hams/AFP Photo)

Yanna Xian, 24, and her boyfriend Mitch Brown, 27, were swimming while on a boat tour off Honolulu, Hawaii last year, when a curious two-week-old humpback approached them. (Photo by South West News Service)

A mahout walks a tusker along a busy road in Colombo, Sri Lanka on January 19, 2021. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

An Iraqi youth shows-off his balancing skills as he performs stunts on a motorbike, on the bank of the Shatt Al-Arab river at sunset, in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, on March 17, 2021. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)

A woman shouting into a megaphone during a “Kill the Bill” protest in Manchester City Centre on April 3, 2021 in Manchester, United Kingdom. Protests around the United Kingdom have been held in opposition to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The proposed legislation, which would apply to England and Wales, covers a wide range of issues and would broaden the police's authority for regulating protests. (Photo by Mercury Press and Media)

Two journalists stand on the back of a horse-shaped statue on display to promote the art performance titled “Yu Ma” presented by Taiwan’s Paper Windmills Theater, during a photo call outside the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei on March 24, 2021. (Photo by Sam Yeh/AFP Photo)

American rapper Cardi B poses for a photo during Hot 97 Summer Jam 2021 at Met Life Stadium on August 22, 2021 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

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.