“Hippo Chase”. As we approached the camp the Selinda Reserve of northern Botswana our boat passed by a hippo resting in the water. I turned around to look back at the boat's wake and saw the hippo charging after us! The hippo must've been tired from an all-nighter because he was angry. He rose way up out of the water three times trying to chase our boat! He was coming at us with such force that he created a wake of his own. Photo location: Selinda Reserve of northern Botswana. (Photo and caption by Curtis Simmons/National Geographic Photo Contest)

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.

The student Patricia Vasconcellos de Almeida, 22, tried to kiss one of the military police who formed a cordon ostensibly in front of the building Fetranspor (Federation of Transport Companies), in Rio de Janeiro, on June 27, 2013. (Photo by Zulmair Rocha/UOL)

United States Coast Guard Academy Cadets Second Class Aurimas Juodka, left, and Sheila Bertrand get in the face of “swab” Kevin Lennox as Bravo Company finishes at the barber shop and mailroom during R-Day, the reporting-in day that marks the beginning of the 7-week “Swab Summer” for the class of 2018 Monday, June 30, 2014, in New London, Conn. About 250 prospective cadets, Swabs, start the program designed to indoctrinate them to the military life of the academy and at the end will be accepted into the corps of cadets. (Photo by Sean D. Elliot/AP Photo/The Day)

Suffering from a broken nose and bruised ribs Natasha Dzhuley, 16, relaxes after inhaling glue for the first time – something she swore she would never do, 2002. She was beaten by her pimps men in what Ruslana believes was a warning to other prostitutes to stay in line. Though another child believes her pimp had her beaten because she was pregnant. Less than a week after this picture of Natasha was taken she was dragged away by six men. She has not been heard or seen since. (Photo by Kurt Vinion /Getty Images)

Members of the staff wait for the start of the maiden press conference for China's all-girl “boyband” FFC-Acrush in Beijing, China April 28, 2017. Picture taken April, 28, 2017. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Dan Copeland, left, and Alex Morneau of Biddeford, Maine, former high school cheerleaders, perform back flips while enjoying the record breaking heat, Thursday, May 18, 2017, at Old Orchard Beach, Maine. The temperature climbed well into the 90s in many locations throughout the state. (Photo by Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)

A biker shows his 12-year-old cat “Chiquinho” – which always rides with him on his motorbike – in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 19, 2016. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)