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.

People look at home-made armoured vehicle look-alikes on a street in Shenyang, Liaoning province, November 12, 2014. A man surnamed Zhang and his friends converted two cars into these two vehicles, for his son, and will be displaying them on show at a local park. The cannons on the vehicles can fire paintballs and smoke shells, local media cited Zhang as saying. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Schoolchildren perfom during celebrations to mark 35 years of Zimbabwe's Independence at the National sports stadium in Harare, Saturday, April 18, 2015. President Robert Mugabe, 91, the central figure in Zimbabwean politics 35 years after Independence from Britain, has led the country since 1980. (Photo by Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP Photo)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (3rd R) and wife Ri Sol Ju (4th L) enjoy an art performance given by the Chongbong Band to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on October 19, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/KCNA)

Chinese women ride a bicycle together on a street September 10, 2014 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A Brazil soccer fan wearing contact lenses that mimic the Brazilian flag reacts as she watches her team play Germany in a World Cup semifinal game via live telecast inside the FIFA Fan Fest area on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, July 8, 2014. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)

A timber truck driver (L) dressed as Father Frost is saluted by a soldier at the Kremlin's Spasskiye (Saviour) Gate in Moscow, Russian Federation, on December 24, 2013. (Photo by Vyacheslav Prokofyev/ITAR-TASS/ZUMA Press)

The chariot of God Bhairab is pulled through the city centre of Bhaktapur near Kathmandu during the Bisket festival April 10, 2015. The festival, which runs for more than a week and coincides with the Nepalese New Year, involves devotees offering prayers and the pulling of two chariots, one carrying the idol of God Bhairab and the other with the idol of Goddess Bhadrakali, around the ancient city of Bhaktapur. Devotees participate in the festival with the belief that they will be blessed with good health, fortune and harvest for the coming year. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)