“A huge wasp measuring 2.5 inches in length, visiting the banana tree in my front yard”. (Photo and comment by John Matzick, USA/2013 Sony World Photography Awards via The Atlantic)

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.

French actress Frederique Bel arrives for the NRJ Music Awards ceremony at the Festival Palace in Cannes December 13, 2014. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

Women wearing sunglasses pose for a group photo at a park in Beijing in 1980. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

In this July 23, 2013 photo, sand fills an abandoned house in Kolmanskop, Namibia. Kolmanskop, was a diamond mining town south of Namibia, build in 1908 and deserted in 1956. SInce then, the desert slowly reclaims its territory, with sand invading the buildings where 350 German colonists and more than 800 local workers lived during its hay-days of the 1920s. (Photo by Jerome Delay/AP Photo)

Models prepare backstage before a presentation as part of Fashion Weekend Plus Size Summer 2015 collection show in Sao Paulo, July 25, 2015. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Dancers perform inside of transparent balls during the Botanical Night at Botanical Garden in Berlin, Germany, 20 July 2018. During the Botanical Night a 16 kilometre long path along the flower beds and several themed gardens are illuminated and guide to many attractions. (Photo by Hayoung Jeon/EPA/EFE)