“On Friday, after something of a show trial, three young women in a Russian punk band were found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison for an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral earlier this year”. – Daniel Schwartz via CBC News

Photo: A woman wears on her chest the text “free p*ssy riot” as a demonstration by supporters of the jailed feminist punk band p*ssy Riot takes place outside the Russian Embassy on August 17, 2012 in London, England. The three women who staged an anti-Kremlin protest in a church in February, were found guilty today of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, and could face a three-year jail sentence. Supporters are gathering in several cities around the world today as a mark of solidarity. (Photo by Dan Kitwood)

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.

A visitors to the National Galleries of Scotland view the work “A girl” of sculptor Ron Mueck on August 4, 2006 Edinburgh in Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A museum employee views “Details of Renaissance Paintings (Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1482)” by Andy Warhol at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, Britain, March 2, 2016. The piece forms part of “Botticelli Reimagined”, an exhibition exploring the ways artists have responded to the artistic legacy of the fifteenth century artist Sandro Botticelli, and including over fifty artworks by Botticelli himself. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

A demonstrator argues with policewomen after she turned up her shirt and was taken out from a protest to demand the resignation of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, on March 13, 2016 in Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo. Protesters, many draped in the Brazilian national flag, poured into the streets of Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at the start of mass demonstrations seeking to bring down President Dilma Rousseff. Authorities in Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city and an opposition stronghold, said they were bracing for a million protesters. (Photo by Miguel Schincariol/AFP Photo)

Kyrgyz men on horseback compete during their traditional game of “Oodarysh” during the celebrations of the 90th anniversary formation of the Chui region in the village of Kuntu some 20 kms from Bishkek on May 27, 2016. (Photo by Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP Photo)

Tomomi Ota visits a local shrine with her humanoid robot Pepper in Tokyo, Japan, 26 June 2016. Reaching 120cm in height and 28 kilograms in weight, Pepper does not enter in the category of portable robot. But those characteristics dont stop Tomomi Ota to take Pepper in a cart to stroll in her neighborhood, go shopping or even take the subway... (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA)

Cast member Shu Qi poses during a photocall for the film “The Assassin” (Nie yin niang) in competition at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, May 21, 2015. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)