In this Wednesday, September 12, 2018, file photo, vendors carry banana on their heads at a fruit and vegetable market in Peshawar, Pakistan. Pakistan says it will seek a bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund to address a mounting balance of payments crisis, Finance Minister Asad Umar said Monday. (Photo by Muhammad Sajjad/AP Photo)

Riot police help an injured anti-government protester after scuffles broke out with women police officers on a road leading to the parliament building, during a protest in Beirut on November 19, 2019. Thousands of protesters rallying against the Lebanese political elite blocked roads in central Beirut on Tuesday, preventing lawmakers from reaching the parliament and forcing the postponement of a legislative session. (Photo by Bilal Hussein/AP Photo)

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.

“Lobsang and 66 fellow monks were imprisoned in 1959. When released 21 years later, he was one of only three survivors. While in prison his best friend, a rinpoche, died in his arms. Tensin was later discovered to be the reincarnation of that friend. Lobsang said there are so many characteristics of his old friend in the young boy”. (Photo and caption by Phil Borges)

A police officer detains a woman on suspicion of collaborating with the 18th street gang during a "Safe House" operation at the Concepcion neighbourhood in San Salvador, July 2, 2015. Salvadoran police make “Safe House” operations at dangerous neighbourhoods of the capital to prevent murders, according to local media. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

Expedition 44 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly seen inside the Cupola, a special module which provides a 360-degree viewing of the Earth and the International Space Station. Kelly is one of two crew members spending an entire year in space. (Photo by Scott Kelly/NASA)

Boys play with water as they celebrate Myanmar's New Year Water Festival of Thingyan in Yangon, April 13, 2016. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

An Iraqi soldier stands guard as a pipeline burns in the background after an explosion 30 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of Tikrit, Iraq, Monday, February 11, 2008. (Photo by Bassem Daham/AP Photo)