Musicians of the alphorn band "Holdersberger Alp- Traum- Blaeser" perform their skills on a raft floating on the Elbsee lake near Aitrang, southern Germany, on June 11, 2017. (Photo by Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/AFP Photo/DPA)

An officer reviews members of the honor guard as they line up before a welcoming ceremony for visiting Mozambique's President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

Competitors in the Big Air challenge at the Proryv-2016 festival of extreme sports in Moscow, Russia on March 27, 2016. (Photo by Xinhua/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman cries as she watches the coffin containing the body of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez be taken from the hospital, where he died on Tuesday, to a military academy in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Seven days of mourning were declared, all schools were suspended for the week and friendly heads of state were expected for an elaborate funeral on Friday. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

Young women prepare for Notting Hill Carnival on August 27, 2017 in London, England. The Notting Hill Carnival began with a special ceremony of remembrance following the Grenfell fire tragedy. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Law enforcement officers clash with protesters, Wednesday, July 20, 2016, in Cleveland, during the third day of the Republican convention. (Photo by John Minchillo/AP Photo)

A woman attends the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival on Fifth Avenue, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in New York City, U.S., April 4, 2021. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

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.