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 huge waves crashing on the San Esteban de Pravia seafront, northern Spanish region of Asturias February 8, 2016. (Photo by Eloy Alonso/Reuters)

A woman dressed up for Halloween travels on a Metro train in São Paulo, Brazil on October 30, 2017. (Photo by Cris Faga/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Katy Perry poses backstage during rehearsals for the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 25, 2017 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for MTV)

English fashion model Daisy Lowe seen at Christopher Kane at Tate Britain on Day 4 of London Fashion Week February 2017 on February 20, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by SAV/GC Images)

Canadian actress Ellen Page and wife Emma Portner arrive at “The Cured” – Los Angeles Special Screening on February 20, 2018 at AMC Dine-In Sunset 5 in West Hollywood, CA. (Photo by Parisa Michelle/Splash News and Pictures)

A U.S. Army B-24 Liberator Bomber is hailed by a ground crewman as it takes off over a line of shark- nosed fighter planes at an advanced base in China on a mission on October 10, 1943, to bomb Japanese installations. (Photo by AP Photo)

Ahead of May Day, AFP' s video and photo teams spoke to men and women around the globe whose jobs are becoming increasingly rare, particularly as technology transforms societies. Here: Mohammad Ashgar, 65, an Indian rickshaw puller, poses for a photograph next to his rickshaw in Kolkata on April 21, 2018. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)