Evy Thomas, dressed as Mystique, poses for a portrait on day one of Comic-Con International on Thursday, July 18, 2019, in San Diego. (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP Photo)

(L-R) Heidi Klum and Alessandra Ambrosio attend the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/VF20/WireImage)

American rapper Ice Spice attends the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 10, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

A cosplayer dressed as Domino attends 2019 Comic-Con International on July 20, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Quinn P. Smith/Getty Images)

(L-R) Joe Manganiello and Sofía Vergara attend the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/VF20/Getty Images)

Actresses Pamela Anderson (L) and Elizabeth Hurley pose together as they arrive at the Vanity Fair post-Academy Awards party at Mortons in Los Angeles, March 25, 2001. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/AFP Photo via Getty Images)

Hungarian model Barbara Palvin arrives for the 2019 CFDA fashion awards at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City on June 3, 2019. (Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP 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.