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.

An injured Palestinian demonstrator is helped during a protest against the planned evictions of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem, Saturday, May 8, 2021. (Photo by Oded Balilty/AP Photo)

Turkish National athlete Sahika Ercumen persists in her preparations for the dive along the shores of Karamagara Bay as she will dive to break the 105-meter world record in the variable weight category without fins on the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic in Hatay, Turkiye on October 15, 2023. The national athlete is determined to exceed the 105-meter world record currently held by Serbian diver Lena Balta in the variable weight category without fins. (Photo by Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Female soldiers march in formation in St Petersburg' s Palace Square during a rehearsal of a Victory Day military parade marking the 72 nd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War, the Eastern Front of World War II, on May 5, 2017. (Photo by Peter Kovalev/TASS)

Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers fly in formation during rehearsals for the Victory Day military parade, with St. Basil's Cathedral seen in the foreground, in central Moscow May 5, 2015. Russia will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two on May 9. (Photo by Tatyana Makeyeva/Reuters)

Filipino boys play basketball at an improvised court hooked on multi-layered tombs at a public cemetery in Navotas, north of Manila, Philippines on Thursday Oct. 31, 2013. Filipinos are expected to flock to cemeteries on November 1 to remember their dead as they observe All Saints Day in this predominantly Roman Catholic country. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)

Costumed pigs jump over a brush head while training for a forthcoming race at Monk Park Farm, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom on April 24, 2023. (Photo by James Glossop/The Times)

A Palestinian man plays with a horse at the beach of the Mediterranean Sea in Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip, Friday October 1, 2021. The beach is one of the few open public spaces in this densely populated city. (Photo by Hatem Moussa/AP Photo)