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.

Nepal's Kumari, or living goddess, adjusts her ornament as she watches the Rato Machindranath chariot Festival in Lalitpur, Nepal, Friday, April 24, 2015. Nepal's living goddesses are young pre-pubescent girls considered by devotees to be incarnations of a Hindu goddess. Selected as toddlers, living goddesses usually keep their positions until they reach puberty. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

Chinese tourists watch storm clouds moving along the coast towards the city of Sydney, Australia, November 6, 2015. Powerful storms swept across the city on Friday, with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology issuing a warning for severe thunderstorms with large hailstones, heavy rainfall and damaging winds, local media reported. (Photo by David Gray/Reuters)

People ride a motorcycle near Koudoukou Mosque where Pope Francis meets Imam Tidiani Moussa Naibi in Bangui, Central African Republic, November 30, 2015. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)

Disguised revellers parade on the occasion of the Cortege during the Carnival in Basel, Switzerland, February 17, 2016. (Photo by Georgios Kefalas/EPA)

“Aquarium or Akvarium (Russian: Аквариум) is a Russian rock group, formed in Leningrad in 1972 by Boris Grebenshchikov (Борис Гребенщиков), then a student of Applied Mathematics at Leningrad State University, and Anatoly (George) Gunitsky, then a playwright and absurdist poet”. – Wikipedia

A Manipuri woman sells smoked and dry fish in Ima market - the world's largest all women market – in Imphal city, Manipur state, 06 January 2016. The 150-year-old Ima Keithel or “Mothers's market” complex, which is run exclusively by women and was damaged in the 04 January 2016 earthquake, is returning back to normal. Nine deaths have been reported from in and around Imphal due to falling debris. Imphal has a population of some 270,000 and people were jolted from their sleep and ran out of their homes in panic when the earth shook 04 January, reports say. (Photo by EPA/Stringer)

A gold miner observes from the distance how some women miners work at an open-pit gold mine in Nyarugusu, Geita Region, Tanzania on May 27, 2022. Tanzania is a land rich in minerals and one of the main gold producers in Africa, with gold representing more than 90% of the country's mineral exports. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining have culturally and historically relegated women's participation. The extractive sector in Tanzania has historically been a male-dominated industry with high levels of harassment, sеxual abuse, discrimination and misconceptions over women's involvement, and contributions following traditional beliefs. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP Photo)