Audrey Mata from Washington D.C in the U.S. dressed as Princess Leia, comes face to face with a replica of R2-D2 at the 'For The Love of The Force' Star Wars fan convention in Manchester, northern England, December 4, 2015. (Photo by Phil Noble/Reuters)

Body builders preparing at the backstage during the Bodybuilding Cup in Kiev, Ukraine on November 7, 2015 which includes classic bodybuilding, physicist and body fitness and bikini in the competition. (Photo by Nazar Furyk/Pacific Press)

Revellers take part in the the 70th Annual Columbus Day Parade in New York, October 13, 2014. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

In November 2021 Bryan Adams took the pictures for next year’s Pirelli calendar, which features fellow musicians including Cher, Rita Ora, Iggy Pop and the American singer Jennifer Hudson, above, as it depicts a typical day in the life of a touring performer. (Photo by Bryan Adams/Pirelli)

Actress Bai Ling poses for a picture in front of St. Basil's Cathedral at the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, July 1, 2015. (Photo by Ivan Burnyashev/Reuters)

Spectators cheer as the United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket, with NASA's Orion spacecraft mounted atop, lifts off from the Air Force Station, December 5, 2014, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (Photo by Smiley N. Pool/AP Photo/Houston Chronicle)

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.

A derelict farm house adorns the horizon as it sits in a field in the Lancashire Countryside on January 26, 2012 in Burscough, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)