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.

This undated image provided by World View shows World View capsule and balloon spacecraft that will rise to 100,000 feet above Earth for passengers to see the curvature of the planet and the blackness of space. Space tourism companies are employing designs including winged vehicles, vertical rockets with capsules and high-altitude balloons. While developers envision ultimately taking people to orbiting habitats, the moon or beyond, the immediate future involves short flights into or near the lowest reaches of space without going into orbit. (Photo by World View via AP Photo)

Drinkers leave the bars as police patrol in Soho, in central London on September 24, 2020 as the clock nears 10pm, on the first day of the new earlier closing times for pubs and bars in England and Wales, introduced to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Britain has tightened restrictions to stem a surge of coronavirus cases, ordering pubs to close early and advising people to go back to working from home to prevent a second national lockdown. (Photo by Tolga Akmen/AFP Photo)

A model slips on the runway while parading an outfit by Australian designer Toni Maticevski at Fashion Week Australia in Sydney on May 15, 2016. (Photo by William West/AFP Photo)

A model presents a creation by Italian designer Donatella Versace as part of her Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2016/2017 fashion show for Atelier Versace in Paris January 24, 2016. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

A woman squeezes between two public buses in downtown Lima, March 17, 2014. Bogota and two other Latin American capitals – Mexico City, and Lima in Peru – were named as the three capitals with the least safe transport systems for women in the Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of more than 6,550 women and gender and city planning experts. Women in Latin America say they face a wide range of daily threats on public transport, and not enough is done to ensure their safety. (Photo by Enrique Castro-Mendivil/Reuters)

Antonio Banderas attends the photocall for “Pain And Glory (Dolor Y Gloria/Douleur Et Glorie)” during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2019 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

A model backstage ahead of the Lantern Sense show at Fashion Scout during London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2016/17 at Freemasons' Hall on February 22, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)