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.

French fashion model Christiane Richard wears a bikini while drinking her morning coffee, 1950. (Photo by Nat Farbman/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Costumed participants are seen during an Irish tradition of Hunting of the Wren festival held every St. Stephen's Day in Dingle, Ireland, December 26, 2016. Wren Day, also known as Wren's Day, Day of the Wren, or Hunt the Wren Day is celebrated on 26 December, St. Stephen's Day. The tradition consists of “hunting” a fake wren and putting it on top a decorated pole. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)

A protester in an Elmo mask dances during the Justice for George Floyd Philadelphia Protest on Saturday, May 30, 2020. Demonstrators took to the streets across the United States to protest the death of Floyd, a black man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. (Photo by Matt Rourke/AP Photo)

Monkeys climb on top of tourists during the Lopburi Monkey Festival on November 27, 2022 in Lop Buri, Thailand. Lopburi holds its annual Monkey Festival where local citizens and tourists gather to provide a banquet to the thousands of long-tailed macaques that live in central Lopburi. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)

A protester in an Elmo mask dances during the Justice for George Floyd Philadelphia Protest on Saturday, May 30, 2020. Demonstrators took to the streets across the United States to protest the death of Floyd, a black man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. (Photo by Matt Rourke/AP Photo)

Girls embrace in front of a makeshift memorial for victims by the Covenant School building at the Covenant Presbyterian Church following a shooting, in Nashville, Tennessee, March 28, 2023. A heavily armed former student killed three young children and three staff in what appeared to be a carefully planned attack at a private elementary school in Nashville on Monday, before being shot dead by police Chief of Police John Drake named the suspect as Audrey Hale, 28, who the officer later said identified as transgender. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP Photo)

In this photo provided by World Press Photo, the 1st Prize Daily Life Single of the 2011 World Press Photo Contest by Omar Feisal, Somalia, Reuters, shows a man carrying a shark through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, September 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Omar Feisal/Reuters)