A guest’s hands at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood awards luncheon at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills, California on March 24, 2022. (Photo by Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

American singer-songwriter and actress Renee Rapp arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscars party after the 97th Academy Awards, in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., March 2, 2025. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Reuters)

Australian actor Chris Hemsworth (L) and Spanish model Elsa Pataky (R) attend the Governors Ball during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 10, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

Cars at a car dealership are seen in the flooded village of Fischerdorf, near Deggendorf June 7, 2013. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle

Actor Bella Thorne (L) and model Amber Rose at the NYLON Young Hollywood Party at AVENUE Los Angeles on May 2, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for NYLON)

In this image released on November 08, American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys performs for at the MTV EMA's 2020 on November 01, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The MTV EMA's aired on November 08, 2020. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for MTV)

A robot is seen on Mount Etna, Italy on July 4, 2017. Mount Etna, in Sicily, is a test bed for the approximately three-foot high, four-wheeled machine ahead of a future mission to the moon. It is being conducted by the German Aerospace Centre, the agency which runs Germany's space programme. (Photo by Antonio Parrinello/Reuters)

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.