Ng Sin Nee (L) and Lee Shin May (R) from Malaysia take pictures with the panoramic view of the city from the Sky Box at KL Tower, the world's seventh tallest telecommunications tower, in Kuala Lumpur on May 24, 2016. Officially opened on May 20, the Sky Box has been the latest attraction for tourists arriving to the Malaysian capital. It stands 300 metres above ground and can fit six people at any one time, and offers spectacular views of the Kuala Lumpur skyline, including the iconic Petronas Twin Towers. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo)

Members of the Albert Battery perform a gun salute during the Anzac Day dawn service held by the Currumbin RSL on the Gold Coast in Currumbin, Australia, 25 April 2016. The Anzac day marks the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) troops at Gallipoli in what is today Turkey during WWI. World War One, also called the Great War, according to official statistics cost more than 37 million military and civilian casualties between 1914 and 1918. (Photo by Glenn Hunt/EPA)

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 pro-Russian rebel shows his t-shirt depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin at a checkpoint in the village of Chornukhyne near the town of Debaltseve, north-east from Donetsk, March 12, 2015. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

A visitor takes a photo of a boulder plastic made of synthetic material called “To be in Limbo” hangs from the ceiling of the 20 meter high Jesuit Church in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, November 25, 2014. The eight meter high, hollow and 700 kilogram heavy sculpture from the artists group Steinbrener/Dempf and Huber is supposed to symbolize faith and its threatening moments. The installation will remain until April 19, 2015 and then move to a church in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Ronald Zak/AP Photo)

People walk past the Sleepwalker, a sculpture along the High Line in New York, US on May 10, 2016. The hyperrealistic work by Brooklyn artist Tony Matelli is part of the linear park’s Wanderlust exhibition. (Photo by Xinhua/Barcroft Images)

This photo taken on August 7, 2016 shows mahjong enthusiasts playing mahjong under water in a swimming pool at a diving club in the Chinese city of Chongqing. Only participants with proper diving certification were allowed to take part in the underwater competition. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)