A performer entertains the crowd during a rally in support of the leader of the Cameroonian opposition party Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) in Yaounde, on September 30, 2018, prior to the upcoming October 7, presidential elections. (Photo by Marco Longari/AFP Photo)

A Ballet dancer prepares backstage during the final dress rehearsal for the famous Nutcracker ballet by Pyotr Tchaikovsky at the Joburg Ballet, Johannesburg, South Africa, 04 October 2018. The premiere of Nutcracker is scheduled for 05 October and the show will run for two weeks. (Photo by Kim Ludbrook/EPA/EFE)

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.

People run for cover following an explosion in Beirut's port area, Lebanon on August 4, 2020. A mega-blast tore through the harbour in the heart of the Lebanese capital with the force of an earthquake, killing more than 100 people and injuring over 4,000. (Photo by Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

Miranda state beauty pageant contestant Luiseth Materan, wearing a protective face mask issued by the Miss Venezuela beauty pageant, arrives to the Venevision television station to prepare for a meeting with judges, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, September 18, 2020. Quarantine rules and social distancing has forced the contestants to train at home and online with limited access to the venue itself where strict measures are in place. The pageant is due to take place on Sept. 24. (Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)

Kyuta Kumagai, 10, wrestles with a boy the same age as him, during a training session at Buddy acL Ariake's wrestling club in Tokyo, Japan, August 22, 2020. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Two women react to the camera as Nightclub Circus hosts the first dance event, which will welcome 6,000 clubbers to the city's Bramley-Moore Dock warehouse on April 30, 2021 in Liverpool, England. The event is part of the national Events Research Programme which will provide data on how events could be permitted to safely reopen. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

Relatives perform the last rites before the cremation of their loved one who died due to the Covid-19 coronavirus at a cremation ground in Allahabad on May 4, 2021. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)