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.

The finishing touches are made to a giant sculpture on the Hayward Gallery entitled “Urban Fox” and made from straw bales on April 18, 2011 in London, England. The sculpture features in the Southbank Centre's 60th anniversary celebration of the 1951 Festival of Britain. The celebration will feature various cultural and creative events and runs from April 22 until September 4, 2011 at London's Southbank Centre. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Shoppers walk down stairs featuring a five-metre-high reproduction of Vincent van Gogh's signature painting “Sunflowers”, at the entrance to Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong July 15, 2013. A premium three-dimensional reproduction of works of Van Gogh, the RELIEVO collection, approved by the curators of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, is on display at a gallery inside Harbour City shopping mall attached to the terminal. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

Robert Price of TREWGrip LLC demonstrates a TREWGrip handheld rear-type keyboard and air mouse for Apple and Android tablets at the “CES: Unveiled”, media preview for International CES, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas on January 5, 2014. (Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP Photo)

These two young siblings appear to cling on to a tree for dear life and even hold hands as they learn the ropes of climbing, on June 25, 2013. (Photo by Tim Fitzharris/Minden/Solent)

This handout photograph released by Taipei City Zoo on July 11, 2013 shows a newly-born panda cub of giant panda Yuan Yuan in an incubator at Taipei Zoo in Taipei. The public will have to wait three months to catch a glimpse of the first panda born in Taiwan, officials said after she was successfully delivered by parents who were gifted from China. (Photo by AFP Photo/Taipei City Zoo)

People look at a loaded truck that got stuck in a sinkhole on a road in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, January 7, 2015. No injury was reported, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Hundreds of Nigerians celebrate at an intersection in the flashpoint northern city of Kaduna on March 31, 2015 the victory of main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Mohammadu Buhari. (Photo by Nichole Sobecki/AFP Photo)