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.

Children of the Roma community play as they cool off in a fountain in the main square of Pristina, Kosovo on June 14, 2017. (Photo by Armend Nimani/AFP Photo)

A market trader in Gaibandha in Bangladesh on September 25, 2019, surrounded by bottle gourd vegetables, which sell for around 3p ($ 0.04) each. (Photo by Solent News)

A girl watches an acrobatic performance at the Longtan park as the Chinese Lunar New Year, which welcomes the Year of the Monkey, is celebrated in Beijing, China February 9, 2016. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

A youth in costume hurries past a mural after dancing at the Sun Festival in Cotacachi, Ecuador, Sunday, June 24, 2018. Across the Andes, from the tip of Argentina as far north as Colombia, indigenous communities are gathering for the southern hemisphere's winter solstice to honor the ancient sun god. (Photo by Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo)

A 2.4 kg chicken is pictured next to 14,600,000 bolivars, its price and the equivalent of 2.22 USD, at a mini-market in Caracas, Venezuela on August 16, 2018. It was the going price at an informal market in the low-income neighborhood of Catia. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

An American soldier walks ahead of an MKIV (Mark IV) British-made tank, circa 1918. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

An employee dressed in a Santa Claus costume plays with cats at the Catgarden in Seoul, South Korea, December 14, 2020. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)