People watch as Secretary of State Antony Blinken's motorcade moves through Kinshasa, Congo, Tuesday, August 9, 2022. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Pool via AP Photo)

A police officer fires tear gas at protesters after the presidential election results were announced in Kisumu, Kenya on August 15, 2022. (Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters)

Models present creations from the Michael Kors spring summer 2023 collection during New York Fashion Week in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., February 14, 2023. (Photo by Caitlin Ochs/Reuters)

A policeman jumps as he tried to avoid a tear gas grenade thrown back towards police by protesters in the Mathare neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Kenyans angered by the rising cost of living were back protesting on the streets of the capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday, as they awaited a speech by a longtime opposition leader. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

Motocross riders compete on the beach on October 15, 2023 in Weymouth, United Kingdom. The motocross event, which first came to the town in 1984, organised by Weymouth and Portland Lions Club in association with Purbeck Motocross Club, sees over 300 riders compete over a course along Weymouth beach. (Photo by Graham Hunt/BNPS)

Scantily clad spectators run alongside riders in the ascent of the Col du Tourmalet during the 6th stage of the 110th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 145 km between Tarbes and Cauterets-Cambasque, in the Pyrenees mountains in southwestern France, on July 6, 2023. (Photo by Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP Photo)

Italian police remove “Bruciamo Tutto” (Let's burn everything) activists after they poured red paint on the Spanish steps (Piazza di Spagna), on June 26, 2024 in Rome, Italy. Today activists from “Bruciamo Tutto” (Let's burn everything) poured red paint on the Spanish steps (Piazza di Spagna) to protest against feminicides. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)

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.