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 Comic Con attendee poses during the 2014 New York Comic Con at Jacob Javitz Center on October 9, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images)

A girl from the Tharu community takes part in a ritual during the Shama Chakewa festival to honor the relationship between brothers and sisters in Kathmandu on November 8, 2022. (Photo by Skanda Gautam/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A canine chase a target during a racing competition on the outskirts of Charsadda on January 14, 2024. (Photo by Abdul Majeed/AFP Photo)

A woman and a girl in a school uniform run past a barricade of burning tires during a demonstration against high prices and fuel shortages, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on October 21, 2021. (Photo by Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters)

Mrs. Marie Graskamp of Milwaukee shows the different positions one might assume when entering the bomb shelter in Milwaukee September 3, 1958. This circular entrance is about three feet in diameter. This is the entrance (according to the builders) that would connect to the cellar of a home assuming the shelter was in the ground for added protection. If a bombing should occur, all members of family would proceed to the cellar and then through the circular port into the shelter. (Photo by AP Photo)

An Indian policeman wearing a virus themed helmet rides on a horse during an awareness rally aimed at preventing the spread of new coronavirus in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, April 2, 2020. (Photo by Mahesh Kumar A./AP Photo)

A devotee in trance mimics a beast during a religious tattoo festival at Wat Bang Phra monastery, where devotees believe that their tattoos have mystical powers, in Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand, March 16, 2019. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)