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.

This March 1, 2013 file photo shows a worker selecting cigars at the H. Upmann cigar factory, where people can take tours as part of the 15th annual Cigar Festival in Havana, Cuba. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

A participant in the Crazy Races extreme sports game competes in the cross-country obstacle race in Ufa, Russia on September 21, 2015. (Photo by TASS/Barcroft Media)

An elephant “kisses” a visitor during a show at an elephant training school in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, April 18, 2015. Some 16 elephants live at the school and give four 30-minute performances everyday for visitors. (Photo by Wong Campion/Reuters)

A protester peeks out from behind of a banner as supporters of anti-immigrant activists and nationalists march to protest against the Polish governments decision to accept migrants from Syria and North Africa, in Warsaw, Poland, September12, 2015. EU President Donald Tusk said he would call a special summit on the migration crisis if the bloc's interior ministers do not display “solidarity and unity” at emergency talks on 14 September about the thousands of migrants streaming into Europe. (Photo by Jacek Turczyk/EPA)

An Afghan teacher, in brown, helps school children run from the site of clashes near the Pakistan consulate in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Wednesday, January 13, 2016. Several members of the Afghan security forces were killed Wednesday after unidentified gunmen attacked the Pakistani consulate in a volatile eastern province, an official said on Wednesday. (Photo by Mohammad Anwar Danishyar/AP Photos)

Residents wearing facemasks as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus sit in a passenger pick-up on a street in Rawalpindi on March 13, 2020. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi/AFP Photo)

Giraffes cross under the bridge of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line inside the Nairobi National Park in Nairobi, Kenya, May 25, 2020. (Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters)