Protesters take part in “Artists Take Fight Against Police Murders” in New York's Times Square August 13, 2015. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

A string is used to ensure that the skirts of female members of the honour guard are in the same height from the ground as they prepare for a welcoming ceremony for Congo Republic President Denis Sassou Nguesso outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, July 5, 2016. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

Labourers carry a basket packed with vegetables through a wholesale market in Kolkata, India, February 26, 2016. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

A sculptural artwork depicting former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and headless presidents shot by a hooded high school student (not pictured) is seen at the Contemporary Art Museum in Santiago, December 2, 2014. The artwork, part of the “El ladrillo angular” (The angular brick) exhibition, portrays a student fighting against the ongoing continuity of dictatorship because of a political and economic system which has been impossible to destroy, according to “Papas Fritas” the artwork's creator. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)

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.

Pro-Russian activists attack policemen guarding the burned trade union building in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa on May 3, 2014. More than 30 people were killed in a “criminal” blaze in Ukraine's southern city of Odessa, as violence spread across the country during the bloodiest day since Kiev's Western-backed government took power. Ukraine's interior ministry said at least 31 people had died in the fire Friday, with local media reporting that pro-Russian militants were believed to have been in the burning building at the time. (Photo by Anatolii Stepanov/AFP Photo)

Dancers wait at backstage as they prepare for a dance performance during the Bali Arts Festival in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, June 21, 2017. The resort island of Bali is holding a month-long annual Bali Arts Festival from June 10 to July 8. (Photo by Firdia Lisnawati/AP Photo)

Swiss Alisha Lehmann, right, fights for the ball with Czech Republic's Jana Petrikova during the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 play-off 2nd leg qualification match between Switzerland and the Czech Republic at the Stockhorn Arena in Thun, Switzerland, 13 April 2021. (Photo by Alessandro Della Valle/EPA/EFE)