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.

The antennas of the European Southern Observatory's Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array, also known as ALMA, are set against the splendor of the Milky Way in this picture by Babak Tafreshi. Construction of the full ALMA array is due to be completed in Chile's Atacama Desert in 2013, but the facility is already making scientific observations with a partial array of antennas. (Photo by ESO/B. Tafreshi/TWAN)

A beluga whale sprays water towards visitors during a summer attraction at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo on July 20, 2015. Tokyo's temperature climbed over 34 degree Celsius on July 20, one day after the end of the rainy season. (Photo by Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP Photo)

American media personality Kim Kardashian seen on February 17, 2019 in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Hollywood To You/Star Max/GC Images)

Disguised revellers parade on the occasion of the Cortege during the Carnival in Basel, Switzerland, February 17, 2016. (Photo by Georgios Kefalas/EPA)

Bella Hadid and sisssster Gigi look boa-tiful as they strike up an Adam and Eve pose complete with a snake in February 2022. The model siblings went nude for a Versace shoot — just like Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone, 75, and supermodel Claudia Schiffer, 51, did back in 1995. (Photo by Mert and Marcus/Versace)

A 22-year-old woman in a wedding gown is grabbed by Guo Zhongfan, a local community officer, as she attempts to kill herself by jumping out of a seven-storey residential building in Changchun, Jilin province. According to local media, the woman tried to commit suicide after her boyfriend of four years broke up with her, just as they were making plans to get married. The woman did not sustain any injuries during the incident. (Photo by China Daily/Reuters)

Beautiful woman and man playing domination games in bed. (Photo by nd3000/Getty Images)