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.

Breath at sunset, captures a sea turtle at a dive site called Black Rock. Kāʻanapali, Hawaiʻi, August 2013. (Photo by Christopher Doherty/Smithsonian.com)

A member of the Philippine National Police stands guard as he detains people as part of the “Rid the Streets Of Drinkers and Youth” operation on a main road in Las Pinas city, metro Manila, Philippines June 1, 2016. (Photo by Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

Mary Hickey poses with her collection of dolls at her home in Ashbourne, Ireland October 9, 2013. Hickey has been collecting the dolls for over thirty years and now owns over 420 dolls. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

Ethnic Miao women wearing traditional costumes take part in a parade during the traditional Lusheng (reed-pipe wind instrument) festival in Gulong, Guizhou province, China November 15, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)

Blankets cover the bodies of a woman (right) and a man (left background) hit by a northbound Penn Central train (background) as they waited with a crowd at Pennsylvania Railroad station in Elizabeth, N.J. on June 8, 1968 to view the southbound train carrying the body of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy to Washington. The woman was identified as Mrs. Antoinette Severini, 54, and the man, John Curia (age unavailable), both of Elizabeth. (Photo by AP Photo)

Two and a half year-old Jennifer Martin in tears during a visit to Santa at Harrods department store in London, 10th December 1949. (Photo by William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

An Army Sikorsky R-5 helicopter, undergoing record trials, demonstrates its lifting power by carrying 17 persons and pilot aloft as female onlookers wave in Bridgeport, Conn., January 10, 1946. During the tests records were claimed for altitude speed and both altitude and speed with payload. (Photo by Anthony Camerano/AP Photo)