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.

“Rescuers were digging through mud and debris Friday to retrieve more bodies strewn across a farming valley in the southern Philippines by a powerful typhoon. The death toll from the storm has surpassed 500, with more than 400 people missing”. – Bullit Marquez via Associated Press

Photo: Children look at the a damaged road destroyed by flash floods at the height of Typhoon Bopha in the village of Andap, New Bataan town, Compostela Valley province, December 5, 2012. (Photo by Ted Aljibe)

38 year old Prabhat Sinha, from Assam, carries a load of coal weighing 60kg's, supported by a head-strap, as he ascends the staircase of a coal mine on April 16, 2011 near the village of Khliehriat, in the district of Jaintia Hills, India. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

A man drives a car loaded with electronic and household appliances the Dbayeh highway, at the northern entrance of Lebanon's capital Beirut, on August 11, 2020, following a huge chemical explosion that devastated large parts of the city. (Photo by Joseph Eid/AFP Photo)

Sweden's Mikael Ymer slips and falls in the first round match of the French Open tennis tournament against Serbia's Novak Djokovic at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Tuesday, September 29, 2020. (Photo by Alessandra Tarantino/AP Photo)

People wait at a bus stop during heavy rain in Kathmandu, Nepal on September 21, 2020. The government eased the coronavirus lockdown for economic activities despite the number of COVID-19 cases is on the rise in Nepal. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

The National Thanksgiving Turkey Corn stands by as President Donald Trump speaks during the 73rd annual presentation and pardoning in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, November 24, 2020. In the Rose Garden, Trump pardoned the 42-pound turkey named Corn as part of an annual presidential ritual, the sparing of a turkey from American dinner tables on the Thanksgiving holiday. (Photo by Hannah McKay/Reuters)

Steve Kent skis through Times Square during a snowstorm, Monday, February 1, 2021, in the Manhattan borough of New York. (Photo by John Minchillo/AP Photo)