Katie Austin (L) and Denise Austin attend the 2019 ESPY Awards at Microsoft Theater on July 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chelsea Lauren/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Russia's Maria Stavitskaia performs during the ladies short program at the Rostelecom Cup ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Moscow November 14, 2014. (Photo by Grigory Dukor/Reuters)

Model/actress Chantel Jeffries attends L.A. Hearts + PacSun celebrate 2017 Spring Swimwear Collection at Delilah on January 25, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rochelle Brodin/Getty Images for L.A. Hearts/PacSun)

US actress Vanessa Hudgens poses upon her arrival for the 25th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation's Academy Awards Viewing Party on February 26, 2017 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/AFP Photo)

The car driven by Scott Dixon, of New Zealand, goes over the top of Jay Howard, of England, in the first turn during the running of the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 28, 2017, in Indianapolis. (Photo by Marty Seppala/AP Photo)

A model presents a creation by British designer Christian Cowan at New York Fashion Week Spring 2019 in New York, New York, USA, 08 September 2018. The Spring 2019 collections are presented from 06 to 14 September. (Photo by Alba Vigaray/EPA/EFE)

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.

A pro-democracy demonstrator fights with a Soviet soldier on top of a tank parked in front of the Russian Federation building on August 19, 1991, after a coup toppled Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. The same day, thousands in Moscow, Leningrad, and other cities answered Russian Republic President Boris Yeltsin's call to raise barricades against tanks and troops. (Dima Tanin/AFP/Getty Images)