A Syrian man rides his bicycle past a man selling grains during a halt in fighting on February 29, 2016 in Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region, east of the capital Damascus. A UN-backed ceasefire deal took hold across parts of Syria, bringing relative calm to areas where the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda's local affiliate are not present. (Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP Photo)

In this May 31, 2016 photo, pieces of watermelon litter the trash area of the Coche public market in Caracas, Venezuela. Staples such as corn flour and cooking oil are subsidized, costing pennies at the strongest of two official exchange rates. But fruit and vegetables have become an unaffordable luxury for many Venezuelan families. (Photo by Fernando Llano/AP Photo)

A man reacts over dead bodies prior to burial in a graveyard after shelling in the rebel held besieged town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria, October 24, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)

2017 Paraguay-Bolivia-Argentina Dakar rally, 39th Dakar Edition, Seventh stage from Oruro to Uyuni, Bolivia on January 9, 2017. Juan Salvatierra of Bolivia rides his KTM. (Photo by Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)

An Indian artist gives the finishing touches to a figure of the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha at a workshop ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in New Delhi on September 15, 2015. The idol is meant for the forthcoming festival Ganesha Chaturthi, a ten-day long event which is celebrated all over India. During the Ganpati festival, that is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha, idols of the Hindu deity are worshipped at hundreds of pandals or makeshift tents before they are immersed into water bodies. This year, the festival starts on 17 September 2015. (Photo by Sajjad Hussain/AFP Photo)

A woman stands in front of graffiti depicting Venezuela's late former President Hugo Chavez, right, and revolutionary hero Simon Bolivar, in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, October 25, 2017. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

Black Nazarene devotees clamber on top of one another to to touch the cross on January 9, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. The Feast of the Black Nazarene culminates in a day long procession on January 9 as barefoot devotees march to see and touch the image of the Black Nazarene. The Black Nazarene is a dark wood sculpture of Jesus brought to the Philippines in 1606 from Spain and considered miraculous by Filipino devotees. The event falls a week ahead of the visit of Pope Francis who will travel to Leyte and Manila during his visit to the Philippines from January 15–19. The visit is expected to attract crowds in the millions as Filipino Catholics flock to catch a glimpse of the leader of the Catholic Church. The Philippines is the only Catholic majority nation in Asia with around 90 percent of the population professing the faith. (Photo by Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)

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.