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 Bratz Rock Angels are displayed at the Dream Toys 2005 Pre-Christmas Expo on October 5, 2005 in London. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

A mahout (elephant driver) walks a baby elephant across the city streets at night September 27, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

A woman waters the plants outside her house in an alley at a slum in Mumbai October 28, 2014. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

Students of Yuba Pratibha School, wearing a face shield and masks at school during a coronavirus pandemic in Kathmandu, Nepal, 26 November 2020. The head Teacher of Yuba Pratibha School, Yanga Raj Dahal, started to conduct classes for students, who can’t afford and attend online classes, with strict sanitary regime, providing also free face masks and shields for students. However majority of schools have been conducting online classes in Nepal from 19 March 2020 as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)

A performer practices her mermaid swim next to a shark in an aquarium after graduating from a mermaid workshop in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China December 16, 2016. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Bao Bao, the Giant Panda cub is seen by the media for the first time January 6, 2014 inside his glass enclosure at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, a few days before going on display to the general public. Bao Bao was born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo August 2, 2013. (Photo by Paul J. Richards/AFP Photo)

In this September 10, 2016 picture, a girl takes pictures of a fellow contestant while warming up backstage before competing in the Romania Miss Pole Dance Contest, ahead of the finals of the Pole Sport&Fitness World Championship 2016 in Bucharest, Romania. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)