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 British Army Rolls Royce armoured car outside the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station on York Street in Belfast following riots after an Orange Order parade. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 20th June 1935

A sloth peeks out from behind a door on a floating house in the “Lago do Janauari” near Manaus, Brazil, Tuesday, May 20, 2014. Manaus is one of the host cities for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

Smoke rises during an explosion from an Israeli forces strike in Gaza City, Saturday, November 17, 2012. Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations by militants to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels. (Photo Hatem Moussa/AP Photo)

Local villagers ride a local coal powered steam train on March 27, 2015 at a station in the town of Shixi , Sichuan Province, in Southern China. While China boasts the world's most extensive high-speed rail infrastructure with over 16,000 kilometers of track, the Shixi-Bagou railway is still a primary connection for local villagers between towns and is kept alive by tourist cars carrying passengers for ten times the price. The rail line came into service in the late 1950s and the train was initially used to transport coal from a now-shuttered mine before passenger carriages were added. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Elaine Vandiver shares a moment with a two-year old alpaca as they touch noses as she washes him at her farm at 1560 Stateline Road Monday, May 11, 2015, in Walla Walla, Wash. (Photo by Michael Lopez/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin via AP Photo)

This photograph released by Indian Space Research Organization shows its polar satellite launch vehicle lifting off from a launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, Wednesday, February 15, 2017. India's space agency said it successfully launched more than 100 foreign nano satellites into orbit Wednesday aboard a single rocket.(Photo by Indian Space Research Organization via AP Photo)

A woman smokes marijuana during the annual 4/20 marijuana rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, April 20, 2017. (Photo by Chris Wattie/Reuters)