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.

Kyrgyz men on horseback compete during their traditional game of “Oodarysh” during the celebrations of the 90th anniversary formation of the Chui region in the village of Kuntu some 20 kms from Bishkek on May 27, 2016. (Photo by Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP Photo)

A monkey drinks water from a tap on a hot afternoon in Jammu, the winter capital Kashmir, India, 17 May 2016. Temperatures of around 42 degrees Celsius were forecast in the region. According to the news reports the Indian government decided to divert water by its river interlinking plans from rivers like Brahmaputra and the Ganges towards those rivers facing the drought likesituation . Many Indian states have been affected by drought and have been hit hard by water scarcity. (Photo by Jaipal Singh/EPA)

A picture made available on 07 March 2016 shows visitors petting and holding a Fennec fox, native to the Sahara, in the petting room at the Little Zoo Cafe, a business built to capitalize on Thais' love for exotic animals, and food, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, 05 March 2016. The cafe boasts Fennec foxes, Meerkat, native to parts of Africa, Silver Fox, Raccoon and Chinchillas, along with a menu of Thai food and Cheesecake, among other sweet deserts. Nature is a faraway fantasy in the bustling exhaust-filled cement city of Bangkok, fuelling a demand to own and be close to exotic pets. The trend to be near to a species that was once wild, in a city environment, far from the natural setting, has drawn criticism but continues to grow. (Photo by Barbara Walton/EPA)

A vendor smokes behind a display of dog meat at a dog meat market on the day of a local dog meat festival in Yulin, Guangxi Autonomous Region, June 22, 2015. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

A woman holds a champagne bottle during New Year's celebrations in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, January 1, 2014. Tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets of the Romanian capital to join parties and watch fireworks. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

A woman scales fish by the side of a lake as she prepares for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year in Suqian, Jiangsu province, China, January 27, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Female bodybuilders prepare to compete in the “Miss Bikini” category of the NABA/WFF Asia-Seoul Open Championship in Seoul on April 17, 2016. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)