French firemen wearing chemical protective suits take part in a mock chemical attack exercise at the Geoffroy Guichard stadium in Saint-Etienne, France, April 4, 2016 in preparation of security measures for the UEFA 2016 European Championship. (Photo by Robert Pratta/Reuters)

A sunflower “smiles” in a field in Tokyo on August 7, 2014. Some 20,000 sunflowers were enjoyed by visitors to the area this week. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

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.

In this April 2, 2016 photo, dusty sculptures made of cast-off baby dolls sit in an open-air museum and art workshop off a trash-strewn street cutting through some of the poorest neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. They were created by Haitian artists called Atis Rezistans who have become celebrated in the international art world by creating sculptures out of scrapped car parts, old wood, discarded toys and even human skulls found scattered outside crumbling mausoleums. (Photo by David McFadden/AP Photo)

A Miniature Dachshund (L) wears a duck bill-shaped dog muzzle while sitting in a stroller with another Miniature Dachshund at the “Interpets” international pet fair in Tokyo, Japan, April 2, 2015. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/EPA)

People affected by Hurricane Maria bathe in water piped from a creek in the mountains, in Naranjito, Puerto Rico, Thursday, September 28, 2017. Residents of the area drive to the pipes to bathe because they were left without water supplies by the damage caused by Hurricane Maria. The pipe was set up by a neighbor who ran it from a creek in his property to the side of the road in order to help those left without water. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

Girls play in the water during the Balaton Sound music festival held on the shore of lake Balaton in Zamardi, west Hungary, on July 9, 2017. (Photo by Sandor Csudai/Rockstar Photographers)

A police officer from an explosive disposal unit takes part in a security drill ahead of next year's general election in Sidoarjo, East Java, on August 23, 2023. (Photo by Juni Kriswanto/AFP Photo)