New York City policemen tangled with demonstrators at a subway station on the opening day of the New York World's Fair, April 22, 1964. Youths attempted to stall the train, which was headed from the city to the fairgrounds, as a form of protest on behalf of civil rights for blacks. (Photo by Charles Gorry/AP 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.

Members of the Times Square Alliance snow clearing team take a photo on a snowbank at Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York January 23, 2016. A winter storm dumped nearly 2 feet (58 cm) of snow on the suburbs of Washington, D.C., on Saturday before moving on to Philadelphia and New York, paralyzing road, rail and airline travel along the U.S. East Coast. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Disguised participants strike poses on a car during the ancient carnival of Ituren, in the northern Spanish Navarra province on January 30, 2017. The yearly three day festivities, revolving mainly around agriculture and principally sheep hearding, run on the last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of January where Navarra Valley locals from two villages dress up and participate in a variety of activites as they perform a pilgrimage through each village. (Photo by Ander Gillenea/AFP Photo)

Demonstrators help a fellow protester during clashes with security forces during an opposition rally in Caracas, Venezuela on April 4, 2017. Protesters clashed with police in Venezuela Tuesday as the opposition mobilized against moves to tighten President Nicolas Maduro' s grip on power. Protesters hurled stones at riot police who fired tear gas as they blocked the demonstrators from advancing through central Caracas, where pro- government activists were also planning to march. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

DJ David Guetta (R) and rapper Nicki Minaj perform onstage during the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Carla Bruni attends the L' Oreal Party at the Beach of The Palais du Festival during the 51st Cannes Film Festival on May 13,1998 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Foc Kan/WireImage)

The silhouette of a woman is reflected in a puddle as she crosses a square in front of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg on March, 17, 2019. (Photo by Olga Maltseva/AFP Photo)