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 woman poses for a photograph in front of a 3D painting at HK 3D Museum in Hong Kong June 26, 2014. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

A girl bathes to cool off herself with water that is leaking from a broken pipe valve on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, May 18, 2015. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Members of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret cross Broad St., before a march by supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in Philadelphia, on the first day of the Democratic National Convention, July 25, 2016. (Photo by Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/AP Images)

Alexis Ren seen at Focus Features Los Angeles Special Screening of “Nocturnal Animals” at Hammer Museum on Friday, November 11, 2016, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Focus Features/AP Images)

A Hindu holy man looks at a decoration on the ghats of the river Saryu as part of preparations for the groundbreaking ceremony of a temple to the Hindu god Ram in Ayodhya, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Monday, August 3, 2020. As Hindus prepare to celebrate the groundbreaking of a long-awaited temple at a disputed ground in northern India, Muslims say they have no firm plans yet to build a new mosque at an alternative site they were granted to replace the one torn down by Hindu hard-liners decades ago. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

Clowns Perlita and Tapetito, wearing protective gear amid the new coronavirus pandemic, speak with resident Enrique Zeballos as they arrive to disinfect his home free of charge, in El Alto, Bolivia, Friday, September 11, 2020. The lack of traditional employment for the clowns due to the pandemic has led them towards other avenues of making money. But for people with limited income they provide their disinfection services free of charge. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

Sweden's Mikael Ymer slips and falls in the first round match of the French Open tennis tournament against Serbia's Novak Djokovic at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Tuesday, September 29, 2020. (Photo by Alessandra Tarantino/AP Photo)