A blurred panaroma of Roemerberg historic center is reflected in a soap bubble in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 09 July 2015. (Photo by Frank Rumpenhorst/EPA)

A fisherman throws his net to catch fish in a lagoon in Batticaloa November 24, 2015. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

Runners dressed in Christmas-themed outfits compete during a charity Santa run in Shanghai, China, November 29, 2015. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Lightning strikes near Jacobsdorf at the Oder-Spree district in eastern Germany, September 1, 2015. (Photo by Patrick Pleul/AFP Photo)

Tourists walk above a tea plantation in Enshi, Hubei province, December 27, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A murmuration of migrating starlings is seen across the sky in southern Israel December 31, 2015. (Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters)

I would like to tell you why many artists, who like me, have painted portraits and landscapes in oils on canvas, worked with acrylics, watercolors, and pen and ink drawings, have turned to the art of gourd carving.

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.