Belgium's Crown Princess Elisabeth, center, marches past the Royal tribune with cadets of the military school during the National Day parade in Brussels, Wednesday, July 21, 2021. Belgium celebrates its National Day on Wednesday in a scaled down version due to coronavirus, COVID-19 measures. (Photo by Olivier Matthys/AP Photo)

Oscar-winning directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known collectively as the Daniels, march with Writers Guild of America members outside Sunset Bronson Studios and Netflix Studios, after union negotiators called a strike for film and television writers, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 3, 2023. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

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.

Antonio Banderas attends the photocall for “Pain And Glory (Dolor Y Gloria/Douleur Et Glorie)” during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2019 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

A woman squeezes between two public buses in downtown Lima, March 17, 2014. Bogota and two other Latin American capitals – Mexico City, and Lima in Peru – were named as the three capitals with the least safe transport systems for women in the Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of more than 6,550 women and gender and city planning experts. Women in Latin America say they face a wide range of daily threats on public transport, and not enough is done to ensure their safety. (Photo by Enrique Castro-Mendivil/Reuters)

Women walk past a mannequin with a covered face as they shop ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Adha in Aleppo, Syria September 23, 2015. (Photo by Hamid Khatib/Reuters)

Models pose on Harley-Davidson motorbikes during a media presentation of the 36th Bangkok International Motor Show in Bangkok March 24, 2015. The Bangkok International Motor Show will be held from March 25 to April 5. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

In this combination image visitors to the London Super Comic Convention dress as their favourite Marvel comic characters at ExCel on February 25, 2012 in London, England. Visitors to the Comic Convention are encouraged to wear a costume of their favourite character. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)