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 Pakistani child, whose family was displaced by 2010 floods from a village in Pakistan's Sindh province, sits on a wooden cart outside her family's makeshift home, in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, on February 8, 2013. (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo)

Sandra Brown, 40, rides the Skyslide on the 69th and 70th floors of the U.S. Bank Tower which is attached to the OUE Skyspace LA observation deck in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S. June 20, 2016. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

A young monk takes his food from the dining hall at Changangkha Lhakhang temple in Thimphu, Bhutan, April 13, 2016. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

PassCode – Bite the Bullet (Full Version) 【テレビ東京系ドラマ「フリンジマン」主題歌】

Masahiko Kondō, Nana Mizuki and Lalisa Manoban (近藤真彦, 水樹奈々 and LiSA) – Midnight Shuffle (ミッドナイト・シャッフル)

SOFI TUKKER – Swing (Official Music Video). Sofi Tukker is a German American musical duo based in New York consisting of Sophie Hawley-Weld (German) and Tucker Halpern (American). In December 2018 their album Treehouse was nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album.