A woman has her hair blown by the wind during a snowstorm in Quebec City, on December 22, 2013. (Photo by Mathieu Belanger/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.

A rescue helicopter is shown at the Mount Everest south base camp in Nepal a day after a huge earthquake-caused avalanche killed at least 17 people, in this photo courtesy of 6summitschallenge.com taken on April 26, 2015 and released on April 27, 2015. Rescue teams, helped by clear weather, used helicopters to airlift scores of people stranded at higher altitudes, two at a time. (Photo by Reuters/6summitschallenge.com)

Cheering The News of Germany's Surrender New Yorkers Gather around a youth wearing a mask of Adolf Hitler to cheer the news of the Surrender of Germany on May 7. The Crowd is gathered in times Square, New York. May 08, 1945. (Photo by New York Post/Photo Archives, LLC via Getty Images)

A Naga sadhu, or naked Hindu holy man, performs a ritual inside his tent during Kumbh Mela, or Pitcher festival, at Trimbakeshwar, India, Friday, August 28, 2015. Hindus believe taking a dip in the waters of a holy river during the festival will cleanse them of their sins. The festival is held four times every 12 years. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)

A girl poses in her costume during a Halloween party at a mall in Quezon city, Metro Manila October 24, 2015. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Reuters)

A female Chinese People's Liberation Army soldier looks at members of an honor guard preparing for a welcome ceremony for visiting German President Joachim Gauck, outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, March 21, 2016. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

Members of the “Exit Point” amateur rope-jumping group jump from a 44-metre high (144-ft) waterpipe bridge in the Siberian Taiga area outside Krasnoyarsk, September 13, 2015. Rope-jumping, an extreme sport, involves jumping from a high point using an advanced leverage system combining mountaineering and rope safety equipment. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)