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.

Francisco da Silva Vale, 61, cools off fish with ice produced on solar-powered ice machines at Vila Nova do Amana community in the Sustainable Development Reserve, in Amazonas state, Brazil, September 23, 2015. Three solar-powered machines, are producing about ninety kilos of ice per day, in a region with poor access to electric energy, which used to be produced only with diesel oil, in the Amazon rain forest. (Photo by Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

A young Thai man jumps in the air and cheers as his rocket takes off at the Bun Bang Fai Rocket Festival on May 10, 2015 in Yasothon, Thailand. During the Bun Bang Fai rocket festival, Thai residents launch enormous home-made rockets into the air to gain Buddhist merit and to celebrate the beginning of the rainy season. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images)

America in the 1970s: Texas. Motorcyclist loading his possessions onto a truck with the help of his friends in Leakey, May 1973. (Photo by Marc St. Gil/NARA via The Atlantic)

Muslim children play sack race during Eid-al-Fitr celebration in Taguig city, south of Manila July 18, 2015. (Photo by Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

A woman poses next to two mailboxes along a street in Taipei on August 11, 2015 that were reportedly bent by strong winds brought by Typhoon Soudelor over the weekend. The two iron mailboxes have become an unlikely attraction, drawing thousands of snap-happy visitors and have even become a backdrop to a wedding photo shoot. The typhoon, which hit in the early hours of August 8 and was billed as the most powerful typhoon this year, uprooted trees, brought down electricity poles, knocking out power to a record 4.3 million households, while leaving eight dead and four missing. (Photo by Benjamin Yeh/AFP Photo)

New lovebirds boxer Robin Deakin – once known as “Britain's Worst Boxer” – and former UK “Big Brother” star Lisa Appleton go to the boxing gym in London, United Kingdom on September 28, 2016. The pair were seen holding hands in the street on arrival, and they then slogged it out in the ring and fooled about in Robin's gym. (Photo by FameFlynet UK)

A dressed up Oakland Raiders fan poses for photos as she arrives at Azteca stadium in Mexico City, Monday, November 21, 2016. The Oakland Raiders face the Houston Texans at a sold out Azteca stadium. (Photo by Dario Lopez-Mills/AP Photo)