Pumpkins and a mock up skull are seen ahead of Halloween at Wilmersdorfer Strasse shopping street, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in Berlin, Germany, October 26, 2020. (Photo by Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

British singer M.I.A. poses during the red carpet for the film ”Sacrifice” as the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) returns for its 50th edition in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on September 6, 2025. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Reuters)

Five year old George holds an orange to feed the Owl butterflies at the Natural History Museum in London, Thursday, March 30, 2017. Hundreds of tropical butterflies were released to launch the Natural History Museum's Sensational Butterflies exhibition, starting for the public on March 31, 2017. (Photo by Frank Augstein/AP Photo)

People carry cutouts of coffins during a march to commemorate the more than 617 people they say have been killed by law enforcement in LA County since 2000, in Los Angeles, California April 7, 2015. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/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.

Kacey Musgraves performs at the 49th annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, November 4, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Photo)

Men cover their heads from the sun while riding on a motorcycle during a hot day in Cairo, Egypt, August 17, 2015. A heatwave killed at least 61 people across Egypt from Sunday to Tuesday and caused nearly 600 people to be admitted to hospital, Egypt's health ministry said on state news agency MENA on Wednesday. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

A man dressed as Hindu god Shiva, smokes during an annual Hindu religious festival locally known as Shyam Baba festival in Ajmer, in the desert Indian state of Rajasthan, April 12, 2015. (Photo by Himanshu Sharma/Reuters)