American actress, model, and singer Ashley Benson arrives at Paris Hilton's wedding party inBeverly Hills, CA. on November 14, 2021. (Photo by Backgrid USA)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a worker drinks at the construction site of the T3B terminal project of Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport in southwest China's Chongqing, July 11, 2022. Flooding and extreme high temperatures have caused multiple deaths in eastern China as summer heat descends earlier than usual. (Photo by Huang Wei/Xinhua via AP Photo)

American actress Victoria Justice attends the CELSIUS Oasis Vibe House on April 14, 2023 in Coachella, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for CELSIUS)

Revellers hit the booze cruise in the Croatian port city of Split on August 11, 2023. The hot new party town for Brits. Boat Party booze cruise with Split after dark. (Photo by Darren Fletcher)

British television presenter Maya Jama at “Love Island All: Stars” TV show in London, United Kingdom on December 16, 2023. (Photo by ITV/Love Island/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman takes part in a “Brave Run” competition in Minsk October 4, 2015. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Friends and relatives mourn by the coffin during the wake for Florjohn Cruz, who was killed in a police drugs buy-bust operation, in Manila, Philippines late October 20, 2016. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/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.