A man passes by an unfinished street art graffiti made in a stairway by French street artists Zag and Sia in Paris on March 1, 2016. The two artists drew inspiration from famous “Liberty Leading the People” (La Liberte guidant le peuple) painting by French Eugene Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830 and viewed as a symbol of the French Republic. (Photo by Joel Saget/AFP Photo)

French artist Gino rides the “Celestial Cyclo” tricycle built by him in Le Marais neighbourhood in Paris, France, August 15, 2015. (Photo by Pascal Rossignol/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 girl gets her arm sketched with a body paint tattoo depicting the traditional Dandiya dance, ahead of Navratri, a festival when devotees worship the Hindu goddess Durga, in Ahmedabad, India, September 25, 2016. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A bishop walks past a new street-art collage by Italian artist Maupal showing Pope Francis playing tic-tac-toe and drawing peace signs as a Swiss guard keep watches the street near the Vatican on October 19, 2016 in Rome. (Photo by Tiziana Fabi/AFP Photo)

Former Playboy Bunny Angie Best prepares backstage ahead of her return as the iconic Bunny Mother exclusively at the Telling Tales event at Playboy Club London on September 21, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Playboy)

A participant in costume uses a mobile phone at a Halloween event in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo, Japan October 29, 2017. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Russian cadet preparing before the International Kremlin Cadet Ball in Moscow, Russia 12 December 2017. More than 1500 students from all Russian cadets school attend in Cadet Ball. (Photo by Yuri Kochetkov/EPA/EFE)