Hotel ushers pose for a photo at Tiananmen Square as delegates attend the second plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China, March 9, 2018. The CPPCC is the top advisory body of the Chinese political system and runs alongside the annual plenary meetings of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), together known as “Lianghui” or “Two Meetings”. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

Revelers stained with colored powder cheer during the Holi festival celebrations in Chennai, India, 08 March 2023. Holi, also known as the “Festival Of Colors” is an ancient Indian Hindu festival symbolizing the victory of good over evil and marking the arrival of spring. It is celebrated with joyful gatherings during which revelers cover each other in colored powders. (Photo by Idrees Mohammed/EPA/EFE)

Indigenous people participate in a march commemorating the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples in Mexico City on August 9, 2023. (Photo by Alfredo Estrella/AFP Photo)

A four-year-old bulldog named Goldie wearing spectacles and a nightcap. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 9th January 1960

Riot police arrest an anti-government protester in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, October 30, 2014. Thousands of protesters marched on Burkina Faso's presidential palace after burning the parliament building and ransacking state television offices on Thursday, forcing President Blaise Compaore to scrap a plan to extend his 27-year rule. Emergency services said at least three protesters were shot dead and several others wounded by security forces when the crowd tried to storm the home of Compaore's brother. Security forces also fired live rounds and tear gas at protesters near the presidency in the Ouaga 2000 neighborhood. (Photo by Joe Penney/Reuters)

In this undated photo provided on Monday, November 25, 2019, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, poses as he inspects a women's company under Unit 5492 of the Korean People's Army in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Photo by Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Photo)

American actress Ariana DeBose attends The Hollywood Reporter Nominees Night presented by IHG Hotels and Resorts at Spago on March 07, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Sara Jaye/Getty Images for IHG Hotels and Resorts)

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.