Los Angeles Kings center Zack MacEwen, left puts Edmonton Oilers center Ryan McLeod int the bards during the second period in Game 3 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Friday, April 21, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo)

Taiwanese-American performer Nymphia Wind arrives for the 76th annual Emmy Awards ceremony held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA, 15 September 2024. The Emmys celebrate excellence in national primetime television programming. (Photo by Allison Dinner/EPA/EFE)

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.

Celebrities attend The National Reality TV Awards 2016 at the Porchester Hall in London, United Kingdom on September 29, 2016. (Photo by FameFlynet UK)

Danielle Sellers attends The Beauty Awards at Tower of London on November 28, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Lia Toby/WENN)

British singer Cheryl Fernandez-Versini aka Cheryl Cole arrives for the screening of “Ma Loute” (Slack Bay) during the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France, 13 May 2016. (Photo by Sebastien Nogier/EPA)

Dayane Mello attends the photocall for the television miniseries “The Young Pope” at the 73rd Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, September 3, 2016. (Photo by Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)

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