A man carries food supplies on a donkey to Dhalamlam Mountain in the Jafariya district of the western province of Raymah, Yemen June 2, 2016. In villages perched high on a mountain in Western Yemen, residents are a safe distance from a conflict raging throughout most of the country but have had to turn the clock back on their lifestyles by centuries. (Photo by Abduljabbar Zeyad/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.

Russia's synchronised swimming duet Aleksandr Maltsev (L) and Darina Valitova compete in the Mixed Duet Technical preliminary during the synchronised swimming competition at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan on July 25, 2015. (Photo by Christophe Simon/AFP Photo)

Chinelos (traditional costumed dancers) perform in front of San Andres Ocotlan church as part of continuing festivities to welcome the new year in Calimaya, Mexico on January 4, 2016. (Photo by Arturo Hernandez/Demotix/Corbis)

Alluvial Fan, China. A vast alluvial fan blossoms across the desolate landscape between the Kunlun and Altun mountain ranges that form the southern border of the Taklimakan Desert in China’s XinJiang Province. Image taken by the ASTER instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite on May 2nd, 2002. (Photo by NASA/GSFC/USGS EROS Data Center)

A newly born Indian white tiger cub yawns in its enclosure at Liberec Zoo, Czech Republic, April 25, 2016. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

Japan's computer giant Fujitsu employee displays the world's first personal computer with Intel's RealSense 3D camera “FMV Esprimo” in Tokyo on October 9, 2014. The new desktop PC with 23-inch LCD display can make avatars which mimic the user's look and motion for chatting on the Internet. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

An airplane house is pictured in the village of Miziara, northern Lebanon May 12, 2015. Miziara prides itself on building residential homes that resemble ancient Greek temples and Egyptian ruins, one is even built in the shape of an Airbus A380. (Photo by Aziz Taher/Reuters)