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.

Glamour model and actress Sabrina seated on the knee of Arthur Askey. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 1955

Three female friends dancing in nightclub. (Photo by Cultura Creative (RF)/Alamy Stock Photo )

People dance to celebrate Midsummer Eve during sunset at the Amager Strandpark in Copenhagen, Denmark, June 23, 2021. (Photo by Hannah McKay/Reuters)

Actress Laila Rouass poses during a studio shoot ahead of the new series of “Footballers Wives” at a London studio on January 28, 2004 in London. Rouass plays Conrad's bisexual wife Amber, and the nine-part series begins on ITV1 on February 11, 2004. (Photo by Stephen Perry/Getty Images)

Members of the Albert Battery perform a gun salute during the Anzac Day dawn service held by the Currumbin RSL on the Gold Coast in Currumbin, Australia, 25 April 2016. The Anzac day marks the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) troops at Gallipoli in what is today Turkey during WWI. World War One, also called the Great War, according to official statistics cost more than 37 million military and civilian casualties between 1914 and 1918. (Photo by Glenn Hunt/EPA)

Tom Lishness of Windsor, who has been competing in the event since 2005, gets into position for the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta on Monday morning, Oct. 14, 2024, in Damariscotta, Maine. (Photo by Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald via AP Photo)

Netapp Endura team rider Slovenian Blaz Jarc (R) crashes into Katusha team rider Russian Viacheslav Kuznetsov (ground) during the 112th Paris Roubaix cycling race, in Roubaix, France, 13 April 2014. (Photo by Nicolas Bouvy/EPA)