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.

Festival goers splash through a muddy puddle at Worthy Farm in Somerset, on the third day of the Glastonbury music festival June 27, 2014. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

A goose walks on the road as Belarusian villagers take part in the Yurya religious rite to bring a good harvest in the village of Lutki, some 270 km south of Minsk, on May 6, 2019. (Photo by Sergei Gapon/AFP Photo)

Women practice “katte samu”, a rural traditional self-defence martial art during a workshop organised by the The Department of Language, Art and Culture of Telangana state for the upcoming International Women Day in Hyderabad, on March 6, 2020. (Photo by Noah Seelam/AFP Photo)

A deer walks across a pedestrian crossing in Nara, Japan, Thursday, March 19, 2020. More than 1,000 deer roam free in the ancient capital city of Japan. Despite the town's tourism decline, these wild animals are doing just fine without treats from tourists, according to a deer protection group. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

A man crosses a mud-covered trail carrying his wife on his back at a flooded Han River park in Seoul, South Korea, August 4, 2020. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

A woman reacts to the sun coming out of the clouds during the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival on Fifth Avenue in New York City, New York, U.S. April 21, 2019. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Reuters)

East Berliners crossing into the West Berlin on November 11, 1989 at the Potsdamer Platz, Germany. (Photo by Kai Wiedenhoefer)