In this image released on October 1, Russian model Irina Shayk is seen onstage during Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 presented by Amazon Prime Video at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California; and broadcast on October 2, 2020. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 Presented by Amazon Prime Video)

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.

Tulane University graduates pop prosecco as they pose for graduation photos on a largely empty Bourbon Street, due to the coronavirus pandemic, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Tuesday, May 12, 2020. (Photo by Gerald Herbert/AP Photo)

Inger Utke, left, takes a selfie with Edwin Galarza, dressed as a “Star Wars” themed dinosaur, during Preview Night at Comic-Con International held at the San Diego Convention Center, Wednesday, July 20, 2016, in San Diego. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Invision/AP Photo)

A model is prepared backstage at the LaQuan Smith show during Fashion Week on Monday, September 12, 2022, in New York. (Photo by Andres Kudacki/AP Photo)

Singer Taylor Swift poses at the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Awards in Inglewood, California, April 3, 2016. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Reuters)

In this image released on December 09, English model Leomie Anderson and English model and actress Jourdan Dunn attend the 2020 MOBO Awards held at Exhibition London on December 07, 2020 in London, England. The MOBO Awards will be live-streamed on YouTube at 7pm and broadcast on BBC One at 10.45pm. (Photo by Michael Tubes/MOBO Organisation/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Films that are being screened are advertised in a makeshift cinema located under a bridge in the old quarters of Delhi, India May 25, 2016. A makeshift cinema hall under a 140-year-old bridge in the Indian capital is allowing poor rickshaw pullers and migrant labourers to escape daily hardship and sweltering heat into a world of Bollywood song, dance and romance. With the rusty iron floor of the bridge as its ceiling and some old rags acquired on the cheap from a nearby crematorium serving as curtains and floor mats, the cinema shows four films a day. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)