American media personality Lauren Sanchez and American businessman, media proprietor and investor Jeff Bezos at the Boom at The Standard Met Gala After Party held at The Boom Boom Room, The Standard Hotel on May 6, 2024 in New York. (Photo by Yvonne Tnt/BFA.com/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

American singer-songwriter and rapper Janelle Monáe at Richie Akiva's 10th Annual “The After” Met Gala After Party held at Casa Cipriani on May 6, 2024 in New York, New York. (Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/WWD via Getty Images)

American actress Kelsey Asbille Chow attends The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 01, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Karl Lagerfeld)

NYC no pants subway ride. Thousands of straphangers took their pants off for the 15th annual "No Pants Subway Ride" hosted by Improv Everywhere. People gathered at seven meeting points throughout the five boroughs at 3PM. All participants met up at Union Square around 5PM to and had a pant-less celebration and the afterparty at Webster Hall. (Photo by Paul Martinka/The New York Post)

A riot policeman watches as a police vehicle burns in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, October 25, 2016. Rioters in South Africa set a police vehicle on fire Tuesday and stoned vehicles near a Johannesburg university that has been the scene of sometimes violent protests by students demanding free education. The violence broke out in streets near the University of the Witwatersrand at around the same time that student protesters met and marched off the campus, South African media reported. (Photo by Yeshiel Panchia/AP Photo)

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.

Cast member Gina Hutton at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium on December 02, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. King and Gentoo Penguins at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium met their puppet counterparts ahead of Madagascar The Musical's Australian premiere in Sydney. (Photo by Wendell Teodoro/WireImage)

American actress Tommy Dorfman and American Afro-Panamanian actress Tessa Thompson at Boom Boom Room's Met Gala After-Party on September 13, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Marc Patrick/BFA.com)