Eagle Prime (MK3), a giant robot by MegaBots Inc. which manufactures giant piloted humanoid fighting robots headquartered in Berkeley, California on October 18, 2017. (Photo by Courtesy Michael Mauldin/Reuters/MegaBots Inc)

Michael Kefalianos of Australia prepares backstage prior to the pre judging for the 2012 IFBB Australian Pro Grand Prix XII at The Plenary on March 17, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Bella Hadid arrives at the amfAR Gala Cannes 2017 at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 25, 2017 in Cap d'Antibes, France. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

The two Pulis Quastie and Gin-Gin run in the snow in their garden in Lautertal, southern Germany, Thursday, January 5, 2017. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

An aircraft passes the rising full moon that breaks through the clouds at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, March 9, 2020. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Crews prepare hot air balloons for the Kentucky Derby Festival Great Balloonfest Rush Hour Race at Bowman Field on Friday, April 26, 2024. (Photo by Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal)

Kim Goodman, from Chicago, Illinois, US, holds the record for the farthest eyeball protrusion, at 12mm. (Photo by Paul Michael Hughes/Guinness World Records/PA Wire Press Association)

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.