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.

American actress, dancer, and singer Ariana DeBose arrives at the 75th annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 12, 2022, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP Photo)

Eugloss dilemma, male, Florida, Biscayne National Monument. (Photo and caption by Sam Droege/USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab)

Yalena Leuliette, 7, of Greenbelt, Md., throws seeds from a cattail plant up in the air as she plays while visiting the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in northeast Washington, on Sunday, August 9, 2015. Leuliette visits the public garden with her parents a few times a year. (Photo by Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)

In this Wednesday, January 7, 2015 photo, a Sri Lankan Catholic devotee Rita Anthony kisses her rosary as she prays inside her house in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Vatican has said that it hopes that Sri Lanka's Christians can play a role in helping heal the wounds of the island nation's bloody 25-year civil war, when the Tamil Tiger rebels fought to create a separate homeland in the north for the minority Tamils, who are mostly Hindu. The war came to a bloody end in 2009, but many Tamils say they feel forgotten by the central government, which is dominated by the country's ethnic Sinhala majority, which is overwhelmingly Buddhist. Sri Lanka's Christians come from both the Tamil and the Sinhala communities, making them a natural bridge between the two sides. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)

A young girl is splashed as she takes an elephant bath at Rapti river in Chitwan, Nepal, 30 October 2021. Chitwan is one of the major tourist destinations in Nepal and popular zone for wild life sightseeing in Chitwan National Park. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)

English actress’ Shirley Eaton’s performance in Goldfinger in 1964 made her the ultimate sеx symbol. (Photo by Kobal Collection/Rex Features)