People pose on the red carpet at the premiere of “Barbie” on Sunday, July 9, 2023, at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/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.

Model Ashley Graham is seen walking in Soho on May 9, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images)

U.S. Corporal Stanley Suski, left, and Miss Tamako, a Geisha girl, whirl a bit of Jitterbug, in a bar, in Tokyo, Japan, on October 1, 1945. (Photo by AP Photo)

(L-R) Playmate Victoria Silvstedt, Donald Trump and Melania Knauss at the Playboy 50th Anniversary celebration December 4, 2003 in New York City. (Photo by Peter Kramer/Getty Images)

American rapper Kanye West, American singer and songwriter Ty Dolla $ign, Australian architect and model Bianca Censori and her mother Alexandra Censori arrive back in Los Angeles, CA on a privet Jet on March 13, 2024. (Photo by Backgrid USA)

Christian Bale poses for a fan at the 25th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday, January 27, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Eleonora Brunacci and Mariano Di Vaio walk the red carpet ahead of the “Racer And The Jailbird (Le Fidele)” screening during the 74th Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande on September 8, 2017 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)