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.

2016 Rio Olympics, Athletics, Final, Women's 200m Final, Olympic Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 17, 2016. Photographers take pictures of Elaine Thompson (JAM) of Jamaica after she won the gold. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

Labourers pour molten iron into a container at a foundry in Xiangfan, Hubei province in this July 2, 2010 file photo. Iron ore is enjoying its biggest rally in years, outpacing copper and oil so far in 2016, but still weak forward prices show it may be tough to stretch the bullish outlook. Improving steel prices in top market China are helping fuel iron ore's climb as producers gear up for a seasonal uptick in demand. Yet there is no shortage of doubters who see gains in the bulk commodity as fleeting given a large glut and challenges for China's economy. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A model takes part in the Necropolis – Tanexpo 2021 international exhibition of funeral accessories, services and commemorative art at Moscow's Expocentre in Moscow, Russia on October 26, 2021. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/TASS)

Three young women in their 20s brawling on a busy street on the route from the track to the town centre during day four of the William Hill St Leger Festival at Doncaster Racecourse, England on September 14, 2019. (Photo by Nb press ltd)

British model Demi Rose in the first decade of October 2023 posed by a rocky bay wearing beads and sea shells. (Photo by Instagram)

A model wears a dress made out of recycled material during a show organised by LGBT fashion designers to battles discrimination in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, October 24, 2018. (Photo by Samrang Pring/Reuters)