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.

A woman poses next to a giant mining truck at the entrance of the Dakar Rally camp in Calama, Chile. The truck operates in copper mines near the city. (Photo by Victor R. Caivano/Associated Press)

A dog accompanies models who present creations by Indian designer Manish Arora as part of his Fall/Winter 2016/2017 women's ready-to-wear collection in Paris, France, March 3, 2016. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

Refugee children play with a stuffed toy at a muddy makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border, near the village of Idomeni, Greece March 15, 2016. (Photo by Alexandros Avramidis/Reuters)

The Peugeot of Sebastien Loeb of France is seen turned over next to a helicopter during the eighth stage in the Dakar Rally 2016 near Belen, Argentina, January 11, 2016. (Photo by Andre Lavadinho/Reuters/World-ASO)

Cyril Despres of France tries to get his Peugeot out of the sand as co-pilot David Castera pushes the car during the 10th stage of the Dakar Rally 2016 near Fiambala, Argentina, January 13, 2016. (Photo by Marcos Brindicci/Reuters)

Models walk the runway during the Maison Margiela Spring Summer 2016 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 27, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images)

Doutzen Kroes and Candice Swanpoel arrive at the Mert Alas x Marcus Piggot book launch party at Public Hotelon September 7, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Pierre Suu/GC Images)