Athlets run during the women's 3000 meter steeplechase at the International Athletics Meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland, 14 June 2016. (Photo by Alexandra Wey/EPA)

A passenger aircraft passes over a residential house as it prepares to land at London Heathrow Airport in west London on October 17, 2016. Britain's government is considering whether to approve a third runway at Heathrow or expand air capacity in southeast England at another airport such as London Gatwick. (Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP 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.

Two Bulgarian tourists pose in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on their last day in the capital on March 24, 2014. (Photo by Franck Fife/AFP Photo)

Rihanna holds the pregnant belly of Spc. Ariel Evans during an event promoting her Rogue Man cologne at Ft. Belvoir Exchange on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 in Ft. Belvoir, Va. (Photo by Kevin Wolf/AP Photo)

Dancers learn choreography they will need to perform as part of an open audition for the 2022 Radio City Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall in New York, New York, USA, 18 April 2022. The open auditions, the first being held since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, were expected to draw nearly 900 dancers competing for one of the few open spots in the 2022 Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, a long running holiday show. (Photo by Justin Lane/EPA/EFE)

TV personality Kylie Jenner attends the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)

In this photo released by Xhinhua News Agency, a rescuer evacuates residents near the site of a chemical plant blast in Zhangzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province Tuesday, April 7, 2015. Six people have been hospitalized and hundreds of firefighters deployed to battle a blaze sparked by an explosion at Goure PX Plant that produces the toxic chemical paraxylene, officials said Tuesday. (Photo by Wei Peiquan/AP Photo/Xinhua)