Heather Larsen from Golden, Colorado, USA performs a split while walking the slackfline or highline across two towers in the Tower of David citadel complex overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem 02 May 2016. Larsen is one of the world's top female highliners, or slack liners and walked the lines as part of a Kickstarter campaign for an outdoor product. The tower at left was built by King King Herod some 2000 years ago. (Photo by Jim Hollander/EPA)

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.

An opposition activist clashes with the police during a march against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro held on May Day, in Caracas on May 1, 2017. Security forces in riot vans blocked off central Caracas Monday as Venezuela braced for pro- and anti- government May Day protests one month after a wave of deadly political unrest erupted. (Photo by Federico Parra/AFP Photo)

Children play amid icebergs on the beach in Nuuk, Greenland, June 5, 2016. (Photo by Alister Doyle/Reuters)

British actor Hugh Grant and his girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley attend the post-premiere party of Grant's latest film, “Four Weddings and a Funeral” in London, 11th May 1994. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Actress Laila Rouass poses during a studio shoot ahead of the new series of “Footballers Wives” at a London studio on January 28, 2004 in London. Rouass plays Conrad's bisexual wife Amber, and the nine-part series begins on ITV1 on February 11, 2004. (Photo by Stephen Perry/Getty Images)

A dog wears fake eyes while riding a motorcycle in Samut Sakhon, Thailand June 23, 2016. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

This artist image released from Japan's airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) on April 17, 2015 shows ANA's Boeing 787-9 aircraft into the colors of R2-D2 robot of Star Wars. Japanese air carrier ANA will place the special colored jetliner in service in this autumn. (Photo by AFP Photo/All Nippon Airways)