Tribal artists and supporters from the southern Indian state of Karnataka dance outside the residence of Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi during her birthday celebrations in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, December 9, 2015. The Italian-born Gandhi is the widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and has led the Congress party since 1998. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)

Residents with faces covered in ash ride on a motorcycle as Mount Sinabung volcano erupts, in Sukandebi village in Karo Regency, Indonesia's North Sumatra province, Indonesia June 13, 2015, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Rony Muharrman/Reuters/Antara Foto)

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 masked participant carries a burning matress during the ancient carnival of Zubieta, in the northern Spanish Navarra province on January 30, 2018. The yearly three day festivities, revolving mainly around agriculture and principally sheep hearding, run on the last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of January where Navarra Valley locals from two villages dress up and participate in a variety of activites as they perform a pilgrimage through each village. (Photo by Ander Gillenea/AFP Photo)

Students walk to school on the first day of their new school year in Giza, south of Cairo, Egypt September 25, 2016. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)

Singer Ariana Grande (C) performs “Side by Side” during the 2016 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 20, 2016. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

A truck driver naps under his truck at the fancy bazaar area during the twelve hours Assam bandh or strike in Guwahati, Assam, India, 23 October 2018. At least 46 organisations are observing a 12-hour bandh across the state to protest against the Centre's bid to clear the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, in the Winter Session of Parliament. (Photo by EPA/EFE/Stringer)

A woman reacts to the sun coming out of the clouds during the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival on Fifth Avenue in New York City, New York, U.S. April 21, 2019. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Reuters)