A man stands beside the Philippine flag as colorful umbrellas adorn a village hall in suburban San Juan, east of Manila, Philippines, on June 27, 2013. (Photo by Aaron Favila/Associated Press)

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.

Black Nazarene devotees clamber on top of one another to to touch the cross on January 9, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. The Feast of the Black Nazarene culminates in a day long procession on January 9 as barefoot devotees march to see and touch the image of the Black Nazarene. The Black Nazarene is a dark wood sculpture of Jesus brought to the Philippines in 1606 from Spain and considered miraculous by Filipino devotees. The event falls a week ahead of the visit of Pope Francis who will travel to Leyte and Manila during his visit to the Philippines from January 15–19. The visit is expected to attract crowds in the millions as Filipino Catholics flock to catch a glimpse of the leader of the Catholic Church. The Philippines is the only Catholic majority nation in Asia with around 90 percent of the population professing the faith. (Photo by Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)

Reuters multi-award winning photographers are celebrated here in a three part retrospective on the 30th anniversary of the service's launch. They have captured dramatic images illustrating the human tragedy of natural disaster and war as well as the fallout of economic events across the continents, creating iconic images, recognised around the world. Here: an injured soccer fan is carried to safety by a friend after a wall collapsed during violence between fans before the European Cup final between Juventus and Liverpool at the Heysel stadium in Brussels, May 29, 1985. 39 people died, and a further 600 were injured. (Photo by Nick Didlick/Reuters)

Muslim children play sack race during Eid-al-Fitr celebration in Taguig city, south of Manila July 18, 2015. (Photo by Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

A woman eats candy in the shape of a phallus during the Kanamara Matsuri, or Iron Phallus Festival through a street near the Kanamara shrine in Kawasaki outside of Tokyo April 5, 2015. The festival celebrates fertility and is used to raise awareness and money for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

A participant of the sled dogs race in action with the dogs in Stroehen (Lower Saxony), Germany, 18 October 2015. It is the first round of the North German Championship. (Photo by Peter Steffen/EPA)

A girl plays on a pile of discarded flowers outside a market, the day after the Diwali celebrations in Mumbai, India October 31, 2016. (Photo by Shailesh Andrade/Reuters)