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 activist takes a selfie during a protest ahead of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, in Paris, Sunday, November 29, 2015. More than 140 world leaders are gathering around Paris for high-stakes climate talks that start Monday, and activists are holding marches and protests around the world to urge them to reach a strong agreement to slow global warming. (Photo by Christophe Ena/AP Photo)

A photo provided by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows Atlanta police officer T. R. Coxe removing painted material of a large swastika featuring a likeness of Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, along the northbound Buford Highway Connector just south of the Piedmont exit, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 09 December 2015. Just days after Donald Trump's call to ban Muslims from entering the United States, someone painted large swastikas featuring the Republican presidential candidate's face on at least two northeast Atlanta bridge supports. The symbol, which includes a cartoon of Trump sporting a Hitler-like mustache, was painted along the Buford Highway Connector. A second, similar image was found on a concrete bridge support on nearby Piedmont Road. Trump said in a statement released on 07 December that there should be a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. (Photo by John Spink/EPA/AJC)

A woman squeezes between two public buses in downtown Lima, March 17, 2014. Bogota and two other Latin American capitals – Mexico City, and Lima in Peru – were named as the three capitals with the least safe transport systems for women in the Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of more than 6,550 women and gender and city planning experts. Women in Latin America say they face a wide range of daily threats on public transport, and not enough is done to ensure their safety. (Photo by Enrique Castro-Mendivil/Reuters)

Antonio Banderas attends the photocall for “Pain And Glory (Dolor Y Gloria/Douleur Et Glorie)” during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2019 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Belgium's Crown Princess Elisabeth, center, marches past the Royal tribune with cadets of the military school during the National Day parade in Brussels, Wednesday, July 21, 2021. Belgium celebrates its National Day on Wednesday in a scaled down version due to coronavirus, COVID-19 measures. (Photo by Olivier Matthys/AP Photo)

Rajesh Babu, a police officer, wearing a helmet depicting coronavirus, requests a commuter to stay at home during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spreading of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Chennai, India, March 28, 2020. (Photo by P. Ravikumar/Reuters)

Migrants try to board a truck at Ouistreham ferry port in the hope of reaching the UK on September 12, 2018 in Ouistreham, France. After the clamp down at Calais many young migrants are seeking out new routes to the United Kingdom as stowaways on vehicles making the channel crossing by ferry from French ports. The migrants, of mostly African origin, camp out on the roadside and woodland areas as the authorities prevent the setting up of any camps. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)