A plume of smoke rises above Gaza City as Israeli air strikes hit on August 18, 2011 in Gaza City, Gaza. The airstrikes came hours after attacks by militants killing Israelis in a cross border operation near Eilat, Southern Israel. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

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.

Young Slovaks dressed in traditional costumes throw a bucket of water at a girl as part of Easter celebrations in the village of Trencianska Tepla, Slovakia, April 9, 2012. Slovakia's men splash women with water to symbolize youth, strength and beauty for the upcoming spring season. (Photo by Samuel Kubani/AFP)

A vervet monkey passes in front of a woman on the shores of lake Naivasha, Kenya January 24, 2017. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

Contorsionist Rich Miteku performs during the opening of the 41st Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival in Monaco on January 19, 2017. (Photo by Valery Hache/AFP Photo)

A zoo performer smiles as he puts his head between the jaws of a crocodile during a performance for tourists at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo, in Chonburi province, east of Bangkok,Thailand, June 7, 2016. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

Shoppers walk past crocodiles for sale at a market in Bata on February 3, 2015. Markets in Equatorial Guinea sell a variety of animals including pangolins, monkeys and crocodiles as food. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)

Tali Spira of Baltimore, Maryland lets the wind aid in her Flow Art style dance moves (using silk material and fans) at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. on March 25, 2022. She danced amid the backdrop of the cherry blossom trees that were still at their peak. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)