Karis, a one month old lion cub being weighed at Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling, Scotland, Thursday October 10, 2013. Weighing in at 5kg, the cub will stay with her mother, Teekay until she is 12 weeks old before they are returned to the pride. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/AP Photo/PA Wire)

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.

Wearing a satin and lastex top and a skirt made of fishnet Ann Evors, a Paramount player, poses for the cameramen on the beach, circa 1928. (Photo by Central Press)

A driver maneuvers his classic American car along a wet road as a wave crashes against the Malecon in Havana, Cuba on Thursday. Hurricane Sandy blasted across eastern Cuba as a potent Category 2 storm and headed for the Bahamas after causing at least two deaths in the Caribbean. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press)

British born leading lady Elizabeth Taylor feeds the pigeons in Trafalgar Square, London. (Photo by Chris Ware/Keystone/Getty Images). November 1948

A girl goes to school just before sunrise in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, December 11, 2019. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

A man wearing a mask looks on as he sells matresses in Manila, Philippines, January 8, 2020. (Photo by Willy Kurniawan/Reuters)

A couple wears face masks as they share a moment during sunset on January 31, 2020 in Hong Kong, China. With over 9800 confirmed cases of Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) around the world, the virus has so far claimed over 200 lives. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)