Catherine Hollis of Chester, Pa., and Izzy Weintraub of Atlantic City eat Cherrystone clams at Atlantic City's annual clam-eating contest September 16, 1946. They finished 96 and 66 clams respectively in 20 minutes. (Photo by Sam Myers/AP Photo)

Iranian women sit in a bus in the capital Tehran on June 25, 2019. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said today that new US sanctions against senior Iranian officials including top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif showed Washington is “lying” about an offer to negotiate. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP Photo)

People wear clothing to protect them from the heat while riding along a street in Hanoi, Vietnam, 24 April 2019. North and central Vietnam was recently affected by extreme hot weather, with the highest temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celcius, according to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting. (Photo by Luong Thai Linh/EPA/EFE)

New York City mayoral candidate Maya Wiley hula hoops while campaigning on June 20, 2021 in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The primary election for New York City mayor will be held on June 22, 2021. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Cheerleaders from the “All Japan Cheer Organization” perform in protective masks due to COVID-19, to cheer people up in front of Shimbashi Station, one day before the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan on July 22, 2021. (Photo by Androniki Christodoulou/Reuters)

The Oshkosh M-ATV – MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle developed by the Oshkosh Corporation of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It is designed to provide the same levels of protection as the larger and heavier previous MRAPs but with improved mobility and it is intended to replace M1114 HMMWVs. (wikipedia) (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

In this January 6, 2017 photo, transgender inmates get a security check from female officers before entering their cell at Pattaya Remand Prison in Pattaya, Chonburi province, Thailand. The prison separates lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender prisoners from other inmates, a little-known policy despite being in place nationwide since 1993, according to the Department of Corrections. (Photo by Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo)

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.