Izzy Paskowitz helps Nixee Grace Chanowsky, 4, catch a wave Monday, August 18, 2014 at Wrightsville Beach, N.C. during the Annual Surfers Healing event for children with autism. Hundreds of people made their way to the beach to watch and cheer on the camp that was founded by Israel and Danielle Paskowitz. (Photo by Mike Spencer/AP Photo/The Star-News)

A jockey takes part in a traditional cattle race or “Pacu Jawi”, to mark the end of the rice harvest in Tanah Datar, West Sumatra, Indonesia, August 13, 2016 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Hafiz Mubarak A./Reuters/Antara Foto)

A man dressed in traditional clothes tries to pull his opponent over the table at the 40th Alpine Country Championships in Fingerhakeln_finger wrestling_ in Woernsmuehl, Germany, Thursday, May 25, 2017. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (Photo by Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)

People take part in fake festival called “La Boum” organized by an anonymous group of people on Facebook for an April 1 joke at the Bois de la Cambre, in Brussels, Belgium, 01 April 2021. An anonymous group created a Facebook event called “La Boum”, touting an alleged festival to take place with famous DJs as headliners. Thousands of people on social media had shown interest to take part in the gathering, while police have advised that no authorization has been given for a music event. (Photo by Stephanie Lecocq/EPA/EFE)

A woman whose livelihood depends on selling recyclable wastes collects trash from a dumping site while surrounded by Marabou storks on the outskirts of Uganda's capital Kampala March 31, 2015. (Photo by James Akena/Reuters)

A man watches as high surf crashes into the wall and spills onto Channel Drive in Montecito, Calif., January 7, 2016. Bacteria levels can increase significantly during and after rainstorms as contaminants in the runoff enter the ocean via storm drains, creeks and rivers. (Photo by Mike Eliason/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.

A participant of the “Mrs Universe 2015” contest from Caribbean Coast, Mayra Joli poses for a photo with a woman during their visit in central botanical garden in Minsk, Belarus, August 25, 2015. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)