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.

The Intel logo is projected on the face of Intel Executive Vice President Dadi Perlmutter as he speaks during a news conference about the 3-D Tri-Gate transistors called “Ivy Bridge” on May 4, 2011 in San Francisco, California. Intel announced a technical breakthrough in the microprocessors with the world's first Tri-Gate transistors, that will increase speed and consume less energy. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Artist Julien “Seth” Malland aka Seth Globepainter has become known around the world for his vibrant murals of people, most frequently children, who appear to be sucked into colorful rainbow-like voids. The figures are usually facing away from the viewer, their attention completely swallowed by pools of dripping color revealed behind drab, urban facades.

People gather as a crowd of sea lions lay on floating docks at Pier 39 in San Francisco, California May 4, 2015. Hundreds of sea lions began hauling out on the docks following the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, and face no natural predators at the pier. (Photo by Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

A Hindu sadhu (holy man) smears coloured paste onto his face ahead of the forthcoming Hindu festival of “Maha Shivaratri” at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu on February 11, 2018. Hindus mark the “Maha Shivratri” festival by offering special prayers and fasting, with sadhus arriving at Pashupatinath to take part in the event, which takes place on February 13. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

An Indian Royal Bengal tiger looks on at an enclosure on World Tiger Day at Alipore Zoo, Kolkata, India, 29 July 2019. Kolkata zoo authority added a new Tiger to the zoo for the visitors to mark the Tiger Day. Students of Kolkata are also taking part in an awareness campaign aiming to draw attention to the threats that tigers face due to habitat loss and poaching. (Photo by Piyal Adhikary/EPA/EFE)

A female police officer stands in the street during an anti-government protest in Santiago, Chile, Saturday, October 26, 2019. Chile has been facing days of unrest, triggered by a relatively minor increase in subway fares. The protests have shaken a nation noted for economic stability over the past decades, which has seen steadily declining poverty despite persistent high rates of inequality. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

In this January 7, 2017 photo, Judeley Hans Debel squats down to remove a boot from Tic Tac, holding out his prosthetic leg after his therapeutic riding lesson at the Chateaublond Equestrian Center in Petion-Ville, Haiti. Anne-Rose Schoen, who founded the equestrian center, said perhaps the most important thing about therapeutic riding is it makes youngsters happy in a country where disabled people face enormous challenges. (Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo)