Lightning strikes during a storm over the Ionian Sea in Calabria, Italy on June 27, 2016. (Photo by Alfonso Di Vincenzo/Pacific Press/Rex Features)

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, appear in the sky over the Bamburgh lighthouse at Stag Rock in Northumberland, England on September 28, 2016. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Wire via ZUMA Press)

Performers take part in a rain soaked Notting Hill Carnival on August 25th, 2014 in London, England. Despite the bad weather over 1 million visitors are expected to attend the two-day event which is the largest of its kind in Europe. The event has taken place on the West London streets every August Bank Holiday weekend since 1964. (Photo by Mary Turner/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.

Tribal artists and supporters from the southern Indian state of Karnataka dance outside the residence of Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi during her birthday celebrations in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, December 9, 2015. The Italian-born Gandhi is the widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and has led the Congress party since 1998. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)

A girl carries a picture of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed along with others in Saudi Arabia, during a protest against the execution in front of the United Nation's building in Beirut, Lebanon January 3, 2016. Sign reads, “The martyr scholar Nimr al-Nimr”. (Photo by Hasan Shaaban/Reuters)

Chinese workers maintain an Animatronic Dinosaurs at Gengu Dinosaurs Science and Technology company on November 13, 2019 in Zigong, Sichuan Province, China. There are hundreds of simulated dinosaur manufacturers in Zigong City. It is the largest simulated dinosaur manufacturing in China. It accounts for 95% of mainland China's production and 85% of the world's total. Its products are exported to more than 100 countries. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

A goose walks on the road as Belarusian villagers take part in the Yurya religious rite to bring a good harvest in the village of Lutki, some 270 km south of Minsk, on May 6, 2019. (Photo by Sergei Gapon/AFP Photo)