A woman, covered in mud, dances during the traditional “Bloco da Lama” or “Mud Block” carnival party, in Paraty, Brazil, Saturday, February 14, 2015. Revelers in the seaside colonial town threw themselves into deposits of black, mineral-rich slime, emerging covered head-to-toe in the sludge. Bikinis and trunks disappeared beneath the mud, which highlights both gym-pumped pectorals and beer-fed guts. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)

Bosnian men urge their horses to pull logs up a hill during a competition in the Bosnian town of Sokolac 50 kms west of Sarajevo, Bosnia,on Monday, April, 13, 2015. The annual festival celebrates the centuries old tradition of pulling logs honoring the owners of the strongest horses. Owners of the horses gather from all over Bosnia and beyond, and compete in a show of horse strength. (Photo by Amel Emric/AP Photo)

In this photograph taken on Thursday, November 20, 2014, bud tenders Maxwell Bradford, back left, and Emma Attolini display buds in the shape of Christmas trees that are on sale for the holiday season in a recreational marijuana shop in northwest Denver. The nascent marijuana industry in Colorado is targeting holiday shoppers with special deals much like traditional retailers offer. (Photo by David Zalubowski/AP Photo)

Foreign tourists join the annual Songkran Festival celebration, the Thai traditional New Year, also known as the water festival in Silom district of Bangkok, Thailand, 13 April 2014. The three-day Songkran Festival runs from 13 to 15 April and is celebrated with splashing water and putting powder on each others faces as a symbolic sign of cleansing and washing away the sins from the old year. (Photo by Narong Sangnak/EPA)

An athlete dressed as a clown jumps into the Mediterranean sea as he takes part in the Copa Nadal in the Spanish port of Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, December 25, 2016. The Copa Nadal (Christmas Cup) is a traditional swimming competition that takes place in Barcelona every December 25th, where participants swim 200 meters in the open sea in the port of Barcelona. (Photo by Manu Fernandez/AP Photo)

A referee tries to separate two cocks fighting during a Cock fighting tournament on December 3, 2016 on the outskirts of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Cockfighting is held during the week end and is a tradition with asian roots still practiced in Madagascar. (Photo by Gianluigi Guercia/AFP Photo)

KALTENBERG, GERMANY - JULY 08: Actors dressed as knights perform during the traditional Kaltenberg knight tournament on July 8, 2007 in Kaltenberg, Germany. With around 120,000 visitors each year, the festival including knight tournaments, medieval styled markets and a variety of music performances, the event is one of the biggest of its kind. (Photo by Johannes Simon/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.