This picture taken on September 3, 2014 shows a man taking pictures of floodwater released from the Three Gorges Dam, a gigantic hydropower project on the Yangtze river, in Yichang, central China's Hubei province, after heavy downpours in the upper reaches of the dam caused the highest flood peak of the year. Eleven people died and 27 others are missing after torrential rains battered southwest China's Chongqing, a municipality in the upper reaches of the Three Gorges Dam, causing thousands of houses to collapse, state media said. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

Tourists pose with pigeons in the flooded St. Mark's Square in Venice, on November 7, 2014. The high water, a combination of high tides and a strong Scirocco wind in the Adriatic Sea, stood at 110 centimeters early on November 7. The city has for years been wrestling with the problems posed by the threat of rising sea levels. (Photo by Olivier Morin/AFP 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.

Two women lighting cigarettes on a tennis court in Essex, England circa 1930's. (Photo by Keystone View/FPG/Getty Images)

Christie Brinkley is seen walking in midtown on August 21, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images)

Chinese-American actress Bai Ling attends “The Key” screening at The Real Experimental Film Festival at Laemmle's Music Hall on November 21, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Barry King/WireImage)

English singer, songwriter and model Sophie Ellis-Bextor performs at G-A-Y at The Astoria on February 17, 2007 in London, England. (Photo by Jo Hale/Getty Images)

Ballroom dancers Andrei Toader and Mia Linnik-Holden compete in the “North of England Amateur Ballroom Dancing” competition at the 49th British National Dance Championships, in the Empress Ballroom of Blackpool's Winter Gardens, in Blackpool, north-west England, on November 21, 2024. The four-day British National Dance Championships have been taking place since 1975 with dancers competing in Ballroom and Latin dancing disciplines. (Photo by Oli Scarff/AFP Photo)