I tend to plan as I write. And I want to leave myself open and the character open to keep on going until it seems to be the time to stop.
I remember going to the audition for 'Corrie.' I wasn't an actor - what they're often looking for in these rooms is a character, not what's on the page. They want to see what you are going to bring. So somehow, I got the job on 'Corrie.' For the first time in a while, someone really believed in me.
There's a lot of successful procedural shows that are out there. A lot of them are very successful. I just know there's an audience out there that wants character also.
I find that comedy is my specialty, but drama is slowly starting to move up in that rank. I've always liked playing a character that has depth and that I'm able to bring my own niche to.
I don't know - music in film, for me, is not another part of a soundtrack; it is something that also helps to approach a character, to foresee the type of image - you see what I mean - it's like a part of the process.
Action, looks, words, steps, form the alphabet by which you may spell character.
Also, I'd like to play an athlete again, while I'm still physically fit, or a musician, like Nat King Cole, because I play the trumpet and sing. I'd like to incorporate that into a character.
I don't know if I am cut out to playing a bad character or not - I really should give it a shot. I would like to play the voice of a baddie, but that's really just a cop-out!
I love those preliminary conversations about who a character is. You try on wigs, shoes and clothes. It's preferable when it's not about looking pretty. It can get a little dull to just be cute. We talk about things like, maybe my character can't afford these Christian Louboutins.
I remember one time that I was filming a scene in whych my character rides through Troy on a chariot. I just looked around at this incredible set thinking 'This is the life'.
My character on 'I'm In the Band,' Derek Jupiter of Iron Weasel, is definitely one of the crazier ones. That's completely on the other end of the spectrum. There's absolutely nothing like Derek any shape or form. I'm having so much fun playing this egotistical, '80s-era rockstar - everything he does is from the point-of-view of a rockstar.
There's a button that goes On and I'm On. And when I go On, there is almost no me; there is just a character who is doing all this.
All these boundaries - Africa, Asia, Malaysia, America - are set by men. But you don't have to look at boundaries when you are looking at a man - at the character of a man. The question is: What do you stand for? Are you a follower, or are you a leader?
I really like the character of Jack Reacher - I thought he was interesting.
It's definitely hard to say good-bye to a character that you've played for a long time.
In the theater, it's a visceral and physical response because you move around so much. You have to do something physical to pull you in. On TV or in movies, everything is so small. You can just lock into a character and ease yourself into that way.
Accents are very easy for me. With me, it's clothing and makeup and hair and all that stuff that inform how the character moves and feels.
The biggest risk with a series that goes on this long is that you'll get bored with the character.
My choices in projects have all been character or role-based, and on a financial level, it's obvious: as an actor on a TV series, I get a wonderful paycheck, and a consistent paycheck, which doesn't always happen when you're doing theater or movies.
I can't be under the weight of the character for a 14-hour shooting day. I don't think anybody can do that.
Don't think twice. If it's a character that you feel compelled to play and story that you feel needs to be told, don't think twice.
Kids search for what's relevant, what connects with their life... now. They know bad things happen like Hurricane Katrina. Through character driven stories, they explore what it's like to survive, thrive, and become more themselves.
From blood banking to the modern subway, from jazz to social justice, the contributions of African Americans have shaped and molded and influenced our national culture and our national character.
Your outlook upon life, your estimate of yourself, your estimate of your value are largely colored by your environment. Your whole career will be modified, shaped, molded by your surroundings, by the character of the people with whom you come in contact every day.
The thing should have plot and character, beginning, middle and end. Arouse pity and then have a catharsis. Those were the best principles I was ever taught.
Any time you get to dig deeper into your character, you welcome it, especially on a TV show.
Character must be kept bright as well as clean.
I never really thought of myself as being an action hero or a leading man or any of that. I'm a character actor.
As much as most of the actors were kind of curious to know what their character meant in relation to the script and to the plot, they really were quite happy to be part of the adventure of not knowing.
My central strength as an actor is the fact that I'm 6 foot 3. A certain power emanates from my size, juxtaposed with the fact that I try to find an element of sensitivity in every character I play. People enjoy seeing that because it goes against what we're led to expect as far as the way men are supposed to be - macho and all that.
If I was to direct a movie about a super-confident guy, first of all I would hate that character. I can do a super-confident guy who crashes and burns and has to rebuild himself as somebody humble. But a super-confident guy that just gets more confident and gets the girl and the money and more success? That's not interesting.
Hitman does well and it certainly does well enough to survive, but at the same time I don't want to involve the character into the DC Universe even if it meant more sales, to the point where we sort of upset the balance that we have at the moment.
No offense to the Canadians, but I believe location is like a character, and authenticity really matters. When you're in a place like New York or D.C., you just can't beat it, and it's so hard to recreate because they are both such distinctive places. I think it's pretty easy these days to tell films that are shot in Toronto.
General Custer was a close observer and student of personal character.
I don't think you can ever completely transform yourself on film, but if you do your job well, you can make people believe that you're the character you're trying to be.
When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.
