Rory Culkin Quotes

When I look at a character, whether he's good or bad, one scene or 10 scenes, I just have to find my way in.

For me, I always have to establish a reality for the character. In very actor-y terms, you just have to understand his reality.

I feel like there are things I can relate to in every character. But I feel like when you read a script, you don't get to see the definition behind someone, you just get to read what the person goes through and find a place to come from to make it real.

Well, first of all, you read the script a million times. Because what the script gives you are given circumstances. Given circumstances are all the facts of your character.

Also, in my acting, I feel very much like a storyteller, exploring the flaws of the characters that I interpret. I look for the imperfections, and I love a character that is just so flawed.

What helps writers, and ultimately, obviously, helps the actors - who should serve the words that the writer puts on the page - is if the character has damages, because then the writers can cultivate and excavate, like a dentist going into a tooth.

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 wanted more in depth ideas about the character and it never came.

There's a horrible fallacy that exists in the popular discussion of fiction these days: the idea that a successful central character need be 'likeable' or 'sympathetic'. It is surely more important that they be human, no? More crucial that they breathe?

As an actor, you want to be able to move your character forward into new ground, but also it's really interesting to go backwards and unpeel those layers and the interesting elements of what your character is and what informs the decisions that you make so that you can have as much meat to work with.

Most of my films have a lot of character development and exploration, whereas in most horror movies the characters are just cardboard.

With any role I play, I find out what the human problem is first.

Stories are important, but I'm really into characters, and if you can give birth to a good one, that's true success.

I choose grey characters, as I enjoy playing a human character. I don't shy away from showing the shortcomings of my characters.

As actors, you don't actually need to know the future of the character. You just need to know the backgrounds.

I tend to play characters that I can infuse with certain kinds of humour. Even the baddest guy can be funny in his own particular way. I want the audience to engage with the character on some deeper level so that they leave the cinema still thinking about him.

But I guess I like playing flawed guys 'cause it gives a place for the characters to go.

I like my characters to be ones I think about long after I've finished reading the script.

For every book that I write... I develop a history for each person and make sure they are well rounded and flawed. You have to know everything about them from their shoe size, to where they went to school, to what their first pet was, to what they like to eat, to what they want out of life.

I just want to keep finding special characters that I feel like I can bring to life and characters that are real and not superficial.

Don't start writing your novel until you know your characters very, very well. What they'd do if they saw somebody shoplifting. What they were like at school. What shoes they wear. Spend days - weeks, months - being them until they thicken up and start to breathe.

Every single film I've done, it's about the character.

A lot of times, scripts are written so the character is all one way. Even with 'Bringing Out the Dead,' the character was written a little more generic.

The most I could hope for is to come and try and develop a character who is interesting, who is interesting to me, who is interesting to fans and who could contribute to the storytelling that is 'Law & Order: SVU.'

I've always wanted my characters to have more dimension and realistic cores than the ingenue material often provides. It's been a challenge.