Character Clarity Quotes

I try to begin with a strong grasp of my characters. Even if it's schematic, I need it clear in my head who these people are.

I don't care about sympathy. I care about playing a character who's understandable and clear.

I feel I do my best work when it's all there on the page, and I feel that the character is very vivid as I read the script and I'm not having to create stuff and trying to cobble together something. If I have to do that, then I don't entirely trust what I'm doing.

You have to go as hard as you possibly can, or it's going to be weak. Whenever I find myself not committing fully to a character, it's not as funny. It doesn't have that clear point of view, and you find yourself wandering all over the place, whereas committed characters make strong choices that are clear to the audience.

When you have quick scenes, it becomes difficult to ascertain where your character fits and where they're going. I always enjoy scenes that have a movement to them.

If a movie has more characters than an audience can keep track of, the audience will get confused and lose interest in the story.

Sometimes it's hard to play someone so similar to you, because you can muddy the character. Often, it's easier to play someone further away from you, because it's clearer who they are.

I may have a story idea but everything starts moving when I am able to see my characters clearly. They then organically lead or respond to the story or the universe I want to create.

Going back is a nice way to give definition to each of the characters because they are so vastly different. I would never want them to get blended together.

Before there was any talk of a movie, people would sometimes ask me what actors I would imagine playing these characters. And the only thing I could ever say is: I have such a clear idea of these characters that they'd have to play themselves.

I don't think the author should make the reader do that much work to remember who somebody is.

Any character that can't be kept straight, to me, isn't a character who should be in the book - you know, anyone not vivid enough to have a claim on my attention.