Complex Roles Quotes

Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren, Meryl Streep - I love actresses that are strong and fragile at the same time. They bring complexity to their roles.

To me, any character that is conflicted inside as well as outside of themselves is always a better role to play.

I like playing these characters who are just on the edge of ridiculous but always grounded in reality. I would never want to come across as a cartoon.

I give everything to my work, and I like complex roles, characters that aren't obvious. I've been very lucky so far, and I'm dreaming of working with directors like Jane Campion, Susanne Bier and the Dardennes. But the gods will decide.

I always hope for roles that have some depth and that I can get my teeth into and that will challenge me, in some way.

I get to play some zany, multilayered, very complex individuals.

I hope it's not all I'll ever do, but I know I've played enigmatic characters. For me, the good characters are people who get places, are devious, are cunning and tricky and hard to pin down. Obviously, if you play one and you do an okay job of it, that'll be on people's minds.

I continue to be known as a guy that plays really complex, three-dimensional characters.

For me it's about the character, not as much about the genre of it [movie]. I'm excited that I get to work and play interesting characters and I'm not just the girl who gets to play the girlfriend or the wife. I get to play real women who have struggles and troubles and passions and that's always what I hope to do no matter what format that lies in.

I always look to play flawed characters. I'm not very interested in playing somebody that's just, you know, the very nice one or the attractive one, or whatever, which a lot of female parts can just be written that way.

I've become really good at turning down the boring, pretty girl roles, the trophy wife, supermodel, beautiful girlfriend roles. I mean, playing somebody who's perfect holds no allure for me, whatsoever. It's just boring.

I love character roles. I'm happier in them. I look for roles that have some kind of complexity.

Everybody was trying to put me in action movies and heroic roles, and I wanted to find more complex things. They just didn't suit my taste, so I thought, 'OK, I have to be brave enough to say no.' And for a while, that hurt me immeasurably in the Hollywood world.

I think, the first time I played Iago at the Public Theater, I realized I had a - much to my chagrin - I realized I had an instinct for these conflicted characters, for these torn characters, for these characters who could be described as evil. I wouldn't describe them that way.

I'm not looking to do 'Half Nelson' next, but to play anything that's a little more complex is really fun.

The performances that I love are ones like Gena Rowlands in 'A Woman Under the Influence,' where women are allowed to be messy and imperfect. It's that kind of woman that has always inspired me to seek roles that are a little out of the box. I just haven't always had the opportunity to do them.

I'm not so fascinated by these ingenue roles. I tend to gravitate towards women in plays or shows or films that are more chaotic or have something dire going on.

It's still not easy to find roles that offer more complex images of women.

I don't mind playing somebody who's not likable, or makes the audience feel slightly conflicted.

Growing up, I always had my dreams set on being an actor, so I looked up to Julia Roberts, Audrey Hepburn. I also look up to Kate Winslet and Renée [Zellweger] and Cate Blanchett...and Diane Keaton - she's a genius. I think it's very inspiring to see these women attack such complex roles.

I've realized over the years I either play very good people or very bad people, and I think I always enjoy the very bad people more.

I admire Brad Pitt. He hasn't just done leading-man hunky roles; he's done a lot of edgier things. I like playing people with a dark side.

Sometimes I feel like my normal approach to roles has been, 'I want to be more complex, dynamic.'

I feel a responsibility to continue creating complex roles for black women, especially young black women.

It feels like I'm starting to come into my own in terms of where I want to go artistically, toward more complicated, interesting characters.