I think the idea of creating a character from scratch, one that has not been done in a novel or an existing story, is immensely exciting, terrifying and ultimately rewarding.
A certain luxury when you get to writing a novel is to have the space to have your characters just banter.
Working on a sitcom and improv improves your comedic chops. If you do it long enough, the one thing you learn to do is listen to the other characters.
You want somebody who's capable of being diverse in the characters they play, and you want a big name that's going to bring attention to the filmmakers and to the project.
The nice thing is that, at least in Los Angeles, I'm known as a character actor and I do auditions for other things besides just cartoon shows.
As an actor it's your job to empathise with your character regardless of whether they have a different sexual orientation, spiritual beliefs, or anything.
For TV I don't think I could have gotten a better part than Uncle Junior because of the intimacy of the character based on David Chase's brilliant writing.
Journalism can go right up to the door of the room in which the decisions are made. A novel can go inside the room - and inside the character's heads.
I read the script and try not to bring anything personal into it. I make notes, talk to the director and we decide what kinds of shades should be in the character.
I couldn't resist hiding some historical details and a few clues relevant to the plot and characters of 'A Discovery of Witches' throughout the pages of the novel.
I usually don't find myself reacting to my characters. I just create them ... And let the audience decide whether they're empathetic or scared or compelled to cheer me on.
Life is like a painting you reflect the image based on your feeling, emotion, character, attitude and how you made it.
But I do believe that in all my shows, I really enjoy the quirky, the eccentric characters, the ones you don't meet every day.
Readers will stay with an author, no matter what the variations in style and genre, as long as they get that sense of story, of character, of empathetic involvement.
It takes great character and understanding of human emotions to help someone you shouldn't be helping under normal circumstances.
If you get a book which is 600 pages, you have to reduce it to a script of 100 pages. In two hours of film, you cannot possibly include all the characters.
'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' - every scene is from those characters' point of view. They're in literally every scene, very unusual in a big studio film.
Psych yourself up until you're confident that the world will be interested in what happens to your characters. Confidence is key.
It probably says something really clinically terrible about my character that I need to get up on a stage and go 'Ra ra ra' in front of people.
True education does not consist merely in the acquiring of a few facts of science, history, literature, or art, but in the development of character.
Become major, Paul. Live like a hero. That's what the classics teach us. Be a main character. Otherwise what is life for?
