"Creating a character is hands down the best part of the whole process of what we do: experiencing someone else’s life, being in someone else’s head, and finding out what makes them tick. Whether the character I’m playing walks on for five seconds or they’re the lead in the story I will make sure I’ve decided what that character had for breakfast, if they’re associated with a political party, and who they’ve third cousin is. I can’t help myself.
There’s all the ABCs you’ve just gotta do on any given project that contains a script. An actor’s bread and butter. The text-mining. The analytical, heady, stuff that’s all about the script and the words: beating out a script, finding the units, knowing your keywords, knowing the themes, mapping out your story arc, figuring out who you’re talking to, your targets, what your character wants, what’s in their way, re looking up in the dictionary what—all that jazz.
They’re the….
**((””Non-negotiables of our craft””(????))**
Dare I say.
Oh, I dare.
But when all that work’s done, then you can really get your paints out, get up on the floor and start building your character. Storytelling is inherent to all of us, acting is an art and creating a character is how you get to show the artistry in your work. The unique combination of choices you make—that’s your signature. I’m not talking making big, crazy oogly-boogly choices in your work for oogly-boogly’s sake. You have to make conscious choices (even through trial and error) that help you tell the overall story in the best way possible."
Read more at Stage Milk.