Character Quotes | Beyond Motive 3/25

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Character Quotes

"If I'm doing my job as an actor, the audience knows everything I know about the character."

"If I'm doing my job as an actor, the audience knows everything I know about the character."

Liev Schreiber, American Actor

28

"In terms of jumping into a character's skin, I try to immerse myself in the role as much as possible to bring me closer to them. All I do is what's required to achieve what I want to achieve."

"In terms of jumping into a character's skin, I try to immerse myself in the role as much as possible to bring me closer to them. All I do is what's required to achieve what I want to achieve."

Dougray Scott, Scottish Actor

Character, Skin, Want

28

"Studying cows, pigs and chickens can help an actor develop his character. There are a lot of things I learned from animals. One was that they couldn't hiss or boo me."

"Studying cows, pigs and chickens can help an actor develop his character. There are a lot of things I learned from animals. One was that they couldn't hiss or boo me."

James Dean, American Actor

Character, Animals, Cows

27

"Wild Bill was a strange character. In person he was about six feet and one inch in height. He was a Plains-man in every sense of the word."

"Wild Bill was a strange character. In person he was about six feet and one inch in height. He was a Plains-man in every sense of the word."

Buffalo Bill, American Celebrity

Character, Feet, Sense, Word

27

"I once did a role which I couldn't rehearse in my street clothes, I had to have the character's costume on before I could rehearse it. I just couldn't think as the character unless I looked like him, or I knew that I looked like him."

"I once did a role which I couldn't rehearse in my street clothes, I had to have the character's costume on before I could rehearse it. I just couldn't think as the character unless I looked like him, or I knew that I looked like him."

Tom Wilkinson, British Actor

Character, Clothes

27

"I don't base any character on a real person, and really don't do composites either. I make them up."

"I don't base any character on a real person, and really don't do composites either. I make them up."

Nora Roberts, American Author

27

"My favorite part is the preparation because you read on the page, you get this character."

"My favorite part is the preparation because you read on the page, you get this character."

Ashley Scott, American Actress

Character, Favorite, Preparation

27

"Oh, that character was light years away from me. I'm not debonair. I'm not suave. I did wear tight pants, though, because I found out that it worked."

"Oh, that character was light years away from me. I'm not debonair. I'm not suave. I did wear tight pants, though, because I found out that it worked."

Robert Conrad, Polish Director

Character, Light, Years

27

"It's not like my old self - I'm not in character anymore, I'm me. I'm not hiding behind that anymore."

"It's not like my old self - I'm not in character anymore, I'm me. I'm not hiding behind that anymore."

Damon Albarn, English Musician

Character, Old, Self

27

"So I just play the character, I play the lines."

"So I just play the character, I play the lines."

Fiona Shaw, Irish Actress

Character, Play

27

"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones."

"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones."

Phillips Brooks, American Clergyman

Character, May, Moments

27

"The true worth of a race must be measured by the character of its womanhood."

"The true worth of a race must be measured by the character of its womanhood."

Mary Mcleod Bethune, American Educator

Character, Race, Worth

27

"The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."

"The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."

Anne Frank, German Writer

Character, Lies

27

"My character was kidnapped by the Terminator and I was kidnapped by the Terminator production."

"My character was kidnapped by the Terminator and I was kidnapped by the Terminator production."

Claire Danes, American Actress

Character, Production

27

"A character is a completely fashioned will."

"A character is a completely fashioned will."

Novalis, German Poet

Character, Will

27

"I mean one of the basic rules when you're acting is that you mustn't stand in judgement on a character, you mustn't say Hitler was a bad man because you can't act in that way."

"I mean one of the basic rules when you're acting is that you mustn't stand in judgement on a character, you mustn't say Hitler was a bad man because you can't act in that way."

Janet Suzman, South African Actress

Character, Acting, Man, Rules

27

"When you watch it, you're like, Wow. I look like that. But it doesn't feel like that at all. It was about communicating with Gale Harold and getting across what I wanted to say about the character."

"When you watch it, you're like, Wow. I look like that. But it doesn't feel like that at all. It was about communicating with Gale Harold and getting across what I wanted to say about the character."

Randy Harrison, American Actor

27

"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."

"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."

Stevie Wonder, American Musician

Character, Ability, May

27

"Much of someone's real character lies in what they don't say about themselves."

"Much of someone's real character lies in what they don't say about themselves."

Joyce Rachelle, Filipino Author

Character, Silence, Truth, Integrity

27

"It is only by drawing often, drawing everything, drawing incessantly, that one fine day you discover to your surprise that you have rendered something in its true character."

"It is only by drawing often, drawing everything, drawing incessantly, that one fine day you discover to your surprise that you have rendered something in its true character."

Camille Pissarro, French Artist

27

"I would like any type of character that I could be creative with and totally delve into."

"I would like any type of character that I could be creative with and totally delve into."

Noah Hathaway, American Actor

26

"I think so, Silence of the Lambs was a great, suspenseful thriller and I would expect Red Dragon to be similar. And I think it's very character driven."

"I think so, Silence of the Lambs was a great, suspenseful thriller and I would expect Red Dragon to be similar. And I think it's very character driven."

Emily Watson, English Actress

Character, Silence

26

"Once you embody the language, the character comes really naturally, especially when you put the costume on."

"Once you embody the language, the character comes really naturally, especially when you put the costume on."

Lucy Liu, American Actress

Character, Language

26

"But I used to have a bit of a gambling problem. And that would have been the answer to my prayers. It got worse when I started playing this character, too."

"But I used to have a bit of a gambling problem. And that would have been the answer to my prayers. It got worse when I started playing this character, too."

Fisher Stevens, American Actor

Character, Gambling

26

"When I was doing Bean more than I've done him in the last few years, I did strange things - like appearing on chat shows in character as Mr. Bean."

"When I was doing Bean more than I've done him in the last few years, I did strange things - like appearing on chat shows in character as Mr. Bean."

Rowan Atkinson, English Comedian

Character, Years

26

"Actors have an unusual perspective on clothing. You've really got to know the impact of what you're wearing on the character you're playing."

"Actors have an unusual perspective on clothing. You've really got to know the impact of what you're wearing on the character you're playing."

Kyle MacLachlan, American Actor

Character, Actors, Perspective

26

"I am myself for a living. I don't animate a character."

"I am myself for a living. I don't animate a character."

James Taylor, American Musician

Character, Living

26

"Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good."

"Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good."

Ann Landers, American Journalist

Character, Measure, Mind

26

"We pledge to fight the dark forces high in the counsels of the Republican Party which have made political capital out of the techniques of character assassination by innuendo."

"We pledge to fight the dark forces high in the counsels of the Republican Party which have made political capital out of the techniques of character assassination by innuendo."

Emanuel Celler, American Politician

Character, Assassination, Fight, Party

26

"The Southern character is opposed to haste. Safety is of more worth than speed, and there is no hurry."

"The Southern character is opposed to haste. Safety is of more worth than speed, and there is no hurry."

Maria Mitchell, American Scientist

Character, Haste, Safety, Worth

26

"Character is better than ancestry, and personal conduct is of more importance than the highest."

"Character is better than ancestry, and personal conduct is of more importance than the highest."

Thomas John Barnardo, Irish Celebrity

Character, Ancestry, Importance

26

"There were some things that I found I really enjoyed singing about; like, on the title track, there's this film-noir character of a woman who's sort of losing it in a room."

"There were some things that I found I really enjoyed singing about; like, on the title track, there's this film-noir character of a woman who's sort of losing it in a room."

Diana Krall, Canadian Musician

Character, Film, Losing, Singing

26

"I couldn't deal with playing a character who rides motorcycles and has a leather jacket and is a tough kid, y'know?"

"I couldn't deal with playing a character who rides motorcycles and has a leather jacket and is a tough kid, y'know?"

Leonardo DiCaprio, American Actor

26

"Rascals are always sociable, more's the pity! and the chief sign that a man has any nobility in his character is the little pleasure he takes in others' company."

"Rascals are always sociable, more's the pity! and the chief sign that a man has any nobility in his character is the little pleasure he takes in others' company."

Arthur Schopenhauer, German Philosopher

Character, Company, Man, Nobility

26

"In Torch Song, I did that character almost non-stop from 1978 until I made the movie in 1987. Then I had some failure, which also colors how you react to doing other things."

"In Torch Song, I did that character almost non-stop from 1978 until I made the movie in 1987. Then I had some failure, which also colors how you react to doing other things."

Harvey Fierstein, American Actor

Character, Failure, Colors, Song

26

"Of all the stars whom I worked with, I think Steve knew better what worked for him on the screen than any other. He had such a sense of what he could register, and that helped a lot in terms of shaping the character and the script."

"Of all the stars whom I worked with, I think Steve knew better what worked for him on the screen than any other. He had such a sense of what he could register, and that helped a lot in terms of shaping the character and the script."

Robert Wise, American Producer

Character, Sense, Stars

26

"I was a Sedgewick without the smarts. It infused its way into me and I feel like it formed my character in a big way because of what I was exposed to."

"I was a Sedgewick without the smarts. It infused its way into me and I feel like it formed my character in a big way because of what I was exposed to."

Rob Morrow, American Actor

26

"If you respect yourself, you will respect others."

"If you respect yourself, you will respect others."

Lailah Gifty Akita, Ghanaian Author

Character, Respect, Self, Others, Honor

26

"So the laughs had to come from the character, not because we had balloons in our shirts or were speaking in high voices. That was very important to us."

"So the laughs had to come from the character, not because we had balloons in our shirts or were speaking in high voices. That was very important to us."

Kevin McDonald, Canadian Comedian

Character, Balloons

25

"Let no man write my epitaph... When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then shall my character be vindicated, then may my epitaph be written."

"Let no man write my epitaph... When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then shall my character be vindicated, then may my epitaph be written."

Robert Emmet, Irish Activist

Character, Country, Earth, Man

25

"It was a challenge to be able to create a character without being able to use one's normal set of expressions. All the rubber and makeup attached to your face left you with only a modest range of facial movements."

"It was a challenge to be able to create a character without being able to use one's normal set of expressions. All the rubber and makeup attached to your face left you with only a modest range of facial movements."

Helena Bonham Carter, British Actress

Character, Being, Challenge, Makeup

25

"What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?"

"What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?"

Henry James, American Writer

Character, Determination

25

"It was nice, though, to have the long term benefit to be able to pare away those things and eventually make the character my own and put my own unique stamp."

"It was nice, though, to have the long term benefit to be able to pare away those things and eventually make the character my own and put my own unique stamp."

Michael Shanks, Canadian Actor

25

"I think that you always have something left, that you take something of the character with you."

"I think that you always have something left, that you take something of the character with you."

Sean Bean, English Actor

25

"I am more spontaneous than my character."

"I am more spontaneous than my character."

Gillian Anderson, American Actress

25

"A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble."

"A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble."

Charles Spurgeon, British Clergyman

Character, Forget, Name, Will

25

"I wish I were a character actor. Of course, if I played hockey without a mask, I could become one."

"I wish I were a character actor. Of course, if I played hockey without a mask, I could become one."

Michael Vartan, French Actor

25

"She's a very charismatic character, and she holds the whole play together."

"She's a very charismatic character, and she holds the whole play together."

Neil Tennant, English Musician

Character, Play

25

"My only requirement for that first story was that there had to be a fight or an explosion on every page. Naturally, no one wanted to publish it, but I liked the character, did a few stories to keep my hand in."

"My only requirement for that first story was that there had to be a fight or an explosion on every page. Naturally, no one wanted to publish it, but I liked the character, did a few stories to keep my hand in."

Phil Foglio, American Cartoonist

Character, Fight, First

25

"I think my character's getting to the point where he can't even eat spaghetti with red sauce anymore, where he has horrible nightmares, he can't sleep anymore."

"I think my character's getting to the point where he can't even eat spaghetti with red sauce anymore, where he has horrible nightmares, he can't sleep anymore."

George Eads, American Actor

Character, Sleep

25

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