Best Character Quotes

My only job as an actor is to try and understand the character and, to the best of my ability, bring this character to life. ~ Patrick Warburton

I have two hammocks, one Mayan and one Guatemalan, both family size because I like to lie in them perpendicular. When I'm working on a character, I lie in them and daydream. They're the best tools for working that I have. ~ Mark Ruffalo

When you get to the point where you know the material so well and you know the character so well that you can just sort of play off of whoever your reader is - that's the best feeling at an audition. ~ Laura Spencer

I always think change is important in a character. The most dynamic choices that you can make for a character are always the best ones. ~ Peter Sarsgaard

I think the best way to become a character is by osmosis as opposed to thinking directly about stuff. ~ Theo James

I always say that I'm at my best when there's no example of what the character is supposed to be. I thrive when there's not much and I have to create it. ~ J. August Richards

It is with trifles, and when he is off guard, that a man best reveals his character. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer

Every character needs an adversary - one who is both challenging and a contrast for the hero. The best adversaries reveal something about the character they're contrasting. ~ Greg Rucka

Well, I'm not a method actress by any stretch of the imagination so the best thing that I can do is be as real as possible and find whatever commonality in that character that I can see myself. ~ Rashida Jones

'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' ends with the spaceship lands and Richard Dreyfuss' character best on, but a bunch of pilots and sailors from the 1940s get off. You kind of wanted to know what happened next. ~ Jonathan Nolan

The best novels are those that are important without being like medicine; they have something to say, are expansive and intelligent but never forget to be entertaining and to have character and emotion at their centre. ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I think, to me, I was always taught you never approach any character as a villain. Every human being on earth really believes that they're doing the best thing. We all have our rationalizations. ~ Alysia Reiner

When you're telling a story, the best stories, every character has an arc. Every one. And that arc is usually about finding yourself, or about at least finding something about yourself that you didn't know. ~ Roy Conli

By definition it uses and plays and delights in time. It delights in the interlacing of chronologies and the consequences of that interlacing. And those have personal and psychological expressions in a character. Aside from other issues of writing, psychological characterization is what narrative can do best. ~ Chang-rae Lee

One thing about our show that wasn't even in my awareness, but was brought to my attention by other people, is that our show is about these love-based relationships. Even though the characters are obviously going through different conflicts, you can really feel that the characters love each other. And they really try their best. ~ Steve Zissis

I love Vince McMahon. He came up with the Kurt Angle character. He ran with it, and then I was able to run with it. I thank him for the opportunity he gave me. Vince McMahon was one of my best friends, period. ~ Kurt Angle

I always want the audience to identify with my character in some way. I mean, sometimes you'll get characters that aren't very identifiable. Sometimes you can't relate to your character at all. I think it's important to keep the audience interested. But the best advice that I've gotten is to live in the moment. ~ Liana Liberato

My job as an actor is to serve the script. If I'm looking at it as to see what the best character is, then it's not really looking at the big picture. ~ Frank Grillo

The best complement I ever got from the public or producers or directors is that I just totally blend in and become the character and they don't notice me and that the play happens or the movie happens or the TV show happens. ~ J.K. Simmons

The contemporary crime novel is, at its best, a novel of character. That's where the suspense comes from. ~ Val McDermid

Most of the time when you see a movie, the best character in the movie is not "the guy," it's the guy next to the guy. ~ Anthony Mackie

Holden Caulfield is the best character in literature, period. ~ Josh Hutcherson

No one goes through life thinking that they're the best friend of the lead character. ~ Laura Carmichael

It's true in the beginning I started playing villains, and I think that's pretty clear, because if you don't conventionally look a certain way and you've got a certain kind of presence when you're young, then what's available to you is character roles, and the best character roles when you're young tend to be villains. ~ Willem Dafoe

The best characters are always wretchedly flawed ~ Danai Gurira

Character is doing your best.
Excellence is being the best. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

I know, because I tried all sorts of ways of being in character, and the best way is to be totally straight. ~ Tommy Chong

Best wines with character have abyss within. ~ Talismanist Giebra

I find that a lot of my best character stuff and ideas come unwittingly from novels. In scripts, it's a lot about the outward signs of whatever's happening - you have the end result. Whereas in a novel you get a buildup of the whys and wherefores, and you're let into the backstory. ~ Alison Pill

I tend to write about towns because that's what I remember best. You can put a boundary on the number of characters you insert into a small town. I tend to create a lot of characters, so this is a sort of restraint on the character building I do for a novel. ~ Tom Drury

I've always found as an actress that the best thing to do in film or TV or theater is just to lose yourself in it. Think of the story, the character, the worlds we're in, and forget everything else. ~ Helen Mirren

Comedy historians take note: this Gottfried character doesn't have the best eye for detail - and, for a Jew, he doesn't have the best eye for retail, either. ~ Gilbert Gottfried

I'm not too picky about guitars. I love to collect them, mostly oddballs, but I'm not married to any brand or model. Whatever guitar has the best character for the song is the one I want to use, because if you've got a style, you're going to sound like yourself no matter what guitar you play. ~ Dan Auerbach

Like De Niro. He's one of the best character actors we have ever had. ~ Vincent D'Onofrio

Anne Boleyn isn't a sympathetic character, but I like that she isn't a people pleaser. She's ambitious and manipulative, but she's honest. I'm biased, but I don't think a woman who has said 'no' to the King of England for six years would jump into bed with four of his best friends. She was a slick political mind. ~ Lydia Leonard

I'm always open to not necessarily to do leading roles because I want to do roles that are the best, character role. And sometimes, it's not going to be a leading role. It's going to be a smaller, supporting role. So really, I'm open to doing anything. ~ Josh Hutcherson

The best way to show an emotion is not through a character's words, but their smallest expressions - to take what an actor would visually do and try putting that down on the page for the reader to 'see.' ~ Susanna Kearsley

I once read the most widely understood word in the whole world is 'OK', followed by 'Coke', as in cola. I think they should do the survey again, this time checking for 'Game Over'.
Game Over is my favorite thing about playing video games. Actually, I should qualify that. It's the split second before Game Over that's my favorite thing.
Streetfighter II - an oldie but goldie - with Leo controlling Ryu. Ryu's his best character because he's a good all-rounder - great defensive moves, pretty quick, and once he's on an offensive roll, he's unstoppable. Theo's controlling Blanka. Blanka's faster than Ryu, but he's really only good on attack. The way to win with Blanka is to get in the other player's face and just never let up. Flying kick, leg-sweep, spin attack, head-bite. Daze them into submission.
Both players are down to the end of their energy bars. One more hit and they're down, so they're both being cagey. They're hanging back at opposite ends of the screen, waiting for the other guy to make the first move. Leo takes the initiative. He sends off a fireball to force Theo into blocking, then jumps in with a flying kick to knock Blanka's green head off. But as he's moving through the air he hears a soft tapping. Theo's tapping the punch button on his control pad. He's charging up an electricity defense so when Ryu's foot makes contact with Blanka's head it's going to be Ryu who gets KO'd with 10,000 volts charging through his system.
This is the split sec ~ Alex Garland

All significant truths are private truths. As they become public they cease to become truths; they become facts, or at best, part of the public character; or at worst, catchwords. ~ T. S. Eliot

You try to get to know your character as best as you can before you start filming - what's written and not written. ~ Paul Dano

We are poor in character when we think getting by is a substitute for doing our best. ~ Marvin J. Ashton

On 'Think Like a Man,' they got the best out of me because they allowed me to bring my own cadences and opinions to the character that I was playing. I think we got the best of that particular character. ~ Kevin Hart

On-screen relationships are the best because you don't have to worry about saying the wrong things. And if the guy's got a girlfriend, or I'm not attracted to him, it's even better. It's just my character kissing his character. ~ Alicia Witt

While I relish our warm months, winter forms our character and brings out our best. ~ Tom Allen

I always do whatever is best for the character. ~ Avan Jogia

IF" - I lie I am going to add the best features... the peoplea around = features will be taken to build the best character, then I am going to stick on the lie. This is the thingy which helps us to get out of... ~ Deyth Banger

Directly above them, framed in the doorway from the Brain Room, stood Albus Dumbledore, his wand aloft, his face white and furious. Harry felt a kind of electric charge surge through every particle of his body - they were saved. ~ J.K. Rowling

'The Dark Knight,' for me, has the same problem that every other 'Batman' movie has. It's not about Batman. I think Heath Ledger is just phenomenal and the character of the Joker is beautifully written. He has a particular philosophy that he carries throughout the movie. He has one of the best bad guy schemes. ~ Joss Whedon

Page 35, Evelyn: When you're given an opportunity to change your life, be ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen. The world doesn't give things, you take things. If you learn one thing from me, it should probably be that.

Page 147, Monique, after a hardball negotiation: I'm learning from the best. ~ Taylor Jenkins Reid

The thing should have plot and character, beginning, middle and end. Arouse pity and then have a catharsis. Those were the best principles I was ever taught. ~ Anne Rice

I always tell myself that when you're playing a character, pretend they're on trial and you're giving the best witness of their life. You really need to think about every element of the character and represent them properly, as if they were a real person. You want to give 100 percent of what they're worth and what they deserve as people. ~ Pauley Perrette

I'm a huge fan of BioWare games. I think they do some of the best character-building. I mean, I have a relationship with Thane from 'Mass Effect' that is as vivid as any crush that I've had on a TV-show character. ~ Felicia Day

A song in a musical works best when a character has to sing - when words won't do the trick anymore. The same idea applies to a long speech in a play or a movie or on television. You want to force the character out of a conversational pattern. ~ Aaron Sorkin

The preparation for building a series of thrillers based on a single character is kind of like the preparation for becoming a parent: The best part is the idea - wink, wink. ~ Harlan Coben

To keep your character intact you cannot stoop to filthy acts. It makes it easier to stoop the next time. ~ Katharine Hepburn

It does not work, that you only clean and perfume your body if you do not clean and perfume your character. All relations depend on your best character ~ Ehsan Sehgal

I love it when a character requires me to look less than my red-carpet best. ~ Kate Winslet

To note an artist's limitations is but to define his talent. A reporter can write equally well about everything that is presented to his view, but a creative writer can do his best only with what lies within the range and character of his deepest sympathies. ~ Willa Cather

It's not hard to read about death abstractly. I do find it tough when a character I love dies, of course. You can truly miss characters. Not like you miss people, but you can still miss them. ~ Will Schwalbe

There are, of course, the people who revolve around themselves
but I agree with you, she's not one of that kind. She's totally uninterested in herself. And yet she's got a strong character
there must be something. I thought at first it was her art
but it isn't. I've never met anyone so detached from life. That's dangerous.'
'Dangerous? What do you mean?'
'Well, you see
it must mean an obsession of some kind, and obsessions are always dangerous. ~ Agatha Christie

Assuming that you already have the respect of your team members This is one of the most common mistakes made by rookie managers. They think that merely by the process of their being inducted into management, they have already garnered the respect o their team members. The truth is, the only way you will come to be admired and respected by your team member is by the way in which you 'act'. You have to 'earn' your team's respect by showing your character, integrity and your skills to do things. You have to show them that there is a reason that you are here in the first place; and only then will you get the respect and admiration you seek from them. ~ Richard Klop

I love action films. I'd love to do an action drama. I'm always looking to give my character something action-oriented to do. ~ Taylor Lautner

Does talking to yourself in the voice of your fictional character count as being social? ~ Michelle M. Pillow

Good moral character is not something that we can achieve on our own. We need a culture that supports the conditions under which self-love and friendship flourish. ~ Aristotle.

It follows, therefore, that the church's evangelism ought to be one in which all the counsel of God is made known to men. We need a recovery of belief in the converting and sanctifying power of the living Word of God in the teaching of the pulpit, and its ability to transform the lives of men and produce in them the lineaments and fruits of mature Christian character. ~ William Still

It all goes so fast, and character makes the difference when it's close. ~ Jesse Owens

There can be no failure to a man who has not lost his courage, his character, his self respect, or his self-confidence. He is still a King. ~ Orison Swett Marden

I like to hear and smell the countryside, the land that my characters inhabit. I don't want these characters to step off the page, I want them to step out of the landscape. ~ Peter Matthiessen

This document outlines our plan to perpetrate insurance fraud, insider trading, and character assassination.
... hopefully tripling our paycheck on this job.
Okay, see? Those words I understand just fine. Use them more often.
-Lieutenant Massey Reynstein & Captain Tagon ~ Howard Tayler

A man whose fear is greater than his desire, or a man who has no great, all-consuming passion, or one who has patience and does not oppose, cannot be a pivotal character. ~ Lajos Ecri

Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within hearsay of little children tends toward the formation of character. ~ Hosea Ballou

'Sightseers' started off as a character comedy double act. ~ Alice Lowe

So I've tried to be this very eccentric character, and that works very well if you want to be a painter which I did once upon a time, if you want to be a musician which I did once upon a time. But if you want to make movies and you want to make challenging movies, you've got to be the sanest person in the room. ~ Tony Kaye

Wisdom is the right application of knowledge; and true education ... is the application of knowledge to the development of a noble and Godlike character. ~ David O. McKay

I've been making films with almost no dialogue (laughs), so sound and music become a very powerful character to tell the story. It's almost like with sound and music and images, it's your tool to tell the story, especially when I decide to structure the film in a way that usually goes against the conventions of the three-act structure which most films are made out of. ~ Nicolas Winding Refn

What our view of the effectiveness of religion in history does at once make evident as to its nature is
first, its necessary distinction; second, its necessary supremacy. These characters though external have been so essential to its fruitfulness, as to justify the statement that without them religion is not religion. A merged religion and a negligible or subordinate religion are no religion. ~ William Ernest Hocking

The act of writing involves documenting and studiously examining interactions of all aspects of the self, the environment, and culture. Writing is an illustrious act of self-expression. Writing resembles a 'coming of the age' story because the ongoing process of defining a person's personality and character is representative of the synergistic product of the continuous and cumulative interaction of an organic self with the world, the constant process of developing psychological, social, cognitive and ethical self. ~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Take care of your kid's character, and everything will follow after that. Character is everything ~ Dennis Prager

If everything is smooth sailing right from the beginning, we cannot become people of substance and character. By surmounting paining setbacks and obstacles, we can create a brilliant history of triumph that will shine forever. That is what makes life so exciting and enjoyable. In any field of endeavour, those who overcome hardships and grow as human beings are advancing towards success and victory in life. ~ Daisaku Ikeda

I always look for contradiction in a character. ~ Rebecca Hall

Lord, save me from the sins of my tongue and the flaws of character that fuel them. Make my words honest (by taking away my fear), few (by taking away my self-importance), wise (by taking away my thoughtlessness), and kind (by taking away my indifference and irritability). Amen. ~ Timothy Keller

His manners were less pure, but his character was equally amiable with that of his father. Twenty-two acknowledged concubines, and a library of sixty-two thousand volumes, attested the variety of his inclinations, and from the productions which he left behind him, it appears that the former as well as the latter were designed for use rather than ostentation. ~ Edward Gibbon

Every time I've built character, I've regretted it. ~ Bill Watterson

Now, personally, I like a car with some sort of character. ~ Richard Hammond

A common excuse for self-preservation through disobedience is offense. There is a false sense of self-protection in harboring an offense. It keeps you from seeing your own character flaws because the blame is deferred to another. You never have to face your role, your immaturity, or your sin because you see only the faults of the offender. Therefore, God's attempt to develop character in you by this opposition is now abandoned. The offended person will avoid the source of the offense and eventually flee, becoming a spiritual vagabond. ~ John Bevere

He had not forgiven Anne Elliot. She had used him ill, deserted and disappointed him; and worse, she had shewn a feebleness of character in doing so, which his own decided, confident temper could not endure. She had given him up to oblige others. It had been the effect of over-persuasion. It ~ Jane Austen

If I watch 'Gone With the Wind,' I always find it interesting. I think, 'What's going to happen next? What's that character going to do?' But you know, you never really need to watch the films you made again. They stay inside you, always with you. ~ Olivia De Havilland

The Bible is forbidding when you start to read it. The language is odd. The stories start and stop herkily-jerkily. The characters behave in inexplicable ways. It takes a little bit of time to get into the rhythm of the book. I found reading the first 15 chapters of Genesis very very difficult. Once I got past there, I loved reading, and found it very easy. When you get used to the Bible, it becomes thrilling to read (like any great book - I just had exactly the same experience with the Odyssey). ~ David Plotz

Your words may be heard but your attitude will be felt. Your attitude reveals your character so never try to deceive anyone with mere words. Word/Talk is cheap but character is key. It costs nothing to be authentic. Learn to be a man or woman of substance! ~ Kemi Sogunle

God has made us so that we must be mutually dependent. We may ignore our own dependence, or refuse to acknowledge that others depend upon us in more respects than the payment of weekly wages; but the thing must be, nevertheless. Neither you nor any other master can help yourselves. The most proudly independent man depends on those around him for their insensible influence on his character - his life. ~ Elizabeth Gaskell

Concentrating when it's the hardest is what builds character ~ Barbara Delinsky

I don't judge people by their accent, or how they word things, or how grammatically correct their speech is. Some of the smartest men in the world couldn't spell. I judge a person by their character. ~ Larry The Cable Guy

It takes stamina to get up like an athlete every single night, seven to eight performances a week, 20 weeks in a row. And there are many young performers who only learn their craft in the two minute bits it takes to film a scene. You never learn the arc of storytelling, the arc of a character that way. ~ Kevin Spacey

You can't develop character by reading books. You develop it from conflict. ~ Leonard Ravenhill

I write characters that are based on elements of people I know and experiences I've really had. ~ Aziz Ansari

One might have thought you had never met my aunt Georgiana," said Rollo, with the steeliness of despair. "She is the one with the false curls and glowing eyes and smoke rising from her jaws. Do not you recollect her?"
"She did strike me as possessing unusual force of character," admitted Damerell. ~ Zen Cho

I really believe in the characters I play. ~ Minnie Driver

It also helps develop character traits in individuals that are in harmony with the infinite and vast love of the Divine as well as the needs of our struggling earth. ~ Chris Saade

We have to start processing what we're really made of in America. American character is not dead. American integrity and honesty are not dead. When we're backed up against the wall against the largest corporations in the history of corporations, it's there. ~ Josh Fox

Fiction is about intimacy with characters, events, places. ~ Robert Morgan