Great Character Quotes

Oscar is the exact opposite of how I think you should behave. I just think of it as a negative view of the positive mind I have. Big Bird is sweet and nice and also sympathetic, as kids can identify with him even though he looks like such a bizarre character - great 8 feet 2 inches, a beak 18 inches long. ~ Caroll Spinney

Some songs depend heavily on the character, but, for the most part, a great song begs for reinterpretation every time it is sung, even when in character. ~ Kelli O'Hara

Tim [Omundson] is just so wonderfully delicious. He has the sexiest beard on television. He's such a fabulous actor, and a great character. ~ J. Robbins

It was Miss Murdstone who was arrived, and a gloomy-looking lady she was; dark, like her brother, whom she greatly resembled in face and voice; and with very heavy eyebrows, nearly meeting over her large nose, as if, being disabled by the wrongs of her sex from wearing whiskers, she had carried them to that account. She brought with her two uncompromising hard black boxes, with her initials on the lids in hard brass nails. When she paid the coachman she took her money out of a hard steel purse, and she kept the purse in a very jail of a bag which hung upon her arm by a heavy chain, and shut up like a bite. I had never, at that time, seen such a metallic lady altogether as Miss Murdstone was. ~ Charles Dickens

My influences were Peter Sellers and the great British character actors. ~ Tracey Ullman

I hate shows, personally, where people stand around tossing stuff at each other, and any character can say any line, because you don't believe any of these characters care for each other. I used to fight with my friends who wrote on 'Seinfeld,' because they had such great pride in saying it was a show about nothing. ~ Bill Lawrence

Jane sobbed even harder, not noticing the sounds of footsteps coming up behind her. A cold wind blew, and she shivered in it. As her eyes hung between tears, she looked out and saw a shape where the car had been. It was a figure, slim and wrapped in a gray shroud. Almost the whole body was covered, save for a single blue eye that stared at her intently. Jane stared back until she felt a warm hand touch her shoulder and a cold voice whisper in her ear.
"You are never alone. ~ Eric Nierstedt

Because I killed a guy in real life, and because my character kills a guy onstage, they said I could never do anything this great again. I resented that. ~ Charles S. Dutton

You made an offering of a battle of gods and demons," Joshua said. "That kind of offer does not go unnoticed. You awoke the souls of your kinsmen inside the mortals they have become. ~ Eric Nierstedt

I said, 'Wouldn't it be great if Matt Damon's character fell in love with a girl with a real butt?' They were like, 'Yeah sure, sure - here's your personal trainer.' ~ Franka Potente

Reduced to its lowest terms, the great struggle which now rocks the whole earth more and more takes on the character of a struggle of the individual versus the state. ~ J. Reuben Clark

Michael is a funny character, for whom I have a great deal of affection. He sat across his desk and seemed to be a bit of a blunt fellow. We began talking about the characters and he opened up about his vision. ~ Madeleine Stowe

Whenever I've done a sketch in which I'm asked to play a mom, my brain goes to Minnesota. It makes the character seem matronly, warm, the kind of person that takes care of you and brings you Campbell's soup when you're sick. It's a great shortcut. ~ Allison Tolman

The reason we see hypocrisy and fraud and unreality in others is because they are all in our own hearts. The great characteristic of a saint is humility-Yes, all those things and other evils would have been manifested in me but for the grace of God, therefore I have no right to judge. ~ Oswald Chambers

That is the voice of a place like this, where dead voices echo. They attract men and women of all kinds.
But only certain gods visit here… ~ Eric Nierstedt

I think it's really great to be able to stick with a character for a long period of time. It's not like you have one shot, and that's it. ~ Christina Ricci

I think all writers are armchair psychologists to some degree or another, and I think a character's sexuality is fascinating. It's a great way to really get at the root of their identity, because it's such a personal thing. ~ Alan Ball

You can have a great character in a really bad script, and the film will never be seen. It's just too much work to commit to a film and not have it released. ~ Devin Ratray

Funny to watch these Senators switching back and forth on Prohibition. Politics is a great character builder. You have to take a referendum to see what your convictions are for that day. ~ Will Rogers

Jesus wasn't just a great character, a hero figure for subsequent generations to look up to. He was announcing good news - something that was happening and has now happened, something that changes the world. And either he was right or he was wrong. ~ N. T. Wright

I've found that good dialogue tells you not only what people are saying or how they're communicating but it tells you a great deal - by dialect and tone, content and circumstance - about the quality of the character. ~ E. O. Wilson

The ability to stretch my range into all genres and characters is something I take great pleasure in doing. I thoroughly enjoy it. I consider myself a character actor, though some think of me as a leading man. As an actor, I love shifting gears from character to character, and the more range I can expand, the better. ~ Brian Tee

The American women are very pretty and have great simplicity of character, and the extreme neatness of their appearance is truly delightful: cleanliness is everywhere even more studiously attended to here than in England. ~ Marquis De Lafayette

A great character, founded on the living rock of principle is, in fact, not a solitary phenomenon, to be at once perceived, limited, and described. It is a dispensation of Providence, designed to have not merely an immediate, but a continuous, progressive, and never-ending agency. It survives the man who possessed it; survives his age,
and perhaps, his country, his language. ~ Edward Everett

I'm okay if people don't know who I am, but if you remember my character that would be great. ~ America Ferrera

I would say that it's mainly about the director. It's a hard quality to find, but I always know whether I want to do something or not. The character is important to me, as is getting to work with people that I feel like I can learn from and make a great movie with. ~ Alden Ehrenreich

Inspector Rebus is a great character, so when the opportunity came up to revive the role for 'BBC Children in Need,' and really have a bit of fun with it, I was happy to take part. ~ Ken Stott

Everyone in this world is dealt a different hand-some better, some worse than others-but what's more important is how you play that hand. This is what builds character. And with great character comes great reward. ~ Christine Ha

The history of all the great characters of the Bible is summed up in this one sentence: They acquainted themselves with God, and acquiesced His will in all things. ~ Richard Cecil

'Supernatural' was great because my character changed so much from beginning to end, always keeping me on my toes. ~ Julie McNiven

Soaps are great. You learn to work very fast - some say superficially, but that's not really true. You do some very serious character work. I've never had any feelings about a stigma attached to it, and nowadays there seems to be less snobbery about what you do. More and more big names are doing TV and commercials and voiceovers. ~ Charles Shaughnessy

[H]e looked like a real bruiser as he stepped from his car, his big sunglasses giving the impression that a large bug had evolved to the point that it could wear a suit. ~ John Connolly

There aren't as many roles, and I think there's a lack of openness in casting an Asian character in a leading role or unless they're a stereotype. It's been hard. I've been able to play some non-stereotypical roles, which is great, but I have a lot of Asian actor friends who are struggling. ~ Kimiko Glenn

It's always great to play a character that goes against the grain. Finn defies what people think when they think of stormtroopers. ~ John Boyega

If we get to shoot the third one, which I'm really hoping we do, the third one's great. There's a big uprising and rebellion, and my character Gale's a big part of that. If we get to shoot that, I'll be very, very pleased. ~ Liam Hemsworth

Pretty much anything William Shatner is in is great. He's great at playing that 'I'm the only one sane in the world' character. ~ Lin-Manuel Miranda

I've always been a believer in research. It's great to have an instinctual human reaction to a character, too, of course, but it has to be countered with knowledge and understanding. ~ Chiwetel Ejiofor

You can take the high moral ground intellectually, but if it ever happens to you personally, I don't know that I could honestly say that I wouldn't want to kill someone who took someone away from me. So, it's a rich, fertile ground for great characters and great storytelling. That was the impetus. ~ Richard LaGravenese

As an actor, you're constantly searching for that great character. Also, being a history buff and learning about people in our past and amazing things that they've done, I came across a book about Howard Hughes and he was set up as basically, the most multi-dimensional character I could ever come across. Often, people have tried to define him in biographies, but no one seems to be able to categorize him. ~ Leonardo DiCaprio

I took 'em because nobody else had found 'em yet. I brought 'em here ta be protected from mortals that didn't know the kinda power they once had, that might try ta unlock it again. ~ Eric Nierstedt

Good actors, especially when they know their character, will come in and either tell you in advance that they have an idea, or in the middle of the rehearsal or the scene they'll let it loose and you go, 'Ah that's great.' ~ Denis Leary

A film is a great deal about what you see, and the silhouette of a character tells you a lot. I'd love to go into film costume. ~ Clemence Poesy

Yeah, 'Feed the Dog' is just a really fun, teenage movie with Nat Wolff and Selena Gomez and all these other great people. It's just so silly-funny, and my character's super-fun. ~ Heather Graham

There are so many great characters because one of the things that makes Batman fantastic is that Batman is tragic. I've said this elsewhere; I've said it over and over again, but the beauty of the character is that he's a Don Quixote. ~ Greg Rucka

That's where everything starts, as an actor: you've gotta have great writing and great character development, and then you have really great materials to work from. ~ Matt Lauria

I pray God that whoever will lead our country may be, in his heart, as much Pashtun as Tajik, as much Uzbek as Hazara. That his wife may counsel and assist him; that he may choose advisors of great character and wisdom. That books may replace weapons, that education may teach us to respect one another, that our hospitals may be worthy of their mission, and that our culture may be reborn from the ruins of our pillaged museums. That the camps of famished refugees may disappear from our borders, and that the bread the hungry eat be kneaded by their own hands.

I will do more than pray, because when the last talib has put away his black turban and I can be a free woman in a free Afghanistan, I will take up my life there once more and do my duty as a citizen, as a woman, and, I hope, as a mother. ~ Latifa

Parts like Morse don't grow on trees. He's a great character. ~ John Thaw

I love singing and I think I have a really nice voice, but I don't think I have an unbelievable singing voice. I think I have a great character voice. ~ Katie Finneran

'The Sun' had a good relationship with Frank Bruno. We did lots of interviews. He was a great character, very friendly to the media. ~ Rebekah Brooks

Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character. ~ Henry Clay

Mike Leigh encourages you to choose a person that you know to base your character on. You write a whole list of people that you know and you go through that list in great depth with him. And then he chooses one of those people from your list. ~ Jane Horrocks

I remember my first commercial. This is really great 'Degrassi' trivia: The character Toby on 'Degrassi,' played by Jake Goldsbie, he and I were in both of our first commercial ever when we were four. It was for Tiger Toys, this old Game Boy-type thing. Both of our lines were, 'Mommy, I can do it!' ~ Charlotte Arnold

The great advantage of having a bear as a central character is that he can combine the innocence of a child with the sophistication of an adult. ~ Michael Bond

I had been very impressed with the voiceover of 'Apocalypse Now,' with Martin Sheen's voice. That was a great voiceover; it really internalized the Martin Sheen character, who was essentially fairly low key and didn't say a lot during the whole movie. But he thought a lot, so I always thought that was really great. ~ Ridley Scott

Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

Any great character is the combination of a brilliant actor and the right writing. ~ Brad Falchuk

I never would rule out a great character or a great story. I don't care what the forum is. If I get to tell a story that I'm excited about, I'm in. ~ Katherine Heigl

The great thing about films is that you have access to this whole world of experts who teach you the skills your character's supposed to have. ~ Joseph Fiennes

The English tradition offers the great tapestry novel, where you have the emotional aspect of a detective's personal life, the circumstances of the crime and, most important, the atmosphere of the English countryside that functions as another character. ~ Elizabeth George

The director Denis [Villeneuve] is actually an actor (he's from Sons of Anarchy and he's a great character actor) and he's also a screenwriter (he wrote What Lies Beneath). It blows my mind to see when people from one sector move to another and excel. I think Sicario was one of the best directed and written films. It did get [a nomination for best] cinematography, though. ~ Bun B.

Even with a stable character, you want something surprising to happen, hopefully because that's what the camera loves the most. That's what is great about film. ~ Annette Bening

I think making a great action movie is one of the hardest cinematic endeavors. By definition, smart characters avoid action. Smart people don't go down dark alleys, but if you're making an action movie and you want to have an action sequence, somehow you have to get that character into that dangerous situation. ~ Doug Liman

Invariably will you find perseverance exemplified as the radical principle in every truly great character. It facilitates, perfects, and consolidates the execution of the plan conceived, and renders profitable its results when attained. By continuing to advance steadily in the same way, light constantly increases, obstacles disappear, efficient habits are confirmed, experience is acquired, the use of the best means is reduced to easy action, and success becomes more sure. ~ Elias Lyman Magoon

Character is what you are in the dark. ~ D.L. Moody

It's always great when a director is just supportive of what you're doing. They're not so much critiquing you but giving you more ideas, giving you tons of things to work with, making you question your character and making you think about it ... and making it seem like everything is limitless. That usually helps a lot. ~ Emma Roberts

The camera lens or the television camera is still just a proscenium arch. And as a great old character actor once said to me, wherever you're acting, you reach up and take hold of the proscenium arch, and you pull it down around your shoulders. ~ Robert Preston

Manchester is a city which has witnessed a great many stirring episodes, especially of a political character. Generally speaking, its citizens have been liberal in their sentiments, defenders of free speech and liberty of opinion. ~ Emmeline Pankhurst

With Aquaman I worked with such talented guys, Ivan Reis and Joe Prado. And he's a great character. I mean, Aquaman's a great character, he just hasn't been positioned in a role of importance in a long, long time. We tried to do that in this series; give him this platform because he deserves it, and give a very different perception of Aquaman while at the same time staying true to who the character is. Showing his power level, his fortitude, his sense of honor and commitment and responsibility, and hopefully showing everything that makes a hero a hero. ~ Geoff Johns

Every great character, Iz, be it on page or screen, is multidimensional. The good guys aren't all good, the bad guys aren't all bad, and any character wholly one or the other shouldn't exist at all. Remember this when I describe the antics that follow, for though I am not a villain, I am not immune to villainy. ~ David Arnold

He was in his mid-thirties, tall and pale and thin, with long, sandy hair and rimless glasses, dressed in brown polyester pants, cheap brown shoes, and a light tan shirt. He looked like someone had put a wig on a giraffe and run it through the local Target. ~ John Connolly

Be grateful for the joy of life. Be glad for the privilege of work. Be thankful for the opportunity to give and serve. Good work is the great character-builder, the sweetener of life, the maker of destiny. Let the spirit of your work be right, and whether your task be great or small you will then have the satisfaction of knowing it is worth while. ~ Grenville Kleiser

If screenwriters have to kill off a female character, they love to give her cancer. We've seen so many great actresses go down to the Big C: Ali MacGraw, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Debra Winger, Susan Sarandon. ~ Geraldine Brooks

What appealed to me about 'The Loved Ones' script was that it had this really theatrical element to it. I thought that the scope of this character is so broad, and there is so much fun to be had playing a crazy teenage loner. It was a great way to explore the delusions a mind can create. ~ Robin McLeavy

One of the great things and one of the horrible things about the American character is this extraordinary optimism and arrogance that everything will continue to be great and keep looking up. ~ John Wells

A great character needs trials to overcome - experiences to give them depth, to make them vulnerable, relatable, and likable. Good characters need hardships to make them strong. The idea makes sense, but it still sucks if you're the heroine. ~ Kelly Oram

A lot of directors are great and they are fine but you know I think that Harry really takes a special point to really engage the actors and really make it feel like a safe place for them to explore whatever it is they want to explore in whatever scene with their character. ~ Will Estes

I wasn't the biggest Captain America fan, but increasingly, I see him as a great character. Winter Soldier really got into what it meant to actually represent America. ~ Ta-Nehisi Coates

So if you want to have a great video game-based movie you have to keep the mood of the game, use the normal character setup - but you have to flesh out the story and provide more background for the characters. ~ Uwe Boll

Among those who are satisfactory in this respect it is desirable to have represented as great a diversity of intellectual tradition, social milieu and personal character as possible. ~ Talcott Parsons

You do Batman right, and he's going to be popular. He's a great character. I was once asked by somebody if writing 'Batman' was like holding a Ming vase or something. And I said, 'No, it's like holding a big-ass diamond that you can't break. You can throw him against the ceiling, against the floor, anywhere, and you just can't break Batman.' ~ Frank Miller

I'm a great believer in the character of a club. To me, character has a lot to do with how you compete. That creates urgency and toughness. That elevates the talent that you have. ~ Tony La Russa

She turned back to the spot where Kamala had been, and where the bow she'd held still was. Andrea walked over to it and picked it up. She ran her hands over it gently, feeling the intricate designs carved into it, the elegance of the metal guard. Andrea held it out before her and pulled the string back. It came easily, though with all the tensions of a thousand taut muscles. She relaxed the string and looked at the bow with a sad familiarity, as she uttered one word.
"Sister. ~ Eric Nierstedt

I think the most important technique is to ground everything, to make everything - to make fantasy world grounded and relatable, just great characters. ~ Timur Bekmambetov

All you ever really want is a great character and great writing. As an actor, that's the juiciest sandwich you could ever ask for. ~ Jill Scott

I like the sensibility of Australian film a lot and the crews are fantastic. Great characters, wonderful people and no line between - I think in Hollywood they have this line between actors and crew a lot, and that just didn't exist, which I really appreciated. ~ Barbara Hershey

I don't make movies about issues. This is my same litmus test for all the movies I love: Is it a great character on a great emotional quest with a great emotional need? Do they overcome great emotional obstacles? Is it a fantastic story? I didn't set out to be a political activist. I'm just a human being who's moved by certain things, and if certain things break my heart, I set out to fix them. ~ Kimberly Peirce

As a writer, it's a great narrative tool to have that character who is slightly detached but at the same time observant of his reality, because I think that's pretty much what being a writer is - being there, watching and internalizing. ~ Dinaw Mengestu

Deal honestly and objectively with yourself; intellectual honesty and personal courage are the hallmarks of great character. ~ Brian Tracy

Great power requires great character if it is to be a blessing and not a curse, and that character is something we only grow toward. ~ Dallas Willard

You learn by playing a great team, and I'm talking about character things, not hockey technique. ~ Paul Coffey

I'm character-driven. If it's a great character and something different; because I find that a lot of the times you do get pigeon-holed, you do get the same characters over and over again because that's what producers are comfortable with. They've seen you do it, they know you can do it. I'm kind of getting a little stir crazy. ~ A. J. Cook

Perhaps because my background is theatrical, I have a great affinity with the classics. Hamlet has always been a character of great interest to me and a character I would really love to play. Or a character in a Tennessee Williams play, maybe Tom in 'The Glass Menagerie.' ~ Adhir Kalyan

My mother and I will continue on some level that I haven't determined yet. I think my mother's a great character, and I have to say that giving my mother to the world has to be the biggest thrill of my writing career. ~ James Ellroy

No one cared when you were doing nothing. If they now criticize, ridicule, & character assassinate you means you're doing something great... ~ Assegid Habtewold

I am still bowled over by this great young adult novel by David Levithan called 'Every Day,' which is about a character with no gender or body who wakes up every day in the body of a different person. It's a really impressive execution of a really great premise. ~ John Green

There's a potter that lived back in the 1800s, in Biloxi, Mississippi, and his name was George Ohr. He was of Russian descent, but they called him the "Mad Potter of Biloxi." I'd love to do a great character study and comedy about that guy's life. That would be my dream role. I know it's an oddball thing, but it's true. He lived at the turn of the century, in the 1800s. ~ Lance Henriksen

When you're doing lots and lots of episodes and you're playing the same character, it's great because you really get to know the character and it becomes a really fast style and you find subtleties in it. ~ Misha Collins

It could be a great script but the director is not the right person for me to work for at this time. So there are a lot of elements that come into play and a lot of variables, but more than anything it's got to be a great script and a great character. ~ Blair Underwood

I put ordinary people in jeopardy and give them the opportunity to be heroic. Then there's a great payoff for the reader at the end, when the heroic character gets what he or she deserves. Readers will come back again and again if they feel satisfied at the end. ~ Terri Blackstock

I don't have one specific dream role: I'm an actor, so I want to play everything. In this business, they'll pigeonhole you in two seconds if you're great at the role you play. Everyone assumes that you're really just like that character. ~ Jaime Pressly