Likable Characters Quotes

ABOUT SENTIMENTALITY IN LITERATURE:
"Sentimental fiction is a kind of pablum: Excessive amounts can spoil the appetite for reality, or at least for more fibrous forms of art. One reason, surely, why readers throw down books when they don't contain sufficiently "likable" characters is that their tolerance for any sort of moral challenge - for being asked, say, to sympathize with homeless little boys who are godless and truculent and a bit smelling - has been eroded by too many fairy tales masquerading as adult literature."~ wrote Zoe Heller for Bookends in the Sunday's NY Times Book Review interview ~ Alice Simpson

Since 1977, there have been many science fiction movies, but none has managed to equal [ A New Hope 's] blend of adventure, likable characters, and epic storytelling. ~ James Berardinelli

I was the nerdy one. I always played those kind of characters until Mad Men. ~ Christina Hendricks

I just have my own taste, and I just try and stick with that. I'm just trying to play as many characters as I can for as long as I have an opportunity to. ~ Ryan Gosling

The great thing was that as soon as Aidan and I met we clicked, we instantly knew we were going to get along and the more time we spend together, the more we've developed a brotherly bond that's helped us figure out the dynamic of our characters. ~ Dean O'Gorman

What do you do in a novel? You take recognizable characters from your own life, and you fantasize about what they're really like. ~ Joe Klein

Strong characters are brought out by change of situation, and gentle ones by permanence. ~ Jean Paul

I knew who Leonard Nimoy was, and that he embodied what Star Trek meant to all the fans. But it wasn't until I started doing my research for this movie, and started going to fan sites, that I began to fall in love with these characters. ~ Zoe Saldana

The main reason for rewriting is not to achieve a smooth surface, but to discover the inner truth of your characters. ~ Saul Bellow

Dialogue is the place that books are most alive and forge the most direct connection with readers. It is also where we as writers discover our characters and allow them to become real. ~ Laini Taylor

I saw what luck and success I had as an opportunity to twist it up and do something different, so I've always sought out different genres and different kinds of characters. ~ Harrison Ford

I think every time there's a show like 'Modern Family' or 'Will & Grace' that portray gay and lesbian characters and is successful, it just further opens the door. ~ Steven Levitan

I somewhere along the way became fascinated with exploring characters who are willing to put themselves into violent situations, whether it's football, hockey, boxing, being a cop, being a soldier. There's not a lot of people who are willing to put themselves into those situations. ~ Peter Berg

Then with Lucy [Hale], her little thing that I kind of learned from her is her country music because she's obsessed with country and at the beginning, I wasn't a huge fan of it, but I was listening to some songs that she plays in the hair and makeup room and she's also so funny, too. She does these character impersonations and they're just so funny. Made up characters of course, but she can switch into someone else so fast. I'm always laughing at Lucy and she's like a little Polly Pocket, you know? The tiny one. ~ Shay Mitchell

I don't know if likeable, pleasant characters have enough conflict for me to want to do them. I admire those people, but I've never been that kind of screen presence who can do nothing. I need to do something. ~ Michael Douglas

And I've been acting for 39 years, so I define characters differently than I did in say Miami Vice. ~ Edward James Olmos

I'm an incredibly emotional person, but I always feel bad about that. The work is therapy ... I need to emote wildly while I write. I weep. I'll laugh, get excited, and get up and pace. I try to take the emotional journey with the characters. ~ Matthew Quick

The ability to engage the reader, to stir feelings deep within their being, is the ultimate goal of erotic fiction. When the reader takes the place of the characters in my story, I have succeeded ~ Sasha Holden

The average message is now just over 100 characters - Twitter-sized, in fact. ~ Christian Rudder

The truth is that filmmaking is not really an actor's medium; it's really a director's medium, so all I can really control is the character that I'm playing. So I try to look for characters that are interesting and engaging and different than what I've done before and hopefully it becomes a good movie. ~ John C. Reilly

As a kid, I drew cartoon characters and comic book heroes. Spiderman and the X-Men were my favorites. ~ Kadir Nelson

Frank Marth also played many characters with us, and like George Petrie, he was worth his weight in gold. ~ Audrey Meadows

This is one of the ways fiction is more liberating than nonfiction - I don't have to be so concerned with fact. I had the paradigm of certain people in my head who became my characters, but I never considered these people to be from a "certain sector of society," unless we agree that we're all from certain sectors of society. ~ Said Sayrafiezadeh

Humor is so subjective, not everyone is going to get what you are peddling. Others will be offended when what you meant no offense whatsoever. Those are the stakes. You have to be able to stand up for yourself and what you've written. Comedy pushes limits, makes people uncomfortable, and is a natural reaction to the environment. Otherwise, as I said, it is forced. Let it flow and give your characters permission to cross a line or two, but only if you can take the heat afterward. ~ Darynda Jones

The man halted in front of Dylan, giving a considering hum as those honey-coloured eyes looked him over. A dozen little silver and gold rings and cuffs adorned the elf's ears. They glittered in the early light as the man tipped his head up.
Dylan straightened his back, resisting the urge to shuffle on the spot.
Something familiar lingered in the way the man's lips twisted. "You seemed rather less tall in the dark. No matter. What is it that they say in the army when handing over charge of you to another?" Tracker snapped his fingers. "Ah, yes. I believe it is… your arse is mine. ~ Aldrea Alien

We are characters - spoken and shaped down to the rhythms of the electrons in our toe fungus. But we are also active. We have been shaped in the Shaper's image. ~ N.D. Wilson

Strong characters of their sort tend to gravitate together. Pride has a part to play in it, and other emotions too. Neither wishes to fail; each redoubles their effort to impress. Things get done - but not always the right things or not always the things expected. and there's not much you can do to stop it. ~ Jonathan Stroud

There is no need to change my image. I like my image, and the audience likes it, too. I am very comfortable with the kind of roles I do, and as I am not doing the same character or playing myself. I explore my characters; I don't brood over my broody image. ~ Randeep Hooda

Actors always want to know how I come up with interesting and creative takes on characters, characters that aren't like me as I appear in daily life and that aren't like each other. It's simple: I let the lines and images connect with my imagination. I don't worry about consistency; I let myself respond moment by moment, piecemeal, to the character's dialogue and actions. Then I let my responses take me wherever they go, making mistakes and discarding them until choices start repeating themselves on their own no matter how arbitrary they seem at first. Then I know I'm on to something. But I don't try to put the character together. I leave it in pieces. The script and story put the character together so my moment by moment performance seems like a creative take on the whole character. ~ Harold Guskin

The film I do doesn't have to be a film that only my kids can watch. My kids will watch films, but I will decide what they watch and not. My aim is to play different characters and not be stuck in a mould. Just because you are a mom and a wife doesn't meant you have to play those roles, even in films. ~ Madhuri Dixit

But I want you to know," Cleo continued, "that there is hope. And that I am living proof of that hope. Because, even though I was forced into this marriage against my will, I have come to know Prince Magnus Lukas Damora very well these last months. And one thing I've learned is that Prince Magnus is nothing like his father. Prince Magnus is brave and compassionate, and he truly wants what's just and best for this kingdom. Kindness is what makes a good king who will put the needs and rights of his people before his own desires. ~ Morgan Rhodes

The goal, I suppose, any fiction writer has, no matter what your subject, is to hit the human heart and the tear ducts and the nape of the neck and to make a person feel something about the characters are going through and to experience the moral paradoxes and struggles of being human. ~ Tim O'Brien