Frank Vincent Quotes

In a series, you really need to stay open-minded. It's not like a play or a film, where you can create and fully commit to your character's back-story.

The world is full of novels in which characters simply say and do. There are certainly legitimate genres in which this is sufficient. But in real and lasting writing the character is.

I like my characters to be ones I think about long after I've finished reading the script.

I have to have a character worth caring about. I tend not to start writing books about people I don't have a lot of sympathy for because I'm just going to be with them too long.

The most I could hope for is to come and try and develop a character who is interesting, who is interesting to me, who is interesting to fans and who could contribute to the storytelling that is 'Law & Order: SVU.'

Also, in my acting, I feel very much like a storyteller, exploring the flaws of the characters that I interpret. I look for the imperfections, and I love a character that is just so flawed.

I seem to have to make my characters family before I can access their hearts in any way that matters.

The action genre is not always the most synonymous with character development.

I can always tell when a filmmaker doesn't care about his or her characters; they just care about setting them up to kill them off.

The audience has to understand that if the film is going to have any meaning for them. If they are going to empathize with the characters, they have to visualize the process of concentration involved in making every move.

I do build my own backstory as an actor. It's important to know where your characters have come from in order to know where they're going - in order to exist in that state of being.

When you get into a film, it is one story and one set development of a character, and you are able to delve into one character for a short period of time and discover everything about them.

My favorite roles usually have to do with the story, if it's a good story I usually enjoy doing the character.

I am good when there is something central about the character. There is always a human theme I attach myself to. I am really looking for something that is moving or enlightening or something with depth as an actor. I look for these kinds of roles.

I feel like any actor should always be thinking about how to serve the story. The thing to be cautious of is trying to make too much of your 'moment,' or whatever. The story is a lot bigger than you, and you're there to help it along.

Developing characters is a strange thing. In the beginning they are abstract and I wonder how to move on from there.

Once you have your characters, they tell you what to write, you don't tell them.

The bottom line always remains the same: What is the basic humanity of the character? How do I make them resonate with the reader?

Often the starting point for characters, for me, is finding a little, most minor detail, and I'll go from there.

When I look at a character, whether he's good or bad, one scene or 10 scenes, I just have to find my way in.

I've always felt, even with sketches, that if you don't care about these people, then it doesn't matter.

When I'm breaking in a character like Jessica Jones, I have this amazing opportunity to create her backstory. It's all of the work that happens before I'm ever on camera... Writing 'Bonfire' was like doing all of that fun stuff; it was like 300 pages of prep work.

When you create a character, you create it for yourself - you do whatever you want. It's your job to explore it in as many different avenues as you can in order to make it a fully wounded character.

Stories are important, but I'm really into characters, and if you can give birth to a good one, that's true success.

I'm interested in telling stories about characters that are interesting and who are challenging in some way, one that will make you think about them afterwards.