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I think all interesting characters have some kind of a complex.

From a writer's standpoint, each character and story presents its own unique challenges and delights. I'm deeply curious about all of my characters, and I love peeling away their layers to see what's underneath their skin, or secreted deep within their hearts.

When you're reading, like, a character's thoughts, or when it's in first person, you're reading kind of their own story, so you have the opportunity to see what makes that character complex or complicated. And to me, that's what the whole point of fiction is.

There's a bizarre insistence on how a story should be. 'The protagonist must be sympathetic!' they say. Whatever that means. I never engage in that discussion. I never use that word, 'sympathetic.' I just know 'interesting.'

People always tell me I'm nothing like my character. Well, hopefully not! He's a character who's very defined. He was purposefully written by Jo Rowling as very one-dimensional in the first few books, because you're supposed to hate him.

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 like stories where there's a center that's mushy and complicated.

I like complicated characters.

What I always studied in screenwriting from my mentor John Glavin was that the most interesting characters are characters with shades of gray.

I don't like two-dimensional characters who are obviously villains from the moment they walk on stage.

I think conflicted characters are always more interesting.

Having been raised by actors who love moral ambiguity and flawed protagonists, I feel like it's sort of in the blood to want to take it on.

When it's a bigger character, and there's a lot going on for her, and there are all these different elements that go into the character, I just love being able to dive into it.

I always felt like Azula and Long Feng were much more interesting villains and three-dimensional characters than Ozai, who was just sort of a big jerk. Like a really big jerk, but not very complex or human.

I am not interested in one-sided characters.

Somebody - and I'm going to guess it was Hitchcock - once said that everyone has their reasons. If you remember that, as a writer, you'll write better than average villains.

Every character, if fleshed out properly, is being taken seriously.

It is difficult to portray grey characters because there is a very thin line between being nasty and slightly negative.

There is nothing like being able to develop a three-dimensional character over a long period of time. Sometimes you aren't able to fully portray a character because you only have a couple of scenes to do it in, and you don't get the full life and background of that character.

I suppose that the sympathetic/unsympathetic debate about characters sometimes feels to me like a misstatement of purpose. I always think of truly complex characters are falling between the cracks in that debate.

I want to give my characters nuance.

I choose grey characters, as I enjoy playing a human character. I don't shy away from showing the shortcomings of my characters.

I love playing roles where it's not just the good guy or the bad guy.

It's always fun to layer a character, to make the character a little bit more dynamic than it is on paper.

I get the feeling that audiences have become mature and they understand that not every character is in black or white. There can be grey shades to it.