J. K. Simmons Quotes

I try mainly to just focus on character and what my character's point of view is, with each person, and try to figure out story.

As an actor, you don't really have a say or a voice in what the conversation of the show is going to be. So, as an actor, I'm just trying to make sense of why the character is making these choices, and somehow, in that way, you can sympathize or root, at least not detest, what this person is doing. That's, at least, my job in telling that story.

Plot and character are virtually the same thing.

Sympathetic characters usually have a voice. They usually don't have any trouble being heard.

My school of thought with going into a character is that you have to understand where they come from, and you have to empathize with them.

I think it is important that you care about the characters, and you are not just waiting for the next action sequence but have a vested interested in what happens to them.

I try to begin with a strong grasp of my characters. Even if it's schematic, I need it clear in my head who these people are.

As a writer, you have to put yourself in service to the character, get behind their eyes by delineating the world where the character develops. You have to listen to the character and see him inside his certain world to know what conclusions he would draw.

Usually when I'm trying to establish character, I try and find out where they live.

You have to play the logic of a character.

We seek to craft characters who inspire empathy: characters our audience will care for and, as a result, will care about what happens to them and thus will share the journey we have charted. A story, after all, is the character's journey.

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 love storytelling. I love characters that are complicated and layered, real people, that you see why they do what they do.

If you have great characters, then your reader becomes emotionally invested in those people.

In terms of the parallels, I've never related less to a character than Riggan.

My job is to see the world through the character's eyes.

Audiences need to engage with characters.

When I read a script, the important thing is that I can connect in some way with that character and have some idea from what his story is that I can tell that story too, because that's all acting is, is storytelling.

I think you've got to understand your character and where they're coming from.

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

What makes an audience watch something and care about the characters is the emotional life of the characters.

If we get caught up in a story, it's because we've started to care about the characters, and that can only happen if we've moved beneath the surface.

I try to give both my heroes and villains an emotional dimensionality which provides the motivation for their actions.

But at the same time, the commonplace statement about them is true: every character is the hero of his own story. Each has a justification for his actions that is convincing to him. It's fun to give these people voices.

Because characters are your creations, you are the one who ultimately gets to decide their fate.