Susanne Bier Quotes

Whichever character I'm using and wherever I am in my mind dictates what kind of story I'm going to tell.

Very few of my characters are based on people I've known. It is too constricting.

No I don't really write thinking about specific actors because it can get in the way a little bit.

I don't really write with actors in mind; I write with characters and then hope desperately that we can get good actors to play those parts.

I don't ever really know where I get my characters from.

One of the greatest things about 'Continuum' is how great the writing is; our writing room is one of the most talented ones I've ever had. It really helps me as far as character development because they paint a very descriptive picture of who the characters are while still letting us have freedom to put in our own ideas.

When you write, you hear the characters speaking to you as you take dictation from what they say. And obviously, they had particular personalities when you hear them.

That's the way it happens - some characters you set out to use, some are happy accidents. As long as it works, it doesn't really matter how you got them.

I'll often dream about characters before I start writing their stories.

I'm always determined that as a novelist I'm going to go out there and research my characters very thoroughly before I start writing.

I find it very hard to sit down and create an idea or especially a new character on command. Usually my characters evolve by accident out of some story context.

As a writer, I always think about who my prototype actors are, in my brain. It's helpful, as a writer, to think about that.

I never write with an actor in mind - never.

In my head, at least, the business of spinning stories has no closing time. Twists in my characters' lives, glimpses of their secrets, obstacles to their dreams... all arrive unbidden when I'm getting cash at the ATM, walking my son to camp, singing a hymn at a wedding.

If I don't fall in love with my characters, I cannot shoot.

I do a lot better if I sit around and think about a character for a couple of months.

I work out the other bits, too, but I need to know what I look like, very early on. And then it's like a template; I'll fill that person out. If I get that out of the way, then I'm all right.

Most of the time, when I'm writing, I'm writing for myself. I'm thinking, 'What will my character say at this time? What will come out of her mouth?' I create individuals so real to me, I sometimes start talking to them. Then I let them loose on the page.

I love creating new characters that are whatever they are.

When I write a book, characters come to life for me somewhere at the back of my head. I strive to make them flesh and blood in an abstract way, in words.

You can start imagining all kinds of things characters would feel, but you have to have a sense of whether those imaginings might be right.

At the end of the day, I write characters that I want to play, because I just think, 'Hey, maybe one day it'll get made.'

Characters are not created on paper or laptop alone.

I take little bits and pieces of ideas that I may or may not believe in but I give them to this character and he runs with them. I have fun with however he handles the situation.

Writers often say that characters begin to write themselves, and I never used to believe that. I always thought that was complete hogwash.